Page 9 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘I’m going to try to get to know her properly. You’ll be terrific playing her husband,’ Vi said.
‘I’ll do my best.’
‘I can’t believe I’m going to work with you,’ she continued, feeling her cheeks turn pink. ‘I’ve seen a lot of your movies and always thought you were one of the best actors ever.’
‘Thank you,’ he said with an odd little smile. ‘That’s very flattering. I think we’ll have a great time working together.’
‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Vi said. ‘As far as I know, Kathleen was engaged twice but Don, the man she finally married, was the love of her life, even though they had quite a stormy relationship.’
‘She was no pushover,’ Jack remarked. ‘But a very skilled actress.’
Vi nodded. ‘I think she was. I’ve only seen two of her movies, but I’ve downloaded all the other ones and I’ll be watching them when I get to Kerry. Haven’t had a chance to do that yet, but now that I have some time off, I’ll get started.’
‘Good idea. That’ll help you study her voice and body language. But it won’t tell you much about her private life or her relationship with Don. She was a little wild before she met him but he calmed her down and made her happy at last.’
Vi smiled, trying not to be affected by the flirty look in his brown eyes, or the lock of dark hair falling across his forehead. ‘You were going to say he tamed her, weren’t you? But that would have sounded too domineering. Or even abusive.’
‘These days, yes,’ he said, sitting up. ‘But we’re going back to the nineteen fifties. Things were different then.’
‘Hmm, yes, they were. Is that going to be a problem?’ Vi asked. ‘I mean, audiences will be looking at it from the point of view of today.’
‘Not a problem if it’s done with subtlety. I think it will be. I haven’t read the screenplay yet. Have you?’
‘Not yet. Hugh is sending over the script before I go to Ireland,’ Vi replied. ‘But it will just be a first draft. I’m supposed to do some research on Kathleen and then the script will be adjusted if we find anything interesting to add to her story.’
‘Well, there isn’t much in her official bio,’ Jack remarked. ‘Born in that little place in Kerry in 1929, went to the local school and so on, and then she went to study drama and dance in Dublin and was spotted by a talent scout from Hollywood when she was only nineteen. Then a list of all her movies, which are all well known. Her personal life doesn’t feature much and all we know is that she was engaged twice, both times briefly before she met the man she married.’
‘I’m sure I can find out more than that,’ Vi said.
Their drinks arrived and Vi took a swig of her pint before she continued. ‘So what do you know about Don Williams? He was American, wasn’t he? From Texas, I think. Can you do the accent?’
Jack nodded and cleared his throat. ‘Sure, darlin’. I’ll be so in character you’ll wonder where I parked my horse,’ he said in a nearly perfect Texas accent.
‘I think you need to dial that down a bit,’ Vi said, laughing. ‘You wouldn’t want to turn into some kind of caricature.’
‘Of course.’ Jack sipped from his glass. ‘I was just doing it to make you laugh. I’ve listened to a clip on YouTube with the two of them talking to a journalist. Don Williams was educated at Harvard, so his accent was barely noticeable. Not easy to imitate,I have to say. But I’m working on it with a voice coach.’ He smiled. ‘You won’t have any problems, though. Your accent is spot on. You just have to lower your voice a little. Kathleen had quite a throaty thing going. Very sexy, I have to say. She could buy a pint of milk and make it sound suggestive.’
‘I never noticed that,’ Vi said, wondering if he was joking. ‘Her voice was rich and deep, yes, but…’
‘Oh, never mind,’ he said, laughing. ‘I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Kathleen’s voice was lovely. Yours isn’t bad, but you’ll need to work on the intonation and the timbre.’
‘Ah, well, I’ll have to watch her movies and listen carefully,’ Vi replied. ‘We did impersonations in drama school, so I’m sure I’ll manage.’
He nodded and took another sip of whiskey. Then he leaned forward again, gently touching her hand. ‘You’ll be fine. And I think we’ll be good together. We just have to get used to each other. Get the chemistry going and all that.’
‘I know,’ Vi said. The slight touch of his fingers and his eyes on her made her feel a little dizzy. He was so attractive, but that wasn’t what made her feel drawn to him. His eyes were kind and his voice gentle as he spoke to her, as if he was trying to put her at ease. She knew there would be no problem ‘getting the chemistry going’, as he had put it.
‘So you’re going to Kerry soon?’ he asked.
‘Yes. In about a week. I’m going to spend the rest of the year at Magnolia Manor. That’s the place where the movie is going to be shot.’
‘Tell me about the family there.’
‘Oh, nothing much to tell,’ she said casually. ‘My grandmother lives at Magnolia Manor with her fiancé. But he spends the winters in the South of France. Can’t stand the wind and rain, apparently.’
Jack nodded. ‘Understandable. Who else lives there?’
‘No family. Most of the manor has been turned into apartments for seniors, except for some of the rooms downstairs. But I have two sisters who live nearby. Lily and her husband have two children and Rose and Noel had their first baby a little over a year ago.’
