Free The Jewels of Tessa Kent by Judith Krantz Page A

hair was hidden. But she couldn’t, in spite of not wearing makeup, hide her features, and she exuded that certain power that only a world-famous actress can possess. Bitch that he knew her to be, she hadn’t bothered to turn it off, as he knew damn well she could, if she pleased.
    He stood up and walked over to her. “Fly on the wall?”
    “You’d walk right past me, Roddy, don’t say you wouldn’t.”
    “But this room is a little too small for star power, Glenda. Lose it, darling, or I’m giving you the boot.”
    “But of course,” she said, losing it with a small satisfied smile. She did adore Roddy, he never disappointed her, Glenda thought, looking vaguely in the direction of her feet.
    “Are we all ready now?” Peggy asked patiently.
    “Yup,” Roddy said.
    When Tessa entered, Peggy introduced Roddy, who stood up, shook her hand, and smiled at her as if he’d never been so delighted to meet anyone in his life. She smiled back at him, thinking how much younger he looked than she’d expected. He’d directed a lot of movies she loved, but she’d never seen a photograph of him. His thick, messy hair, already lightly streaked with gray, fell carelessly to his shoulders, and he wore enormously thick glasses that were a droll contrast to his slightly monkey-like features. His skinny, tall frame was carelessly covered in jeans and a baggy old sweater thathad once been either white or yellow. Roddy Fensterwald, Tessa thought, would not reassure her mother.
    “I know how hard this is, Tessa,” he said, “but all I really care about today is getting an idea of who you are and who you could be, under the right circumstances. This isn’t about showing me how you’d act in front of a camera, or about becoming Jo March on screen, even though you’ll be reading lines in the context of the scene. For the next few minutes it’s not acting nearly as much as being Tessa Horvath, the one part you’ve been playing all your life, the one part you can’t help but be perfect in, can you, no matter what you do? So consider that you’ve already got that A in drama.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Fensterwald,” Tessa said, visibly relaxing.
    “Call me Roddy. Everybody does.”
    “I’ll try, but I can’t promise.”
    “Well, as long as you don’t call me ‘Sister Elizabeth’ we’re fine.”
    As Peggy laughed along with the others, she thought that no other name could possibly be as appropriate, and, of course he knew it and knew they knew it.
    “Did you get a chance to study the new sides, Tessa?” Peggy asked.
    “Yes, I’ve memorized them.”
    “Oh, I didn’t mean you to do that. You must have been up all night.”
    “I had it memorized before dinner. But I was up all night anyway, too excited to sleep.”
    “Well, don’t try to do this from memory,” Roddy said. “It just makes it more of a trial, and I want you to be comfortable. Would you like some water?”
    “Yes, please.”
    Fiona poured the water while Tessa gazed nervously around the room. Why hadn’t they introduced the slim woman taking notes in the corner? Was she someone important? Even sitting down she had important posture, straight, alert, commanding.
    “Before we start reading,” Roddy said, taking the sides from Fiona, “here’s the situation.” Peggy and Fiona darted their eyes at each other in surprise. Usually the director would just sit quietly during an audition, watching with every ounce of his attention and forming an opinion. Roddy was known to be a fine actor, but this was the first time he’d ever read in their office. It was Fiona’s, or, in some cases, Peggy’s job to read with the actor under consideration. As Roddy started to speak, both women sat as expressionlessly as if they weren’t in the room.
    “All right, Tessa, this is what’s happened up till now. Jo, and Meg, her older sister, have been invited to an evening party, a New Year’s Eve dance. They each have only one good dress to wear—they’re very poor,