Beauchamp Hall

by Danielle Steel

  The set was very quiet after that, and all the actors and crew subdued.

  They let Miranda out of her contract, after some heavy pressure from her agent, and intense negotiation. Someone leaked it to the press who predicted that without two of its strongest actors and biggest stars, the show would flounder in six months and not survive. But nothing they had said had convinced Miranda to stay, and she didn’t want to work without Tom. She was desperate to do the play, which everyone thought was poor judgment on her part, and a bad career move.

  Michael and Matthew had tried to tell her that, historically, actors who had big roles in successful series and left to do other projects, seeking greater stardom, had never done as well, and often faded from sight. The show had taken Miranda to another level of fame in the past two years, and she refused to believe that she might vanish without a trace without it, and insisted they were wrong.

  It took Matthew two weeks to come up with some storylines and scripts that were plausible, exciting, worked to replace them both, and created new characters to fill the void. Miranda was leaving the show in July, which wasn’t far away.

  “I told you everything can change overnight,” Nigel reminded Winnie when they had dinner again. They’d had no time together since Tom’s death. Too much was going on.

  “Do you think it will hurt the show too badly to lose both of them?” She was worried about it, she didn’t want anything to damage the show irreparably or get it canceled.

  “It won’t help it, but Matthew is clever. It happened three years ago, if you recall. He had to kill two characters. Their contracts were up. They wanted too much money, and it turned into a standoff. The show was actually better after they left, which no one expected.” It was always hard to predict how the public would react to characters leaving the show.

  It had been a stressful two weeks for everyone, and Tom’s death had cast a pall over the set.

  A few days later when they had a Sunday off, and she was out walking around town, Winnie stumbled onto a surprise. It was a tiny cottage not far from Mrs. Flannagan’s, with a FOR RENT sign out front. It looked like a dollhouse and Winnie fell in love with it on sight. She told Nigel about it the next day.

  “Are you thinking of getting your own place here?” He looked pleased and surprised. He hadn’t expected her to do that and stick around.

  “I wasn’t, but I love it here. I have nothing to go back to now, and hopefully Beauchamp will run for a long time. And if it doesn’t, I can always sublet the cottage or try to get out of the lease. If I do stay, HR said they can try to get me a special work visa. The authorities have been very sympathetic to the show. I guess I’ll do that if I rent a house here.” He loved the idea, and so did she. Nothing had gone forward with them, despite the pleasant time they spent together. She was still feeling gun-shy after Rob, and Nigel sensed that and didn’t want to rush her, but her wanting to rent a cottage seemed like a good sign, and if she got a work visa, better yet. Their producers had powerful connections, and were willing to use them for the show.

  “Why don’t we look at the cottage together after work?” he suggested, and she agreed. She called the number on the sign and made an appointment to see it. And Nigel drove her there after work. He had to duck his head to get through the doorway, but the little jewel box of a cottage was as pretty inside as out. It had been freshly painted and was furnished with just enough furniture to live comfortably. She would only need a few things she could find in town to make it homey and really attractive. It was big enough for one person or a couple, and the rent was very modest. She could easily afford it. She was making a minimal salary now, so she had some money coming in, along with her savings at home. She told the realtor she would think about it that night. And just as she had when she decided to come to England, everything about it felt right. She called back in the morning and said she’d take it. She told Nigel when she got to work, and he looked thrilled. She told Mrs. Flannagan that night. And she had asked HR to try for the special visa. She wanted to stay with the show. They promised to do all they could to help her.

  “I’m going to miss you,” Mrs. Flannagan said sadly. Winnie was good company and she loved talking to her when Winnie came home at night.

  “I will miss you too,” Winnie said gently, “but I’ll come to visit. We can have dinner together, just like we do now.”

  Winnie moved into the little jewel box the following weekend with Nigel’s help, and afterwards, they went shopping for what she was missing.

  She was washing a new set of glasses and a set of plates when he came up behind her and put his arms around her, and he felt her hesitate. He turned her around to face him, set down the glass she had in her hand, and looked her in the eye, with a serious, loving look.

  “Is it too soon, Winnie?” he asked gently. She wasn’t sure if it was. She just didn’t know if she was ready to have a man in her life again, or when she’d ever want one. She didn’t know how long she’d be staying, and the years with Rob seemed like such a waste. She didn’t want to do that again with a relationship that went nowhere. But she had just rented a house, so she obviously wasn’t going anywhere soon.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing, Nigel. I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she said in a voice raw with emotion, and held him tightly. He bent to kiss her and she didn’t resist. She wanted him, but she was scared, and she didn’t know what the future held for either of them.

  “We don’t have to make any big decisions,” he said softly. “We’re just two people who care about each other. We don’t have to know what the future holds. You never know that in the beginning. Look at Tom White.”

  “That’s how I got to be thirty-eight years old with the wrong man,” she said sadly. But Nigel didn’t feel wrong to her, any more than coming to England had been, or renting the cottage. He wasn’t Rob, he was a good man, and she could tell that he cared about her. And as he kissed her again, she could feel the passion mount in both of them, and they couldn’t stop kissing and fondling each other. She unzipped his jeans ever so slowly, and he pulled off her blouse. And suddenly they were wrapped around each other, and she could barely breathe she wanted him so much, as he led her toward the bedroom, and they fell onto the bed she had just made with new sheets.

  Their clothes were off seconds later, and he was making love to her, and it felt clean and right and honest, and just what they both needed. He had wanted her since the first moment he’d seen her. She forgot everything else while he made love to her, and she used everything she’d learned with Rob to please him. But it felt different this time, and right. It wasn’t just sex. They genuinely had feelings for each other, even though the future was uncertain.

  They lay breathless on the bed afterwards, as he ran gentle fingers down her spine and gave her shivers.

  “You’re an amazing lover,” he whispered to her, “I’m falling in love with you…no, that’s not true. I’ve already fallen.” She kissed him, and wouldn’t let him leave her, and a few minutes later they were making love again.

  He stayed with her that night, and she had no regrets. He was part of the dream she had followed to England, and a new life had begun for both of them. For Winnie, it was long overdue.

  They went to work together the next day, and she felt shy and mildly embarrassed, and wondered if their coworkers would notice something different about them. You could always tell when people were intimate. There was no hiding it. But they walked into the building separately and went about their jobs, and didn’t see each other until noon. He melted when he saw her and smiled immediately.

  “I want you,” he whispered to her longingly, as she handed him the sandwich she had gotten him. “I wish we had time to go home for lunch.”

  “Me too. We’ll make up for it tonight,” she whispered to him and went back to work.

  As she went about her job that afternoon, Winnie was thinking abo
ut her sister. She had given her the change of address when she left Mrs. Flannagan’s B and B, but hadn’t told Marje she had rented a house, and was applying for a special visa. She knew it would panic her, and make her think Winnie was never coming home. And she hadn’t decided that. She just liked having a house of her own here, and being able to stay as long as she wanted.

  When Winnie gave her the new address, Marje had texted her. “You changed B and Bs? I thought you liked the other one so much?” To which Winnie had responded, “This is better. I found it by accident while taking a walk.” She hadn’t told her about Nigel either. For the first time, she had people and places in her life that no one knew about. She didn’t want to upset her family, but being here was something she knew she needed to do for herself. She had lived her life for others for so long, her mother, Marje, Rob, Hamm Winslow. It was her turn now.

  She was still thinking about it, when one of the production assistants asked her to take a manila envelope to Elizabeth Cornette, the most important actress in the show, and biggest star. The production assistant whispered to her discreetly that it was a piece of jewelry that Cartier was lending her. It was valuable and the instructions were to place the package directly into her hands. Winnie had every intention of following the PA’s directions, and knocked firmly on the door of the actress’s trailer when she got there. She could hear voices inside, but no one answered. Clutching the package to her, she knocked louder until she heard the actress’s voice.

  “Who is it?” Winnie could hear a man’s voice inside too.

  “Winnie Farmington, Miss Cornette. I have an important package for you,” she said clearly through the door. She didn’t want to shout as loudly what it was or from where. She had never spoken to the actress directly before because she had had no reason to.

  “Can you come back later?” Winnie knew she couldn’t and had to be persistent. They couldn’t have a valuable piece of jewelry floating around when the directions were to put it in the hands of the star herself. It had to be in her possession, on her body or in a safe, for insurance purposes, as the PA had explained. There was a safe in her trailer for the jewels she wore on the show.

  “I’m sorry, no, I can’t come back,” Winnie said firmly, and she heard a male voice raised.

  The door opened a moment later, and Elizabeth Cornette was wearing a white satin bathrobe, with her makeup smeared and running down her face. She had obviously been crying. Beyond her, Winnie could see Bill Anders, the equally important male star of the show. He looked angry at Elizabeth, and annoyed when he saw Winnie. She was obviously interrupting something unpleasant and it gave credence to the rumors that the two famous actors were having an affair. Both of them were married to other people, but according to gossip on the set, their romance had been going on for months, ever since he’d joined the show. He was a recent addition.

  “It’s from Cartier,” Winnie said as she handed it to her.

  “Why the hell are you bothering us?” Bill Anders shouted angrily at Winnie.

  “It’s a four-hundred-thousand-pound bracelet,” Elizabeth said, turning to him. “She can’t just slip it under the door. They’re lending it to me for the shoot tomorrow, when we go to the queen’s ball.” She was trying to reason with him, with a tone of exasperation in her voice. He was usually difficult on the set too. He had been famous for many years and was used to people kowtowing to him, and he was known to have affairs on every show.

  “Fuck the queen’s ball, Elizabeth. My wife is threatening to divorce me. Do you have any idea what that will cost me? I think she’s having me followed,” he said, ignoring Winnie, as he paced in the small trailer, while Elizabeth looked at Winnie in despair. And Winnie didn’t know whether to leave or not. It was an awkward moment, and Elizabeth told her to come in. She had something to return to Cartier too, the forty-carat emerald ring she’d worn the day before. “Why the hell did you let her in here?” Anders complained when he saw Winnie walk into the trailer and wait for Elizabeth to get the box with the ring out of the safe. It was twice as valuable as the bracelet, and Elizabeth wasn’t supposed to keep them. Winnie hadn’t been told about the emerald ring. And Bill Anders stood glaring at her. “Who’ve you been talking to?” he shouted to Elizabeth, as she nervously pulled the ring box out and was about to hand it to Winnie, but hadn’t yet. “I told you to keep your mouth shut.” He was wearing a satin bathrobe too. Winnie felt as though she had walked into their bedroom, and wished Elizabeth would just give her the box and let her go.

  “I didn’t tell anyone a damn thing!” Elizabeth shouted back at him, still clutching the box that Winnie was waiting for. “You’re not exactly discreet yourself. I told you this would wind up all over the press.” A scandal of that nature would be good for both their careers, and add spice to the show, but Anders obviously had a lot at stake, and his wife was going to make him pay. Winnie knew from reading about him that he’d had numerous affairs before, always with big stars.

  “This is your fault if she nails me for it. I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to give up what we’re making this season for the privilege of sleeping with you.” His tone was disrespectful and his words were cruel. Elizabeth was crying again, and she opened the door wider and looked straight at him over her shoulder.

  “You’d better go,” she said clearly, and he looked like he was going to hit her. For a minute, Winnie was afraid for her.

  “I’ll go when I goddamn want to,” he said angrily and strode to the door. He stopped where Elizabeth was standing. “Let’s not forget that you seduced me, this was your idea,” he added viciously. “We both know you’re a whore, and now my wife knows it too.” And with that, he pushed past both of them, hurried down the steps of the trailer in his dressing gown, and went back to his own. Elizabeth collapsed in a chair then, sobbing, still clutching both the package with the bracelet and the ring box, and Winnie gently closed the door, so no one could see what was going on. She went to get Elizabeth a drink of water and handed it to her without saying a word.

  “Thank you.” Elizabeth took a sip, set the glass down, and blew her nose on a tissue she had in her pocket. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that. Please don’t tell anyone.” She looked humiliated and deeply upset.

  “Of course not,” Winnie said, feeling desperately sorry for her. She had a reputation for sleeping with her leading men, but she didn’t deserve to be berated and abused. He was just as guilty as she was, and Winnie hated the way he treated her. She couldn’t stop herself from saying what she thought. She’d been through it herself with Rob. “He shouldn’t talk to you like that. You can’t let him. And if his wife is angry at him, it’s his own fault.” Elizabeth nodded and looked gratefully at Winnie. She handed her the ring box, and put the envelope with the bracelet in the small safe. “What he’s doing to you is abuse,” Winnie said in a small voice, sure that she’d be fired for saying anything at all. “I’ve been there myself.”

  “And did he stop eventually?” Elizabeth asked hopefully. “I’m in love with him. He’s not always like this. He’s just worried about what his wife is going to do and what it will cost him.”

  “That’s no reason to talk to you that way. And no, he didn’t stop,” Winnie said honestly. “He cheated on me. I caught him, and I walked out.”

  “You’re a brave woman. Men have cheated on me for years, and I’ve never walked out.” She looked sad as she said it. It was as bad as if he’d beaten her with his fists. She was a spectacular-looking woman. She didn’t have to put up with this. Nobody should, star or not. “Please don’t tell anyone about what you heard just now.” She looked imploringly at Winnie.

  “I promise I never will. Just try to walk away from it the next time. You’ll feel a lot better when you do.” Elizabeth wiped the tears from her face again. And they were both thinking about Bill’s harsh words and insults, which had hit the actress with full force. She looked badl
y shaken and depressed.

  Winnie left her trailer a few minutes later, and tried not to think about it as she went to find the production assistant to return the emerald ring. She looked horrified when Winnie found her.

  “Oh my God, I forgot to get that back from her last night. Thank you.” And then in an undertone, “Please don’t tell anyone, I’d get fired.”

  “Of course not,” Winnie assured her. She was suddenly keeping everyone’s secrets, but the scene in Elizabeth Cornette’s trailer haunted her all afternoon.

  It was still on her mind when she left work. Nigel had told her that he’d meet her at her place. She had barely had time to make the bed, and put her breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, when he rang her doorbell and she let him in. She just had time to say hello to him, when he gently pulled off her clothes and wanted to make love with her. She’d been looking forward to it all day too.

  They almost didn’t make it to the bedroom, and he carried her the last few steps, kissing her, and then he laid her on the bed, and she reached up to him, and he entered her as they both gasped. Their lovemaking went on for hours, until they finally fell away from each other, and she smiled at him as they lay on their sides facing each other. “That was very nice,” she whispered to him.

  “Yes, it was,” he whispered back, “very, very nice indeed.” And with a peaceful smile, he fell asleep.

  Chapter Eight

  Despite Elizabeth Cornette’s insistence that she hadn’t told anyone about her affair with Bill Anders, it was all over the papers two days later. They were both just too famous for anything about their love lives to stay quiet for long. Someone inevitably talked and usually got paid by the press to do so. Winnie saw Bill Anders slip into Elizabeth’s trailer several times after that. Nothing about their affair had slowed down, no matter what he was risking with his wife. The paparazzi were pursuing both of them, on and off the set, and it was bothering all the other actors. The paparazzi crawled all over them like ants.