An Alternate Perspective

by Wynne Mabry

  “I quite agree. It is good of you to think of her.”

  “It comes quite naturally,” she said. “Even though I know she is not my sister, it is easy to feel affectionate toward her. The two of them are exactly the same.”

  She and Mr. Darcy went back to the library together. She noticed that he did not close the door this time, evidently a concession to the fact that they were not a couple, even though that was how they would be seen by others.

  There, she carried on telling him what she had seen. “At first, I thought it was a reflection, but Mr. Hurst was there too, and he was not in the room with me. After that, I was sucked into the vortex. Presumably they were pulled in at the same time I was. When I sat up, it was gone.”

  “The water must have all boiled away,” he said. “Once the power was gone, the portal could not be sustained.”

  “The machine is powered by steam?”

  “Yes.”

  “I though it might be. I saw the coal last night and then recalled that there was some warmth coming off the machine right after my experience. I looked at it briefly, but I was more concerned with how it could have appeared than with what it was. And then I went to dinner, and nothing was right. It was very disconcerting. First there was everybody talking about Mr. Hurst and his inventions. The one that I know does not invent things. Or do anything useful really.”

  “How extraordinary. I cannot imagine it.”

  “I could not comprehend the opposite. Then you and Mrs. Hurst were both so different.”

  “Mrs. Hurst as well?”

  “Yes. Where I come from, she is not a pleasant person. Your Mrs. Hurst is delightful. It was a welcome change, but I was astounded. Miss Bingley was just the same as far as I could tell, and Mr. Bingley. He is just as agreeable in my reality.”

  “But I am not? The other version of me, I mean.”

  “Not that I have ever seen, but perhaps I am being unfair. He is probably very agreeable with his friends. His manners are not lacking. There is just a great deal of reserve behind them. And he is proud.”

  “That sounds rather like me when I went up to Cambridge. I was full of pride and very reserved in my manners. Then I met Mr. Hurst, who became a great friend. Our conversations used to challenge my mind, but I think his greatest influence was in encouraging me to laugh. I left university a far more sociable person than I was when I arrived. In London, I met Mr. Bingley, who provided further influence upon me, but the improvement in my nature began at university.”

  “I doubt that the Mr. Hurst of my reality attended any university. Nor can I think of him in connection with challenging conversations. It would seem that the Mr. Darcy I know did not have the same influence.”

  “That could explain some difference between us, but perhaps he is still like me in other ways.”

  “Perhaps he is. I do not know him very well.”

  “But well enough to dislike him.”

  “He did something to provoke me. It was when we first met, so our acquaintance did not begin well, and it did not improve from there.”

  “Was that at the assembly?”

  “It was.”

  “Did he think you not handsome enough to dance with?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “You said that as well?”

  “I did.”

  “I am astonished.”

  “You may have found me agreeable last night, but I do have my faults. I was brought up to think a great deal too well of myself, and sometimes that comes out when I am in an ill mood, which was the case that evening.”

  “Yet you are engaged?”

  “She forgave me. It is possible that I am better at apologizing than your Mr. Darcy. I was forgiven, and it was not long before I decided that she was the handsomest woman of my acquaintance.”

  “You must be missing her dreadfully, “Elizabeth said. “I should let you get on with your reading so that you can bring her home as soon as possible.”

  “And you should get some breakfast,” he said. “But come back here soon afterwards. In case I get this machine working, you should be at hand, ready to go home. And I might need you to help determine if it is the correct world as well. They may not be there waiting for me, in which case, I hope you will find them and get them into the library. The portal will not last very long, but I could wait and bit and then establish another one.”

  “I will be happy to help in any way,” she said. “I shall return shortly.”

  “While you are at breakfast,” he said as she was standing, “I think it will be best if you do not say anything about your situation if it can be helped. We are agreed that Jane should be kept from knowing this, and Bingley will not be very good at keeping a secret from her, so he had better not know either. Just remember that you call him Charles.”

  “And Mrs. Hurst is Louisa. It will seem strange, but then I may not have any cause to call them anything in the course of one conversation. What about Miss Bingley?”

  “She is Miss Bingley to my Elizabeth as well. Unfortunately, they are not good friends.”

  “I suppose she did not care for your engagement.”

  “No, not at all.”

  “I do not like deceiving any of them, but it is a good precaution for Jane’s sake,” she said, aware that in asking her not to tell his friend the truth, Mr. Darcy had to be considering the possibility of not succeeding.

  “Hopefully it will not be for very long,” he said. “If I am up to the job, we could have you returned home very soon.”

  “And your friends restored to their proper place,” Elizabeth said. “I hope it is that easy.”

  Standing just outside the library door, Miss Bingley was hoping that it would not be so easy.

  An Unfair Accusation

  Elizabeth had wanted to go straight to the library after breakfast, but then Mrs. Hurst had practically dragged her outside. Being discarded in favour of other companions had been more of a relief than an insult. After that, she had hurried back inside, hoping not to have missed anything important during that short time spent in the garden.

  Since then, she had been staring into the centre of the room, almost willing a portal to open there and feeling that her expectations were too high. There were many hours left in the day. She could not spend all of them sitting here and waiting. Some would have to be given to Jane, and then there were meals to attend, as well as the necessity of spending a little time with the rest of the company.

  Even though Mr. Darcy sometimes used the library, his appearance surprised her. His words were even more startling.

  “A portal?” she asked in astonishment. It was not her intention to feign ignorance since he obviously knew something, but in her shock, those were the only words that came out.

  “A portal into your own plane of existence,” he said, proving that he knew plenty.

  “What do you know about that?”

  “I know that you are not the Elizabeth who belongs here, and that she is stranded on your plane. I also know that you have a companion who is currently hiding in one of the unused bed chambers. A Mr. Hurst, I believe, although nothing like the one whom I know.”

  “You were listening to our conversation?”

  “I was not eavesdropping on purpose. Not that you have any right to complain, but as it happens I came up the back stairs and heard voices coming from a room which should have been empty. Even then, I would not normally have interfered in anybody else’s business, but what I heard gave me pause. After that, I did listen deliberately. I am not ashamed to admit it. It was quite natural for me to be concerned about intruders upon my own plane of existence.”

  “We did not intentionally intrude. Our presence here is the result of an accident.”

  “I understand that, but you are still intruders. And you managed to transport the Elizabeth Bennet that I know to your reality and strand her there.”

  “That was not entirely our doing, and it was not intentional either. She must have been standing close to the portal.�
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  “I cannot imagine that she would have deliberately stepped into it.”

  “No, but I believe that she must have been sucked into it. We did not walk into our end of it either. There was a very strong force which pulled us in.”

  “At least you understood what had happened. She must have been terribly distressed.”

  “I am sure she was confused,” Elizabeth said, “but hopefully not distressed. I believe that she and I are quite alike, so I have reason to believe her capable of coping well with her situation.”

  “You take a great interest in her welfare, do you?”

  “I do. It is natural that I would be concerned about her. You seem to believe that I do not care though.”

  “No, you mistake me. I have the idea that you care very much. Enough to want to help her. Perhaps even promote her interest in the most advantageous way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that you intentionally danced with me last night for the purpose of enticing me on her behalf.”

  “I did no such thing. I danced with you because I perceived that you were wanting to dance with her.”

  “And you thought that I needed some encouragement?”

  “I thought that I should not assume she would have turned you down.”

  “Can you really deny that you were trying to promote a match between us.”

  She faltered for a second before saying, “I was only trying to do what was best.”

  “I do not believe that is the truth. The hesitation in your answer suggests otherwise.”

  “I was not lying. I admit that I have been wondering if there might be some attraction between the two of you, but it was never my intention to outright promote a match.”

  “I only have your word for that, but I cannot feel any confidence in it.”

  “Why are you so determined to distrust me?”

  “You are engaged to him, are you not?”

  “I am, but what is that to you?”

  “It concerns me.”

  “My engagement? How is that a matter of concern for you?”

  “I have been wondering how it came about.”

  “You mean you have been wondering if I trapped him into it. Is that what you think of me? Is that what you think of her?”

  “No, not of her. Indeed, I believe that she is the last person in the world who would attempt such a thing.”

  “Well, I am glad to hear that you have such a high opinion of her. It might interest you to know that I share her aversion to such methods. I did not trap Fitzwilliam into anything. It was entirely a case of mutual affection. I love him, and he loves me. Most ardently. Those were his own words.”

  “And again I have only your word for this.”

  She pulled out a chain which lay under her bodice. “Perhaps this will persuade you of it.” she cried, displaying the ring which was hanging on the chain.

  He recognized it at once. An object which had the greatest value to him. “My mother’s ring.”

  “To be precise, it is his mother’s ring.”

  “Of course.” He stared at the ring. If it had the same value to the other Mr. Darcy, he would not have given it to anybody who had compelled him into an unwanted engagement.

  “He really loves you?” There was only a lingering hint a question in his voice. Of course the man loved her. He was nearly in the same state himself. “I would never give that ring to anybody for whom I did not feel the greatest affection.”

  “There is greatest affection between us. As I was trying to tell you.” Her voice quivered with emotion which he could not doubt.

  “I am sorry,” he said gently. “I made some wrong assumptions. It was stupid of me. I assumed that all circumstances would be the same. Obviously, they are not.”

  “You mean my family? My low connections? My indecorous mother, and my ill-behaved sisters?”

  He stared at her in surprise.

  “Evidently they are the same in this world,” she said. “You really thought that he would not choose to marry me because of that disadvantage? He did not let that stand in the way of his happiness. Is that what you are doing? You admire her, do you not? A great deal, I believe. But you will not act upon your feelings because you think her inferior. That is a very sad state of affairs, Mr. Darcy.”

  “It is my own choice.”

  “It is,” she acknowledged,” but I wonder if you are in the habit of influencing other people to your way of thinking. Like Mr. Bingley. Have you perhaps talked him out of proposing to Jane?”

  “I have done nothing of the sort.”

  “Not even a hint that she is unsuitable?”

  “I may have mentioned it, but that was only in conversation. I did not directly say that he should not marry her.”

  “But you probably said that no respectable man would want to marry her, and he would always take your opinions to heart.” An awkwardness in his expression confirmed that that he had said this.

  “He might. But that that should not be anything to you.” His eyes opened wider. “Let me guess. Your sister is engaged to Mr. Bingley.”

  “She is, and I never saw two happier people.”

  “It does not necessarily follow that my friend should marry Miss Bennet.”

  “Of course not. No reality is the same. But I have noticed that the two of them are exactly the same, and I perceive that they have the same feelings for each other. This makes me fear that you have interfered in his affairs.”

  “And now I fear that you mean to interfere. I will not tolerate that. What he and I do is for us to decide. You need to stay out of our affairs during your time on this plane, which will hopefully be brief. I shall leave you to await your portal. I hope your Mr. Darcy does succeed in creating it.”

  He left the library feeling that she had understood the truth too well. The desires of his heart were very much in conflict with his reasoning.

  Walking away, he wondered if that other Mr. Darcy really had been weak. Was it instead the case that he had made the better choice?

  Perhaps the real fact was that he himself was the weaker man.

  A Looming Threat

  Miss Bingley had left the breakfast room very quickly because she was tired of hearing her brother being so sympathetic toward her sister, and of being expected to do the same herself. On the previous evening, she had not believed this nonsense about alternate realities. Mr. Hurst had probably gone off somewhere, or perhaps he had been injured by one of his experiments. She was not overly concerned which one it was, or especially distressed about his absence. In her opinion, he was a dull man who spent too much time reading books or conducting experiments. She had never understood why her sister had wanted to marry him.

  Indeed, she had tried to turn Louisa’s attention toward a more fashionable man. To her disappointment, that plan had failed. Mr. Hurst had become her brother-in-law, and his needs had been given priority over hers, which she thought very unfair. He should be able to read his stupid books and conduct his silly experiments in London, but they were always going elsewhere just because it suited him.

  Last winter had been the worst. Instead of attending balls and parties in London, she had been bored to tears in Cambridge because Mr. Hurst had wanted to do some research there. The only bright spot had been the week in which Mr. Darcy had stayed with them.

  Netherfield was only a slight improvement upon Cambridge. She would have infinitely preferred London, but at least the dinners which they had attended here had not been completely given over to academic discussion. Unfortunately, the ladies were only slightly less dull than those in Cambridge. They were uncultured people who knew nothing of fashion.

  Her great consolation had been the presence of Mr. Darcy. Since they first met, Miss Bingley had been longing to get know him better. He was rich, handsome, and well-connected. Everything that a sensible person looked for in a husband. Certainly everything that she wanted in her husband.

  And then Elizabeth Bennet had gone and spoil
ed her plans. She had enticed Mr. Darcy from the beginning, and he had lost his senses and proposed to Miss Eliza. Miss Bingley had seen the danger signs, and she had warned him what relatives he would have, and what an impertinent wife, but her efforts were to no avail. He had proposed in haste before it was possible for him to recover from his infatuation.

  All had seemed lost, but a little eavesdropping suddenly gave Miss Bingley new hope.

  She had gone to the library to see what Mr. Darcy was up to, and on the verge of entering the room, she had again heard talk of alternate realities, but now she was convinced that they did exist. After hearing that Elizabeth was not actually Elizabeth, she had stood outside the open door and listened with great interest. A Miss Bennet who did not want to marry Mr. Darcy was a very pleasing thing to her way of thinking.

  She decided this had all turned out very well for her. The two people who stood in the way of her happiness had been sent elsewhere. In the place of one, there was a lady who would not want to be engaged to Mr. Darcy, and the other was just gone altogether. Her sister might make a fuss about it for a while, but it really was not any great loss. Indeed, she thought that Louisa would be better off in the long run. Without Mr. Hurst and his obsession with science, they would both have much more fun.

  Then she heard that Mr. Darcy was intending to use Mr. Hurst’s machine to return everybody to their own reality. That was not an outcome which Miss Bingley desired. She would much rather keep this Elizabeth than have the other one back.

  A Budding Friendship

  After leaving the intruder in the library, Mr. Darcy went upstairs wondering what it would be like to be married to Elizabeth Bennet. He thought of interesting conversations, laughing together as she often laughed with her friends, and being open upon every subject. He thought about the delight of sitting opposite her at every meal, and the joy of attending parties with her by his side.

  At the top of the stairs, he realized that he had not given any thought to her connections or her unsophisticated upbringing. That was a jarring moment.