Stranger on the Cliff (ONC 2021)

Beautiful Mistake

"Lord Greencester, my sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy."

The girl was pretty. A little young and very delicate looking, with clear, pale skin and large dark eyes. Tav wasn't attracted to girls, but there was an appealing sparkle in her eye. It wasn't a flirty look she was giving him, not at all, but she did seem amused.

"Call me Tav," he said, and winced when her hand shot up to cover her mouth, a giggling gasp escaping her. This strange world was going to take some getting used to, and he glanced over toward Darcy to see if he was about to be horsewhipped off the property, but the man was giving him a different kind of look. Almost searching. And he had a flush across the high bones of his pale cheeks that was incredibly distracting.

He'd practically forgotten he was talking to the girl, until he felt the warmth of her leaning in too close. "I cannot do that, not yet, anyway," she whispered, but there was a flash of a very cheeky grin too, and Tav was extremely grateful Lady Catherine had apparently made herself scarce for the awkward introductions.

Darcy moved further from them, examining some painting on the far wall and glancing over from time to time.

"You may have to guide me here, Miss Georgiana," Tav asked, trying to maintain the kind of decorum he'd only ever read about. "Formal social interactions are not my forte."

"I had heard as much," she grinned, and leaned in even closer. "My brother was furious when our aunt read out your uncle's letter over breakfast one morning. 'Twould seem he heard a little too much about where your true 'forte' lies whilst in London."

Tav was confused. This sweet but saucy girl was not the character had seemed like in the story, but everything else was so true to form. 

"Do you know Sam?" he asked, apropos of nothing, but she didn't seem put out, tapping her finger against her lower lip as she thought.

"The doctor's assistant?" she asked after a moment. Tav shook his head but felt an uncomfortable weight in his gut. If this Darcy and Georgiana really were actors, they were very good. Too good. 

Tav couldn't focus on that, though, because it made him horribly uncomfortable. He could try and work out why this Georgiana was so out of character compared to what he would expect. A  harmless mystery to focus on instead of horrible confusion.

"Forgive me, but I'm surprised to see you so relaxed around me, particularly given my apparent reputation." And her history with Wickham, though he certainly wasn't going to bring up that name.

"You must not believe everything you hear, Lord Greencester. Can I admit something?"

He nodded tentatively, a little worried about where this might be going, glancing over to check Darcy was still seemingly enraptured by a painting of an ugly woman next to a horse.

"You can trust me not to repeat things that you've said," he offered.

"I thought as much, even if you may find me too trusting. It has got me into difficult circumstances in the past. And I promised myself I would be more guarded going forward. But you have a kind face, Lord Greencester, and you remind me somewhat of my brother, too. My big secret? My life is terribly boring. I have very few friends. Most of the girls in the neighbourhood only court me for my family connections and money, and the ones I would spend time with my aunt deems beneath me and forbids. My brother, who I do adore, has far more important things to worry about in the city and spends fortunes on excellent governesses and tutors for me, quite forgetting that opening my mind in that way is dangerous when I do nothing but sit in this mausoleum of a house each day."