Stranger on the Cliff (ONC 2021)

Cool Expectation

He woke again in the large bed in the over-decorated guest room at Pemberley. He was beginning to lose his desire to make the best of things.

When Georgiana suggested they visit the town, he leapt at the opportunity, thinking of escape and normality. Regardless of the fondness he was building for Georgiana, and for Darcy, too (even if that held danger and he knew he shouldn't let his appreciation of dreamy Regency literature impact his affections) he wanted to stop the unnerving feeling of not knowing where his mind was or what was real.

He'd had enough of not knowing what was going on with his mind. The evening before, after their earlier escape from the strapped-down formality, at a sumptuous but awkward dinner of several courses, Lady Catherine had been making a lot of noise about organising the wedding breakfast. Tav and Georgiana had shared a look, but hers hadn't had the worry of Tav's, and that was it. He was sick of the masquerade.

They rode in a carriage that Georgiana called a landau, with the hood down, because it was a clear, cool day, and Darcy rode beside them on a sleek grey mare. Even as Tav internally freaked out at the reception they were likely to get in town, he also felt a sense of relief that this had to be them bringing the farce to an end. If this was real life, and not a dream that he couldn't wake from, they couldn't maintain the performance in a public location. He tried to focus on that, and not the way Darcy's thighs, clad in tight, beige cotton, tensed against the flanks of the horse.

"My brother likes you," Georgiana whispered, leaning forward so the coachman didn't hear.

Tav had worked that out the day before, but he didn't know how the logistics worked somewhere like this. "Likes?" he asked, buying time and, hopefully, information.

"He is drawn to you, you must have noticed."

The happenings of the day before had prompted him to drift into sleep that night thinking of the lingering gazes that had quickly turned into blushing aversion when eye contact was made, to remember sparks he felt running up his arm anytime their hands touched across the breakfast table this morning. To consider the way Darcy seemed to relax around him, to laugh more often than brood. But it didn't mean anything until he worked out what was happening.

Tav allowed himself to ponder more as they journeyed the interminable distance to the town. Darcy and Georgiana had said it was very close, but it was almost an hour before the carriage crested a hill, and Tav could see the town. His breath caught at the first sight. Even distant, he could see it was far smaller than he'd expected, but it was stunning, the main road a long sweep curving into the distance, bordered by tall stone townhouses. The beauty of it wasn't why he gasped though. There were more carriages trundling down the main road, that continued the hard packed earth of the one they were on, with countless people dodging past them, some laughing and joking, others walking sedately arm-in-arm with parasols protecting them from the high sun. All of them dressed in the same kind of old-fashioned wear as he, Darcy, and Georgiana wore.

"What is it? Lord Greencester, please, you're making me afraid." Georgiana leaned forward, concern marring her face, and Tav realised he'd allowed a few hot tears to fall.

"Is it-," he stopped himself, wiping his eyes. There was no point asking if it was some kind of open-air historical museum. He knew they existed, in England and back home, but he'd never been to one. Maybe this did look like he would have imagined such a place, except he couldn't get past the thought that surely even the best of them had to make room for the 21st century somewhere. A parking lot. Visitors in modern dress. A generator hidden behind a building. From this excellent vantage point he could see nothing to break the illusion of being in the past. A heavy stone settled in his stomach with the loss of the idea that it might be a trick.