“Right,” I said with a nod. “Yes, I suppose I would sort of have to marry you, wouldn’t I?”
She let out a guffaw.
“I mean, if I compromise you, Miss Bennet—” I broke off, grinning. “Yes, all right, I think I like that. Come with me to breakfast at Rosings, and I shall have no other choice but to own up to the consequences of my reckless behavior.” I had thought we’d be contemplating how kissable each other’s lips were in the darkness, but it was happening now, as the sun rose. Her lips were enticing, if I did say so myself.
“No,” she said. “I think you’ve forgotten I don’t wish to marry you.”
“Indeed,” I said, laughing again, because we were laughing rather a lot. “Ihadforgotten that.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You don’t think it worked, do you?”
“No, I do,” I said. “I believe we have made it to Friday, and I believe that we shall see, for the first time, what Friday is like in the morning.”
“But you think we shall fall asleep and wake up to Thursday again.”
“I…” I shrugged.
“Which is why you don’t care about parading me around Rosings after staying out all night with me.”
Was she right? Or did I wish to become trapped in a marriage with this woman? I shrugged. “Fine, I suppose we part ways, then. You sneak back into the parsonage, and I shall sneak back into Rosings. And if we have solved the problem, and we are living forwards from now on, we never have to speak to each other again.”
“Yes, you are leaving on Saturday, are you not?”
“Indeed,” I said. I held out my hand. “Very nice to have been stuck in a time rotation with you, Miss Bennet. Do have a wondrous life.”
She shook her head at me, but she laughed. We were laughing a lot. She took my hand and we shook. “Have a wondrous life, Mr. Darcy. Good morning.”
“Good morning,” I said, saluting her.
We did part ways.
I walked up to Rosings, and I did not bother sneaking in. Instead, I walked directly into the front door, where the servants who were moving about, taking ash buckets here and there and like, stopped to peer at me in confusion and I just saluted them as well.
I went into the breakfast parlor. It was too early for anything to be set out yet, but I sat down at the table and yawned.
Oh, God in heaven, was I going to fall asleep at the table? I stretched. Perhaps sitting was a bad idea.
I walked out of the breakfast parlor, wandering through the house, looking here and there until…
Through the window, I noticed Mrs. Collins and Miss Lucas walking off in the direction of town.
Wait a moment, it couldn’t have…
I dashed back through the house until I found a servant. It was a footman, whistling as he made his way through the hallway. I stepped into his path.
He stopped short, alarmed. “S-sir?”
“What day is it?” I demanded.
“It’s, erm, it’s Thursday, sir,” he said.
“Thursday,” I said. “Are you absolutely certain?”
“I… fairly certain?” He cringed.
I asked three more servants, and they all said it was Thursday, and then I left the house and went down to the parsonage, and by the time I got into their breakfast parlor, I could hear Mr. Collins.
“….accompany me on my outing to visit a few sickly members of the church,” he was saying.
