An Alternate Perspective

by Wynne Mabry

  Broken

  After dinner, Mr. Darcy immediately returned to the library. Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley went with him, but this time Miss Bingley did not bother. Apparently, she had ceased to think the process interesting. What they did not know was that she was lingering in the hall, waiting to hear if her tampering had been successful.

  Mrs. Hurst had informed them that Jane was intending to come down to the drawing room very soon, and to sit with them for a few hours that evening. This subject was discussed while they were waiting for the water to boil.

  “I shall stay here and keep working,” Mr. Darcy said.

  “I really should stay here with you then,” Mr. Bingley said, “but I do not want Jane to feel mistreated.”

  “I will still be here,” Elizabeth said, knowing that Mr. Darcy required her assistance, and also feeling that she did not want him to be alone if anything else went wrong. “You can go and enjoy an evening with Jane without worrying about his safety. Anyway, there has not been any risk since we started using the looking glass. That was a good idea of yours.”

  “It was,” Mr. Bingley said happily. “I could not leave you otherwise, but I would like to spend time with Jane if you do not mind.”

  “It is better if you do,” Mr. Darcy said. “As it is, she will be wondering where the rest of us are. You had better tell her that we are helping Mr. Hurst. We do not want her to know about his disappearance. She is too kind-hearted and would worry a great deal, which will not do after she has just been ill.”

  “No, it will not,” Mr. Bingley agreed.

  The water was boiling now, and they attended to the machine. Mr. Bingley pulled the levers, and Mr. Darcy stood in front of the small panel of knobs, ready to do the job at which he was becoming an expert.

  Elizabeth was hoping they might be lucky enough to achieve a quick success. She would be going away to spend another evening with less pleasant people, but there would be great satisfaction in thinking of the two couples being reunited in this reality. Mrs. Hurst would be delighted if her husband came along to the drawing room as well.

  Unfortunately, everything now went wrong. Mr. Darcy could not produce any light in the glass cylinder. He was slightly surprised at first, but after he had readjusted the knobs several times without achieving anything, that surprise rapidly turned into anger.

  “I do not understand,” he cried in frustration. “This is the easy part. I have already done it dozens of times today, and without any difficulty. I know exactly what I am doing. There should already be a portal forming.”

  “Perhaps there is not enough steam,” Mr. Bingley suggested.

  But the cogs were turning as they had done before. “The machine seems to be working as it should,” Elizabeth said.

  “Except that it is not,” Mr. Darcy said irritably. “There is obviously something wrong. It is broken.”

  “It is not completely broken,” Elizabeth said gently. “The cogs are turning. Perhaps some minor repair is needed.”

  “Oh yes,” Mr. Darcy shouted. “Some small adjustment. We all know how simple that may be. I shall never be able to get them back now.”

  “You need to calm yourself, Darcy,” Mr. Bingley said, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “It is no use getting worked up about this. Louisa understands that you can only do your best. She will not blame you if you cannot fix the machine. If anything, she is grateful that you have done so much. Anyway, I do not believe this is our only hope. Has it not occurred to you that Hurst will just build another machine and get himself back?” He frowned. “Why did you say that we shall never get them back?” he asked. “You said them, not him. Is there somebody else with Hurst?”

  “Elizabeth,” Mr. Darcy said in almost a whisper.

  “Elizabeth? But she is here.”

  “This is not our Elizabeth.”

  Mr. Bingley looked questioningly at her.

  “It is true,” she said.

  “But how?”

  “I was also in the library when the portal formed. The library in my reality. I was drawn into it and brought here at the same time that they were sent there. I saw them at the other end of the portal just before it happened.”

  “How extraordinary. So that is how you knew about it. But why did you not tell me?”

  “The last thing that we wanted was for Jane to know that her sister was in such a dreadful predicament. That would be even worse than telling her about Mr. Hurst. Your sister and Mr. Darcy did not want to burden you with having to keep a secret from her, so they felt it should be kept from you as well.”

  “Which sister? Do they both know about this?”

  “No, only Louisa,” Mr. Darcy said. “We did not tell Caroline.”

  “Good. I would not trust her to keep a secret. She is too thoughtless. And I do agree with you that Jane must not know. It would be a very great shock. We must get Elizabeth back without Jane finding out what has happened.”

  “You are forgetting that I cannot fix this machine. I cannot rescue Hurst and our Elizabeth or send this one back to her own reality. I am letting down everybody.”

  “You do not know that you cannot fix it,” Elizabeth said. “You should at least look at the machine first. The problem might only be something like a loose piece.”

  “Or it might be that everything has been shaken loose. I have managed to work this machine, but I do not think that I can put it back together.”

  “You are allowing yourself to give up hope too easily,” Mr. Bingley said. “Now that I know what has happened, I understand why, but you must stop being so certain of defeat. I really do think it very likely that Hurst is already working on another machine. I cannot imagine that he would just sit around doing nothing.”

  “No, he would not,” Mr. Darcy admitted. “He would not give up so easily.”

  “I think he is building one,” Elizabeth cried. “When we saw him in the portal, he was holding a stack of papers.”

  “He was,” Mr. Bingley said. “I recall seeing that as well. No doubt they were notes for a new machine. There you go, Darcy. He is planning to build one. We only have to wait for him to finish it, and they will be able to come back. I do not think it will be very long either. Now that he knows what he is doing, Hurst will be able to put a machine together in no time at all.”

  “If he remembers everything that he did the first time,” Mr. Darcy pointed out. “And if he is able to get the parts. And if it works.”

  “Have some confidence, Darcy. He built one machine, did he not? It should be an easy matter to build another. You must not be so dismal.”

  “You would be just as dismal if it was Jane who had disappeared into another reality.”

  “Probably. But I would not stop hoping. I do understand how upsetting this is to you. I just think that you are too hasty in pronouncing that all is lost. There is still hope.”

  “There is always hope,” Elizabeth said.

  “I suppose there is,” Mr. Darcy conceded, but in a voice that lacked conviction. “Hurst is the sort of man who will keep working to solve a problem. It is true that he will do everything he can.”

  “Excellent,” Mr. Bingley cried. “You are coming around to the right way of thinking.”

  “Just in case though, I must see if I can figure out what is wrong with this machine. You two might as well both spend the evening with Jane.”

  “I do not like to leave you in this mood either,” Mr. Bingley said. “Some company will be good for you.”

  “I shall stay,” Elizabeth said.

  “I would rather be on my own,” Mr. Darcy said. “I do not want company right now, and I am sure that nobody wants to put up with my bad mood.”

  Mr. Bingley studied his friend for a moment before replying, “Very well. But if you fix the machine, you must come and tell one of us before trying to use it.”

  “I will not walk into any portals without informing you first,” Mr. Darcy said without any humour in his voice.

  Elizabeth hesitated
to leave him alone. She would have liked to keep on eye on him, especially since there could be more problems to aggravate him, but he had made his wishes clear. Besides, it also occurred to her that he would be better off without her presence. She must be a distressing reminder of what he feared to lose.

  “Darcy will be fine,” Mr. Bingley said to her in the hall. “I know his behaviour is concerning, but he is strong. But I suppose you must already understand him very well, assuming that he is like your Darcy.”

  “I believe he is quite like, but we are not engaged.”

  “No? That does surprise me. You should be.”

  “That is what your sister thinks too,” she said with a smile.”

  “What about Jane and me? Are we engaged?”

  Correctly interpreting this to mean her own sister and the other Mr. Bingley, Elizabeth replied, “No, but they do like each other very much.”

  “Then perhaps they soon will be engaged. And you and Darcy as well.”

  Elizabeth did not reply to this.

  Mr. Bingley spent the evening talking with Jane, but he did not appear to be in danger of revealing anything. She accepted the absence of Mr. Hurst and Mr. Darcy without question.

  Quite strangely, Elizabeth found that Miss Bingley seemed to want to be friendly to her this evening. So far, she had behaved much like her counterpart, and her hostility might even be greater. Perhaps she had at last decided that it was better to make peace with Mr. Darcy’s fiancée. Of course, her motivation might only be a fear of losing the privilege of visiting Pemberley.

  Just in case this civility was meant in a genuine way, Elizabeth reciprocated it, but she could not help having suspicions of some ulterior motive. She did not much enjoy the conversation either. Miss Bingley seemed to be in a good mood though. Under the circumstances, she really should not have exhibited such excellent spirits. Elizabeth kept glancing at Mrs. Hurst to see if she was bothered by this, but she appeared to be unoffended.

  After Jane returned upstairs, fortunately without having any inkling that anything was amiss, Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley both went back to the library to see how Mr. Darcy was progressing. They found him looking intently at the machine.

  “I have been reading Hurst’s notes and looking over everything,” he said. “At first, nothing appeared to need fixing, but I have just come to the conclusion that there is a piece missing. A fairly small piece. I presume that it must have come loose.”

  They both immediately looked downward.

  “I have already looked,” Mr. Darcy said. “I could not find anything. I thought it might be lodged somewhere in the machine, but apparently not. Perhaps you could check the floor again in case I missed something.”

  All three of them looked, but there was definitely nothing under the machine. They then searched the entire floor on hands and knees, but the missing piece was nowhere to be found.

  “Perhaps it fell into the coal box,” Mr. Bingley suggested. He turned out every piece of coal, but only received blackened hands for his trouble.

  While he went to wash, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy searched the book shelves. There was no good reason to expect the piece to be there, but every possibility had to be considered.

  “I can only think that it must have caught on somebody’s clothing,” Mr. Darcy said, without sounding very confident of this. “It must have been dragged elsewhere in the house.

  Mr. Bingley returned to find them again on hands and knees, this time searching the hall. He joined in, and the three of them covered this expanse, and then the dining room. After that, they went into the drawing room, where Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst were still sitting. After learning what was sought, they gave their assistance as well, but it was all to no avail.

  “Louisa and I went up to accompany Jane down,” Elizabeth said. “I think we should check her room and the stairs.”

  “You went upstairs as well,” Mr. Bingley said to his other sister. “Just before we sat down to dinner.”

  “Oh yes, so I did,” Miss Bingley said in exceptionally agreeable tone. “I will go and search my room too.”

  Elizabeth and Mrs. Hurst, who had not been to their own rooms, went together to look in Jane’s. They told her that Mr. Hurst was missing a bit of metal, but hid the urgency of their quest from her. While they crawled over the floor, she helpfully shook out her own covers in case it had fallen in there, but nothing was found.

  The gentlemen had been searching the stairs and hall in the meantime.

  “We have not found anything either,” Mr. Bingley said when Mrs. Hurst reported their lack of results.

  “Nor did I,” Miss Bingley said, “and I was very thorough.”

  In actual fact, she had thrown the piece of metal into her fire and then sat upon the floor for a while so that she could pretend to be looking if anybody came in.

  “I shall have the servants conduct another search in the morning,” Mr. Bingley said. “It will be better to look in the daytime anyway. Until then, you must get some sleep, Darcy.”

  He spoke more firmly than Elizabeth had every heard him speak before, and Mr. Darcy allowed himself to be led away. He looked discouraged, but at least not completely distressed.

  There was Mrs. Hurst to think of as well, but she gave Elizabeth a wan smile and said, “Do not worry about me, my dear. I knew that Mr. Darcy’s efforts might not succeed. I am more concerned about you,” she added out of her sister’s hearing.

  “I shall be fine,” Elizabeth assured her. “Naturally, I want to go home, but I have not given up hope of being able to do so in due time. Your brother thinks that Mr. Hurst will build another machine to get himself back, and I believe that he is right.”

  Mrs. Hurst smiled. “So do I. He has never let any problem get the better of him. That does make me feel better. Of course he will come home one way or another. We shall just have to wait patiently. I hope that will not be too hard for you.”

  “I do not think it will be very hard at all. It is a great comfort to feel that I have friends here at Netherfield. I am fortunate to have met with so much kindness in this reality. I am more worried about Mr. Darcy. He has been feeling the frustration and disappointment of this more than anybody. He is blaming himself for not having rescued them.”

  “He is the sort of man who tends to assume responsibility,” Mrs. Hurst said. “Sometimes more than he should. He is used to sometimes carrying a heavy burden though.”

  “I just hope that this one is not too heavy.”

  A Small Setback

  The next morning, Mr. Hurst and Mr. Darcy went out early as planned. In Meryton, they found all the parts which had originally been acquired there in the other reality. After that, they went to Hertford and the other towns, where Mr. Hurst had purchased most of his materials, as well as the large quantity of coal which had filled one of the sheds at Netherfield.

  “A smaller quantity should suffice this time,” he said. “With any luck, I may only have to operate the machine once or twice.”

  Mr. Darcy was glad to hear it. The arrival of a large delivery of coal would certainly have attracted a great deal of attention. He would have been hard pressed to explain his need for it.

  For the most part, their search was completely successful. As they visited one place after another, Mr. Hurst steadily crossed off items on his long list. Some things could not be found in the same place, but suitable alternatives were available elsewhere.

  Their one failure came near the end of the day.

  “This should not take long,” Mr. Hurst said to Mr. Darcy as they entered a shop which sold glassware.

  It did not take long, but they left without the glass cylinder which he had bought there in his own reality. The shopkeeper had no such object and no idea where one might be found.

  “I was beginning to think that we would get everything without any difficulty,” Mr. Hurst said as they walked back to the carriage. “Still, we are lucky not to have had any other difficulties. This does present us with a problem though.
I doubt that anybody else will have a glass cylinder for sale.”

  This did indeed turn out to be the case. They tried a few places which sold odds and ends, but soon came to the conclusion that it was a pointless effort.

  “I think we shall have to go to London,” Mr. Hurst said. “We should be able to find a suitable cylinder there with so much choice available, but I am afraid that it will be a great inconvenience for you.”

  “Do not worry about that,” Mr. Darcy said. “It is no great distance to London, and I do not mind the journey. We will have to wait until Monday though. It is too late for travelling there today.”

  “At least I have all the other parts,” Mr. Hurst said. “There will be plenty of work to keep me busy for now.”

  Mr. Darcy was relieved to see that his companion was not especially perturbed by this one setback. He was clearly the sort of person who always tried to find a bright side in any situation. On the way back to Netherfield, he was in excellent spirits because everything else had been found. “It could certainly be much worse,” he said. “Only one thing missing. I think we have been very lucky.”

  Being very curious about the difference between this happy man and the far less agreeable Mr. Hurst, Mr. Darcy took this opportunity to ask how his interest in science and inventing had arisen.

  “It was the influence of my stepfather,” Mr. Hurst replied. “He has a great fascination with science and is the most inquisitive person I know.”

  “Stepfather? That is interesting. Mr. Hurst has no stepfather in this reality. His father is still alive, and I might add, the most cantankerous man that I ever met.”

  “That is probably the reason why we are so different. My father was a vicious man. He died when I was seven, but I distinctly remember being terrified of him. It is a dreadful thing to say, but losing him made my life a great deal better than it would have been. Had he lived, I might well have turned out like your Mr. Hurst.”