Hayley Atwell

"Perk up, pet. You've still got that terrific face. Here, sit down. Have a cocktail. Let's talk about time-travel. Can I offer you some toast made using long forks and the fireplace, as done in many Noel Steatfeild books? Do you know how to do that?"

Hayley Atwell

"SEE? SPANX? THIS IS LIKE SPANX! Ahem. I apologize for my capsy-ness. I just want to impress on you the very Spanxy Spanxness of this."

Hayley Atwell

"Hmmm. Perhaps it's not as terrifically wretched from afar. Maybe you should spend this entire evening simply standing several feet away from everyone. Also, we'd be interested in talking to you about having Sofia Vergara play your exotic Colombian cousin in the next season of this currently non-existent mini-series. She will be a flamboyant coffee heiress with a dark secret who falls in love with the Poor But Noble And Very Very Good-Looking Village Doctor Who Saves Her When a Horse Throws Her During a Fox Hunt And She's Almost Eaten By Foxes. That episode is a corker!"

Hayley Atwell

"It's important to balance criticism with compliments, so I'll end with this and simply note that you look smashing here. Another G&T, darling?"

Fugs and Fabs: Hayley Atwell

My fondness for Hayley Atwell is well documented -- after all, I wouldn't let JUST ANYONE star in my fictional mini-series about extremely good-looking English people having Romantical Problems/Possibly Time-Traveling during Olden Times. But that doesn't mean I can't pull her aside from time to time and say, "Darling, you're GORGEOUS! No, no -- you know it's true! But what on earth are you wearing? It's terribly terribly dreadful, pet. Just simply beyond. You look like you're wearing full-body Spanx without whatever was supposed to go on top of the Spanx, don't you see? Oh, darling, honestly, don't cry. Come into the drawing room and I'll fix you a perfectly lovely gin and tonic. We'll manage somehow. Maybe we can toss one of the tapestries over you! Nothing shall ruin this country house weekend! Not even MURDER!" [Photos: WENN]