Page 1 of Persuading Penny
PROLOGUE
Keely
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Abbie Moore, of Bath, England, stood in her fiancé’s church, a book in her hands. Set amidst the rolling hills just outside Bath, the church had recently become the new meeting place for the Jane Austen Association UK division.
It made sense since Jane Austen, the author of the books we were adapting into films, had lived in Bath and portrayed Bath in two of her books,Northanger AbbeyandPersuasion.
Wrapping up the postproduction forNorthanger Abbey, Abbie had proved to be a capable and reliable assistant to me as the Assistant Director and Producer for that film.She had also taken charge of the UK division of Ayra and mine book club, the Jane Austen Association.
I smiled at Abbie, whom I considered my protégé, and helped matched her adorable husband Gabriel to, as she led the first meeting.Abbie opened the book and, with a clear and strong voice, read in her delightful British accent;
Persuasion, by Jane Austen (1818)
Chapter One
Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage;.there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there, any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs, changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century, and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed. This was the page at which the favourite volume always opened.
I watched Abbie as she read the opening pages of Jane Austen’sPersuasion. She had a wonderful reading voice; slow enough for everyone to understand every word, and only rarely faltering.
Gabriel Tillsbury, Abbie’s fiancé, had been generous enough to allow us to meet at his church every Wednesday afternoon after we were unceremoniously told that we could no longer use the coffee house in town.
It was a handsome church, with a high ceiling that offered a great sound chamber, pews painted in off-white and a few simple stained-glass windows.
The women in attendance, as well as the three men, listened to Abbie’s every word, even though they had all read the book previously.
It was that way when the Jane Austen Association Book Club met. The love for every word, every turn of phrase, every expression lived within us.
Seated on a stool near Abbie at the head of the small church, I had a good view of the members of our little club.
One of the women, a pretty brunette in her late twenties, mouthed along as Abbie read. Her bright green eyes were focused on Abbie’s lips, and she occasionally closed her eyes as a particular passage was read.
Wearing a cream-colored pleated skirt and a knitted sweater only a shade darker, she almost faded into the cream-colored pew. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, but a delightful fringe framed her face.
But those eyes...those remarkable, big green eyes...Captivating.
All in all, she looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t recall where I could have possibly met her before.
Abbie continued to read on;
Their two confidential friends, Mr.Shepherd, who lived in the neighbouring market town, and Lady Russell, were called to advise them; and both father and daughter seemed to expect that something should be struck out by one or the other to remove their embarrassments and reduce their expenditure, without involving the loss of any indulgence of taste or pride.
“That was the end of chapter one,” Abbie said as she closed the book. “What an opening. Is it any wonder we all love her books.”
Seated in the first pews, everyone nodded.
“Any favorite lines or passages?”she said.
Madelaine raised her hand. “I don’t know why, but line ‘with all the Marys and Elizabeths they had married’ always makes me smile.”
“I smile at how Lady Elliot humored, softened or concealed her husband’s failings,” Charlotte said.
“Isn’t that always the wife’s job?”Madelaine said.
The men laughed.
“I have a bit of a longer passage I always find troubling,”
