Contrary to my relationship with Britney, my friendship with Matt had quickly blossomed into something I cherished, still to this day.
We approached Barry Park and my breath caught in my throat. I glanced at Matt who lovingly gazed at his home.
It was, indeed, a structure to be admired. The U-shaped building allowed for cars, once beyond the main gate, to enter the inner courtyard.
The place had changed very little since I’d last seen it. In fact, it appeared completely unchanged since my departure a few years earlier.
The trees were a little taller, a few shrubs had been done away with, and where there’d once been a water fountain, there was now a statue of a tall military man seated atop a fine horse.
“Is anyone living here?”Cliff said. “The place looks abandoned.”
“Father is away for several months,” Matt said. “Lord Randolph Barry, my father, is in America on business. California to be more precise.”
“Will he approve of our use of his home?”
“He need not know at all,” Matt said. “He should be there until well past the new year. He’ll never be the wiser.”
Penny turned to look back at me. “It must be strange, coming back after all this time.”
I nodded. “I’ve been away since I left for university.These last years I’ve concentrated on my theatrical career. I’ve studied and worked hard. I’ve thought very little of my time here.”
But now, as I looked at the tall walls that surrounded us, I was hit with a tidal wave of pleasure and pain. I was home again, for it did, indeed, feel like my home.
THREE
Keely
At first, Matt’s suggestionthat we move the production of Mansfield Park to his nearby home had echoed in my head. I hated the thought of leaving Moon Manor. My team knew their way around. They knew all the workings of the older home, and the surrounding property.
“You have no choice but to take up his offer, Keely,” Hugh had said as I’d listed off all the reasons not to move the production. “Not only can you not shoot the movie at Moon Manor, but it’s not even safe to allow your cast and crew to stay.”
“I know,” I’d said. “I just need a minute for my heart to accept this new reality. For weeks, I’ve envisioned various scenes in various parts of Moon Manor. I had so many scenes worked out in my head. I just need to break away from those visions.”
But the short drive to Barry Park was enough to convince me that we were making the right move. The moment I saw it, the moment we passed through those gates and the huge structure came into view, I knew. I now understood why Matt and Darling had suggested that Barry Park was actually better suited for the part of Mansfield Park than Moon Manor was.
Indeed, it was. The enormous U-shaped building had an inner courtyard so large, Moon Manor could have fit nicely into it.
