Chapter 35
Elle
Ilove shooting this scene with Josh. I adore every second of it. And I’m self-aware enough to know it’s made all the better because of how far our relationship has come. If I wasn’t sleeping with him (and it’s been five times, now. I know), we’d do a perfectly adequate job of it.
But although I’ve made it clear it’s just sex, and just on set, and just in character, it still gives us that element of comfort, of unselfconsciousness around each other, that I know will make this scene all the more tender and poignant.
We kick off with the aerial shots from a camera positioned high above us.
That’s why the picnic is ready to go, and why the books Dominic and Georgiana choose as they explore the library together are now in pretty piles on the floor.
There are two brief segments of the scene David, who’s the director for this episode, wants to capture from above.
One is where the book-porn and food-porn have had Dominic’s desired effect on his wife, and she relaxes enough to let him read to her.
Even better, she relaxes enough to let him read with his head in her lap.
There’s to be a beautiful aerial vignette of me, surrounded by silk cushions and gilded tomes and decadent platters of food, stroking my husband’s hair tenderly as he lies there, his long legs stretched out in front of him, a book in his hand (Dominic is in fact reading to Georgiana about Michelangelo).
It’s a picture of domestic bliss. A delightful foreshadowing of what’s to come for them, over the years.
And the other has the reading material lying abandoned as I lie back on the cushions, my knees up on my husband’s shoulders, my stockinged feet dangling down his back and his head between my legs. This will be the closing shot of the scene: Georgiana being a very. Happy. Girl.
Which basically means I’ll spend most of my day faking an orgasm, and Josh will spend most of his day with his head up my dress.
Excellent.
What I don’t really think about ahead of time is the amount of time I’ll spend gazing down at Josh’s face.
Nicola seemed to enjoy the library set as much as I did, and we got some brilliant footage of her, me and Josh which I’ll share on social once the show’s publicists deem it appropriate.
She’ll watch the filming from the sidelines with Alyssa, and I’m excited to be able to play a part in having another of her dreams come to life today.
But it’s not until we’re in place on the floor, the bookshelves of this magnificent set encircling us, that I realise quite how much I’ll enjoy shooting this scene.
Dan and the script supervisor discuss the exact position we need to be in to follow on from the preceding scene, which we’ll shoot later in the week.
Once I’m arranged on the velvet throw with the cushions scattered artfully around me, Josh lowers himself down and settles his head in my lap.
He sighs deeply. ‘Ahhh. This is pretty great—getting paid to lie here in my favourite place.’
I smirk down at him. ‘You mean the library, I take it?’
‘I mean between your legs.’ He laughs as my eyes widen and switches to Dom’s voice.
‘Do not deny your husband this brief respite, my darling, for he’ll be working hard on pleasuring you for the rest of the afternoon.’
I squirm beneath the weight of his head and run my finger inside the starched high collar of his shirt, dragging it over his collarbone. He looks so fine in this shirt: a powerful man at rest, the fine fabric draped alluringly over his body, giving me a glimpse of the musculature beneath.
‘Perhaps I can show my appreciation later, Your Grace. Perhaps you can teach me how to return the favour.’
Josh growls and switches back to his own voice. ‘Jesus. You on your knees is a mental image I do not need if I’m gonna keep it down for this scene.’
‘At least you’ll be lying on your front for the next shot, so you can disgrace yourself all you like.’
‘I bet I will, with my face stuck up your skirt. I’ll be horny as fuck. Wanna hit my trailer as soon as we’re done shooting later?’
‘We have the interview with Nicola, remember?’
‘Fuck. You’re right. Whew. I need to pace myself, in that case. I’ll just imagine you’re Bernie Sanders when I’m down there.’
‘Oh my God.’ I shove his shoulder, laughing. Mmm. The muslin of his shirt is such a thin barrier between my hand and the beautiful, masculine bulk of his delts. I look around. No one’s paying any attention to us whatsoever. I have a good grope of his shoulder.
‘I love this shirt on you. I just want to rip it off. I want to undo that cravat and slide my hand down over your glorious hair and your glorious pecs and just... devour you.’ I hiss out the words and he watches my mouth with an anguished expression, like he wants to rear up and bite my lip.
‘I’ll let Tom Ford know.’ He’s still looking at my mouth, so I lick my lips for his benefit. ‘Maybe he can knock up a modern take for me.’
‘It would be perfect for the premiere.’
‘Maybe I’ll ride up the red carpet on a trusty steed. I might keep these, too.’ He strokes his sideburn affectionately. ‘They drive the ladies wild.’
‘They do, do they?’
‘Yeah. There was this one absolute beauty I had the pleasure of going down on the other day, and she pretty much screamed her trailer down. I was embarrassed for her.’
‘Fuck you.’
‘I’d like to fuck you, actually.’
Thankfully, David puts an end to this increasingly dangerous conversation by announcing we’re ready to roll.
Someone from props hands Josh his book, and he holds it up in position.
We’re rolling. Most of the dialogue will be shot close-up in another take, and we’ll probably do some pickups too, at a later date, but we say our lines to ensure perfect continuity.
‘Do you have much knowledge of Michelangelo, my darling?’
‘I dare say I do not, Your Grace.’
‘Tell me what you know.’
I hesitate. Georgiana considers herself a well-educated woman compared to her peers, but in the world of art she suspects she is something of a philistine.
‘I know that he was a famous sculptor and painter. I know that he sculpted David and the Pièta, and that he is best known for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.’
‘Very good. Do you know what the Sistine’s ceiling depicts?’
‘I… I do not.’ My hand twists into the velvet throw below me.
‘It depicts nine scenes from the Book of Genesis. The wonder of creation. The separation of darkness and light. The creation of Adam. And Eve.’ His voice drops. ‘I should like to see them. Very much.’
‘Have you ever journeyed abroad, Your Grace?’
‘I have toured through France and Spain and northern Italy. I have not yet visited Rome. I should like to, though.’ He lowers the book and lays it face down on his chest. ‘I should like to go with you.’
Josh stares up at me, a world of hope and possibility etched on his features, and I raise my hand tentatively from the floor.
Because, despite their intimacies at night, in the darkness of the duke’s bedchamber, Georgiana does not yet have a casually intimate relationship with her husband.
She is still cautious with him. Nervous.
Closed off. As he is with her, for wholly different reasons.
I lower my hand to Josh’s temple and stroke the soft place where his skin meets his hair.
I stroke downwards, over his sideburns, towards the perfect firmness of his jaw.
Raise my hand and place it in his hair. Aside from the sideburns, he has no hair extensions in for this scene, so his hair is soft enough for me to run my fingers through.
Which I do. Again and again.
‘I should like that very much indeed.’ The words come awkwardly from Georgiana’s mouth. She wants so much to please her husband, and she’s beginning to understand that evidence of her contentedness pleases him more than many other things.
I add another hand to his head. Dragging my fingers softly along his scalp is like a form of therapy.
Josh’s eyelids drift closed and I sit there, feasting on his beautiful features in private awe.
I see the faint lilac veins in his eyelids.
The slightest fluttering of his thick eyelashes.
My head is lowered. The camera can’t see my expression.
Georgiana is having a true epiphany at this moment: that this act, this closeness she’s finding so rewarding, and which is stirring up such a well of emotion inside her, is at the very core of what it means to be husband and wife.
She’s not only staring her future in the face, she’s immersing herself in it with growing confidence.
Josh’s eyes open. He reaches up and takes one of my hands, stilling it. Staring into my eyes. I continue to stroke the baby hairs of his hairline with infinite tenderness.
‘Do you think you can be truly happy here, with me, my darling?’ His voice has the gruff edge of withheld emotion. ‘I will do anything to ensure your happiness, you must know that.’
‘I do,’ I say, and I bend my face to his.