And yet, I wasn’t sure I wanted to throw Darcy out—or at least, not yet. Because as weird and unexpected as this situation was, there was no denying it was also the single most exciting thing to happen to me since I was fourteen and won a story writing competition at school. Twenty-four hours ago, my life had been completely normal, if a tad lonely, and now I hadPride and Prejudice’s Mr. Darcy waiting for me at home. A man who has perhaps the sexiest transformation in all of literature by going from being proud and judgmental to humble and self-aware. A man who loves a woman not just because of her fine eyes but also for her brains, courage, and lively wit, and who never waivers in his love for said woman, continuing to fight for her even when he thinks it’s impossible. And as much as I wanted to tell Bianca about him, I knew that if I did, I’d have her six-foot-six, rugby-playing fiancé at my front door within an hour to forcibly evict Darcy frommy life. I stuffed my phone back in my bag, guilt surging through me for keeping something this huge from my best friend.
I stopped off at Sainsbury’s in Kentish Town to pick up some supplies, then walked back to my flat, the guilt slowly being replaced by a fizz of excitement as I got closer to home. There were so many questions I wanted to ask Darcy while I had the chance. What had his childhood been like? Did he secretly hate the Bingley sisters? Did he wear underpants under his britches, or had they not been invented yet? A smile spread across my face at the thought of his reaction if I asked him that last question. And then the smile disappeared when I turned onto my road and saw Mrs. Atallah, wearing a fuchsia-colored tracksuit and watering the pots of geraniums that lined her front steps.
“Ah, the lovebird returns!” she bellowed as I approached. “How was your night? Not over too quickly, I hope?”
“It wasn’t like that, Mrs. Atallah. He’s just a friend.”
“I wish I had a friend who looked like that; he reminds me of Jeremy from season three ofLove Island. Although I didn’t think much of his dress sense.”
“He’d been at a costume party.” I tried to get past her, but the older woman was wily and moved to block my way.
“From the sound of the TV all morning, I take it he’s still up there?”
“He might be staying for another day or two. That’s not a problem, is it?”
“Not as long as you two keep the noise down,” she said, winking at me.
“I told you, it’s not—”
“Oh, lighten up, will you? You spend far too much time moping up there on your own. It’s good to see you letting yourself have some fun for once.”
“I have plenty of fun,” I said, perhaps a little too defensively, as Mrs. Atallah raised an eyebrow.
“Apart from your Wednesday-night drinks with that friend of yours, you spend every evening at home, alone, reading with your cat. Life is short, hayati—and as good as romance books are, they’re nothing on the real world.”
I was tempted to tell her that was patently untrue, and I’d much rather live in a fictional world where you were guaranteed a happy-ever-after than one where men abandoned you all the time, but I also needed to get upstairs and check on Mr. Darcy.
“It’s been good to chat, Mrs. Atallah,” I said, squeezing past her toward the door.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!” she called after me as I stepped inside. “And make sure you drink plenty of cranberry juice. When Charbel and I first married, I got the most terrible—”
I slammed the door shut, cutting her off before she could give me nightmares for a week. I ran up the stairs, giving my hair a quick tousle before I unlocked the door and stepped inside the flat. Darcy was sitting exactly where I’d left him this morning, his eyes fixed on the TV screen.
“Mr. Darcy?”
He jumped and spun around to look at me. “Ah, Miss Knight. My apologies, I did not hear you enter.”
He rose and gave me a small bow of greeting, and I suddenly knew how the ladies of Meryton must have felt the first time Darcy walked into the ballroom; he really was handsome. For a moment, I considered curtsying in response, but that was just too weird.
“How have you been getting on withPlanet Earth?” I asked.
“It is quite remarkable! I have seen wonders I could never have imagined existed. Did you know that in the Americas, there are trees that havebeen alive since two thousand years before Jesus Christ? And that at the very bottom of the ocean, there are monstrous creatures with the name gulper eels, which can consume prey larger than their own bodies?”
His eyes were shining as he spoke, and I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m glad you’re enjoying your first taste of television.”
“At first I thought it obscene, but it is a quite extraordinary invention. Although I fear I may have offended Sir Attenborough, for I have made many blasphemous exclamations of surprise throughout his presentation.”
“Don’t worry, he can’t hear you,” I chuckled, then stopped when I remembered Elizabeth’s observation that Darcy didn’t like being laughed at. “Are you hungry? I can make us some lunch.”
He nodded, but his attention had already returned to the screen, on which two baboons were mating enthusiastically. I made us two ham-salad sandwiches, and by the time they were ready, the episode had finished and I was able to drag Darcy away from the TV.
“Did your acquaintance inform you of how I may travel back in time to my own era?” he said as he sat down.
I took a sip of water to allow myself a moment before I answered. Should I tell him the truth: That rather than being a time-traveler, he was actually a fictional character, and although I had no idea how it had happened, it was possible I’d somehow released him from a magical book I’d stolen from a bookshop? But then Darcy would want to go straight to the bookshop, and I’d have to see that smug, Jane Austen–hating man again, reveal Mr. Darcy’s presence in London, and grovel for his help. No, there wasno wayI was doing that. Besides, given his hatred of the character, I could never trust Nick to have Darcy’s best interests at heart. For all I knew, he might try to destroy Darcy, along with the copy ofPride and Prejudicehe’d come from.
I was aware Darcy was watching me across the table, and I put my glass down so he wouldn’t see my hand shake.
“I’m afraid he had no idea how you got here or how to get you home.”
