The Unexpected Past of Miss Jane Austen

by The Unexpected Past of Miss Jane Austen (retail) (epub)

  He examined it, then raised his head, smiling. ‘Congratulations, Dr Who, you did it.’

  Rose exhaled, overwhelmed with relief.

  ‘Er, Rose?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We seem to be attracting attention, dressed like this.’ He waved his good arm at their attire. ‘Do you think we should make our escape?’

  Rose frowned. ‘Do we ask someone to call for an ambulance?’

  Aiden shook his head. ‘No thanks. Now the threat of antiquated medicine has passed, and proper medical care is close to hand, I would much rather walk into a hospital on my own two feet.’ He looked down at his arm, then raised his head again. ‘Besides, I think the medical men did an excellent job. There’s actually some sensation in my fingers now.’

  Rose went to move her hand to her non-existent pocket, then huffed. ‘I need my phone to call a taxi!’

  ‘I’m pretty spent. Let’s get to a bench as near to the road as you can. Can you run up to the station and find one there, then come and pick me up?’

  Walking along the tree-lined avenue, Rose left him reluctantly behind, then hurried through the still busy Winchester streets, keeping her head down and trying to ignore the strange looks she was receiving and the teasing shouts from the occasional passing teen.

  The taxi driver didn’t seem too fazed by her appearance, once she’d explained she’d been at a themed event. When they had parked up in Market Street, she hurried to fetch Aiden, but as he settled into the seat and she fastened his belt for him as carefully as she could, the driver caught his eye in the mirror.

  ‘Thought these costumed things were pretty civilised. What happened to you, mate?’

  Aiden grimaced as Rose sat back. ‘Let’s just say it was more of a re-enactment.’

  This seemed to amuse the driver, and he kept up a steady monologue during the half hour drive to Chawton, thankfully not noticing Aiden drifting in and out of sleep. Rose was counting the miles, so thankful for the speed of transport now, desperate to contact Morgan and let her know she was okay.

  Once they reached the small car park opposite the museum and established Aiden’s car remained exactly where they’d left it, Rose took the keys from the wheel arch (whispering a silent thanks they were still there) and opened the boot. There was Jane’s trunk of clothes, but Rose tugged it aside, reached down for her purse and hurried back to the taxi. The driver had helped Aiden out of the car, but judging from his rather grey face, hadn’t been overly careful about knocking his arm, and Rose paid quickly, grabbing Aiden’s good arm and walking him over to lean against the car.

  ‘I need to call Morgan, find out where she is. She’ll be getting desperate.’ Rose rummaged in the boot. ‘Damn!’ She pulled her mobile out. It was dead, of course. She dug into her handbag for her portable charger and connected it, but knew it would take a few minutes to come back to life.

  ‘Use mine.’ She looked up at Aiden.

  ‘Yours will be dead too. Is there another charger in the car?’

  ‘No, it’ll be fine. I remembered to switch mine off.’ Despite his condition, he sounded rather smug, and Rose rolled her eyes at him, quickly picking up the phone and switching it on.

  ‘Damn. I don’t know Morgan’s number off by heart!’

  ‘Send James a text. You know his, I take it?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Rose quickly fired off a text to her boss, asking him to let Morgan know she was fine and promising more later, then handed the phone back to Aiden. He slipped it into his pocket, and she was relieved to see his face had assumed a more normal colour. Rose, however, could feel the easy blush staining her own cheeks as his gaze held hers, and he reached out and pulled her closer.

  ‘Welcome home, Rose.’ He leaned down and kissed her briefly, then held her with his good arm, and she leaned her head against his chest carefully, not wanting to hurt his sore ribs.

  They stood like that for some time, darkness falling fully around them, exchanging a ‘good evening’ with a couple walking a couple of dogs, who threw them a curious look but didn’t stop, and Rose sighed, straightening as Aiden’s arm fell to his side.

  ‘I must get you to the nearest A&E, Aiden. I think it’ll be Basingstoke. Shall I just call for…’

  They both looked up as a car slowed on the road, then turned sharply into the car park, and Rose almost burst into tears again as Morgan, barely waiting for James to draw to a halt, leapt from the passenger seat and threw herself at Rose.

  ‘Oh my God! Where have you been? You stopped writing, and my letters stopped going! I was freaking out. I tried everything you told me about before – I’ve been back to Bath, to the lady at the library, looking for hidden messages in old books from you. It was insane. Her name is Anne by the way, the library lady, and I really like her. I think you will too. I’ll introduce her to you later.’

  Rose stared at Morgan in disbelief. She knew perfectly well who Anne was! Morgan, however, was continuing. ‘And the people over there,’ she gestured towards the museum, ‘think I’m a nutcase because, obviously, I’ve been trying to check the floorboards constantly. We couldn’t decide if we should move the car or not. I thought we should so it didn’t get towed but James said there were no notices. so we should leave things as they are in case you came back – including the keys on the wheel. I was sure it was going to get stolen, but I guess he was right. Are you okay? Because Aiden does not look okay.’ Morgan peeked around Rose. ‘Hi Aiden.’

  Fighting back tears again, Rose drew in a shaking breath. ‘I’ll tell you everything, but first… wait!’ She frowned at her boss as he joined them. ‘How on earth did you get here so fast? I thought you were in Bath?’

  He shrugged. ‘Morgan needed someone around. I came back over earlier today.’

  Morgan nodded. ‘And there we were, having takeout in the garden of my little B&B and suddenly, there you were in Chawton! Poor James, I dragged him away from his food and made him drive me here. But I think he’ll forgive me.’

  ‘Probably.’ James was staring at Aiden, who had shed his cloak and was trying to stand up straight. ‘Bloody hell, Ade! What happened to you?’

  Rose met James’ astounded gaze with a pleading one. ‘Long story. Look, we need to get Aiden to a hospital for an X-ray. Broken arm. Can you drive us? I’m not insured to drive his car, and he can’t.’

  ‘Of course. Come on, mate.’ James and Aiden walked slowly towards James’ car, and Rose hurriedly grabbed her now active phone, locked the car and added the keys to her bag before turning back to Morgan.

  Morgan was shaking her head. ‘You just broke the laws of the universe, like, umpteen times this week and you’re worried about car insurance etiquette!’

  For a moment, Rose stared at her friend, tears gathering on her lashes again. Then, she hugged her fiercely. ‘I am so pleased to be back, Morgan. I missed you so much.’

  They followed the others over to James’ car, Rose’s gaze drawn to the familiar red-brick museum, shuttered and silent for the night, then, as they left the village to pick up the A31, she stared at Baigens as they passed, her heart full.

  ‘Sleep well, Papa,’ she murmured under her breath.

  * * *

  Rose stared at the running water gushing from the hot tap in the hospital toilets. Then, feeling guilty at the wastage, hastily turned it off, turning to dry her hands in the wall drier. How thankful was she now for modern sanitation – flushing toilets, hand sanitiser, loo roll even?

  She turned back to look in the mirror, grimacing under the bright light as it brought her features into stark relief. The tears had left her with a slightly pink nose, swollen eyes and her hair felt heavy and unclean. She was desperate for a shower, to wash her hair with modern products and clean her teeth! Thankfully, they’d managed to pick up some mints when they’d stopped at a garage, Aiden pleading for someone to get him a bottle of cold water.

  There was nothing she could do about how she looked. She’d had no make-up on for days – not that her usua
l flick of mascara and clear lip gloss made that much difference. She pulled a face at her hair, which she’d tied back with a clip she’d found in the bottom of her bag. It would have to do.

  ‘Hey, you done yet?’ Morgan’s head appeared round the door, and Rose smiled.

  ‘Just coming. What do you think?’ She held her arms out so Morgan could inspect her appearance now she’d changed clothes.

  ‘I think I have great taste! You’d never have picked that colour if I hadn’t pushed you. I think it was a good call to stay at my B&B tonight. Glad they had a room left when I called. I can’t imagine you guys having to make that two-hour trip back to Bath right now.’

  Rose followed her along the corridor to the waiting room, her eyes on her friend’s back. Was something up? She’d seemed her normal self when she’d turned up in the car park, but she had been becoming progressively quieter, and Morgan was never quiet.

  They settled back into their seats in the hospital waiting room.

  ‘I’ll get more drinks.’ Morgan was up out of her seat almost as soon as she’d sat down, and Rose frowned. Then, she looked over to where James stood, leaning against the far wall, his phone to his ear. She caught snatches of his conversation – it sounded like a guest in one of their holiday lets was having problems getting the gas hob to light. As he talked about pilot lights and finally made a call to an engineer to sort it out, Rose sighed. It all seemed from another life entirely. She supposed it was now.

  Morgan returned with two cups and a bottle of water tucked under her arm, offering one to James, which he took with a smile, and then bringing the other to Rose.

  ‘Tea. From the machine, so probably foul, but after what you’ve been drinking…’ She shrugged and dropped back into her seat.

  Rose eyed her friend warily. Morgan’s quietness had been impressive in the car on the way to the hospital as she listened to what had happened and how they’d managed to find a way back. When she’d gone with Rose to the nearest shop when James dropped them off before heading into the hospital car park with Aiden, she’d been intent on finding something suitable for them to wear, along with something to sleep in. Yes, Morgan had been smart and efficient in every way since their reunion, but Rose was convinced she was not herself.

  She glanced at her watch, newly restored to her wrist. They’d been here a few hours, but Morgan only spoke when she thought of a question.

  ‘So, there were two necklaces? And one just… dissolved away?’ Morgan frowned. ‘So hmmm, that would imply there can’t be two active in the same place. Do you think?’

  Rose was consumed by weariness. ‘I have no idea.’

  Staring at the shiny black face of her phone, she felt out of sorts. Suddenly, there was so much information available but she doubted it would answer any question Morgan asked.

  Oddly, Morgan didn’t press the issue either, which was weird. Rose looked at her. ‘Are you all right?’

  Morgan nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yeah, of course.’ She smiled, but it looked strained, and then she drew in a short breath and started to cry, tears spilling over her cheeks. ‘No, I’m not. I thought I’d lost you. I tried to be happy for you, because even if we’d miss you here, you’d have had your dad and Aiden and Jane… and of course you would fit right in in the 1800s. But—’ She stopped, wiped a hand across her cheeks. ‘It was hard to keep hold of it, to not be jealous that they’d all have you, and I wouldn’t.’

  ‘Oh, Morgan!’ Rose leaned over and hugged her. She was filled with remorse for all she’d put her friend through. ‘I’m so sorry.’ She drew back, the better to see Morgan’s face. ‘I thought of you all the time, you know I did. When we were able to exchange letters, it made everything bearable, but when that was lost to me, and so were you, I was devastated. And I knew you’d be frantic… it was awful.’

  Morgan smiled tremulously, her tears easing a little. ‘I didn’t know what to do. James had to come over to fetch me back to Bath, but I couldn’t settle. I’m so glad we came back over here today.’

  Rose looked over at James. ‘He must be going spare about work.’

  ‘He’s been a bit preoccupied, trying to catch up on things. He misses you, of course. I did go into the office for a few hours the day I was back in Bath, but I wasn’t much use to him this time.’ Morgan looked guiltily over at James. ‘I started researching to see if there was a marriage record for you and Aiden.’ She grinned at Rose, mischief plain in her large brown eyes now. ‘Come on, even if he wasn’t head over heels for you, you know he would have taken care of you.’

  Warmth filled Rose’s cheeks, but she smiled. ‘Talk about trapping a man into marriage.’

  Morgan laughed her real laugh and wiped away the last of her tears on her sleeve. ‘Oh God, I was going to stalk your family so hard through history. If there wasn’t a daughter named Morgan that came up, let me tell you, we were going to have words!’

  ‘Words? What with, my gravestone?’ Rose started laughing as well. ‘We might well have been the first people in the country to name a child Morgan.’

  ‘A revolution for sure. Oh look. It’s Aiden.’

  Chapter 34

  Rose looked over towards the door. A nurse was ushering Aiden into the room, handing him a large bag which seemed to contain his period clothing – apart from his boots, which he had to, out of necessity, still wear for now. The shirt and jeans Morgan had bought seemed to fit well enough, though, and he looked…

  ‘Still gorgeous, then?’ Morgan hissed at Rose. Then, laughed. ‘Hey, Rose? You don’t just have to ogle at him like that now. You can go and talk to him if you like!’

  Rose threw her a speaking look, then smiled self-consciously as she got to her feet and walked over to Aiden.

  The nurse had gone, and he held out a newly bandaged arm for her to inspect, along with a white paper bag containing several small boxes of tablets.

  ‘I’m well stocked with antibiotics and painkillers.’

  ‘How was it? No plaster?’

  ‘Not too bad. Had to dodge some tricky questions about who treated me and why I’d waited so long to get to a hospital. X-ray wasn’t great though. They knew a bit about what they were doing back then, but I’m still going to need a few follow-up appointments once I get home. Hence they’ve only bandaged it for now.’ He moved his fingers, which were a more normal colour again although still slightly swollen.

  Relief filled Rose. ‘What about your ribs?’

  ‘Just severe bruising.’ He shrugged, then winced. ‘Ow. Not much they can do, just time and rest and I’ll be good as new.’

  James strolled over, having finished his calls. ‘You look a lot better.’ He eyed Aiden’s shirt. ‘Not your usual style, Ade.’

  Morgan came to stand by Rose’s side. ‘I chose it. And Rose’s.’ She sounded incredibly proud, and Rose looked down at the teal checked flannel shirt she was wearing, then back at Aiden’s navy blue version of the same.

  ‘You can take the girl out of America, but you can’t take America out of the girl.’

  ‘Whatever.’ Morgan rolled her eyes. ‘You look straight out of a Lucky Brand catalogue, both of you. You’ve got to admit it’s less conspicuous than what you were wearing.’

  ‘Never a truer word spoken.’ James indicated they head towards the door. ‘Let me tell you one day about when we got back from our adventure in time and found ourselves having to explain to a lady walking a dog late at night why we were stood in a car park in full Regency regalia.’

  * * *

  Rose found the drive to the B&B in Alton extremely disconcerting. She was falling fairly easily back into the realities of the present age, yet half her mind was preoccupied with what was happening in Chawton in 1813. How odd it felt. She’d never thought of the past living and breathing in tandem with the present, but now she couldn’t imagine not thinking of it.

  Grateful to James for stopping at a late-night petrol station to pick up toothbrushes and paste for them, she looked around with interest as they pulle
d into the small car park of the B&B. It looked like a converted chapel, and Rose smiled. Aiden would be fascinated by its history.

  Joan, who owned the charming guest house, was warm and friendly, making cups of tea and coffee, despite the lateness of the hour, and taking their breakfast orders. She handed over the bedding for the sofa bed without a hint of curiosity as to why the new young couple were sharing a room but not a bed.

  Their room was lovely, set apart from the main house, and Aiden had lowered himself onto the edge of the bed as Morgan came into the room, looking as though she were a nervous mum dropping her child off at school for the first time, but she didn’t ask to stay and hear more about what they’d been through. Rose noticed fondly that she was only accomplishing this by pressing her lips together. Thanking James, she gave Morgan one last hug as her boss bent to open up the sofa bed.

  ‘Tomorrow, right? We have a two-hour drive, and I promise I’ll tell you everything.’

  Morgan sighed. ‘I can wait until you’re ready though, if it’s too painful.’

  Rose’s heart sank slightly; she had not forgotten what she had left behind. ‘I know you can, but I won’t make you.’

  ‘Okay, but I won’t text you until you text me. So you can sleep in or whatever as long as you need.’ Morgan backed into James because she was preoccupied trying to send Rose a meaningful look about Aiden.

  James took Morgan’s arm. ‘Good night. Call us if you need anything.’ He looked at Rose. ‘When do you think you might be ready to return to the – ow!’

  He rubbed his ribs as Morgan grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room.

  ‘Good night! So glad you’re back!’

  * * *

  Rose woke the next morning feeling completely disorientated. Living in the 1800s for a week, she’d grown accustomed to very silent nights. Even as exhausted as she’d been and as quickly as she’d fallen asleep, the slightest sound from outside caused her to start.