Stranger on the Cliff (ONC 2021)

Change Inevitable

Darcy had gone to take care of business in the city, leaving the two of them in the drawing room of the house on Brunswick Square, where they were staying.

Georgiana had not settled since they arrived back at the house, pacing almost angrily the moment Darcy had taken his leave, glancing out of the window each time her steps took her past it.

"What was it?" she asked, frustrated tones not hiding the fear.

Tav didn't know how to respond. He remembered Austen calling them gods, but seeming unsure of the definition herself. If that- that thing was what she'd been talking about, Tav wasn't sure how anyone could grant it the name of a god.

"I don't know," he finally admitted.

"'Twas not friendly. I'd wager. It looked angry, if one can say such a thing about a formless being."

Tav knew what she meant. Those red 'eyes', for want of a better word, had been the epitome of fury.

"I don't know what we need to do now. Lord Greencester can't help, of course."

"You need to woo my brother, surely. This challenge you have, to receive a proposal from him, it hasn't changed."

"I don't get it, though," Tav huffed petulantly. "How can I just change the law?"

Georgiana ceased her pacing, dropping onto the couch by his side.

"The law?" she asked, taking his hand. "I don't think anyone has thought about making a law. It might not be the done thing, but you just have to make my brother want you more than he worries about how society may treat him after the fact."

Tav turned to Georgiana in surprise, but she just looked back at him with peaceful confidence on her face before she let go of his hand and covered a ladylike yawn.

"This day has exhausted me. I must rest for a while before dinner. I'm certain you will come up with some way to sweep him off his feet within your deadline, and when you do that beast will be sent back to whence it came, I am sure."

Tav watched her leave before dropping his head into his hands. Another thing that had to have changed, without him even knowing. So, a relationship between two men had no prevention in law but only society prevented them from becoming a normality.

The air seemed to wave for a moment, and Tav let out a squeak when he looked up to see the shimmering figure of Jane Austen by the window.

"You're back!" he exclaimed, and she chuckled, the echo still there in the way she sounded.

"You are doing amazing things, young Octavius."

"A lot more is changing than I can tell. But the characters here aren't aware of the changes, so they can't even warn me. It's no longer illegal for men to be together? I've done nothing to change that law, I know I haven't."

"You are doing quite marvellously, young Octavius, surely, but not everything falls on your head. The Powers- well, they have been able to make additional arrangements, ones that had an earlier impact than yours, though this one remains an important step."

Tav stood, feeling a surge of frustrated anger at the woman's (or ghost's?) bewildering explanation.

"I don't understand. Things are changing that I haven't done."

"You have noticed Georgiana becoming braver? Saying her thoughts?"

"Yes?"

"The Powers have not liked how humans treat each other, I told you this. They have not liked the prejudice and bigotry. Older stories have had impact in how women behave, how they are considered, in this time, and in yours. The Powers have given themselves influence there, too, and that impacts Georgiana's character here."