Bob grinned again, showing a gold front tooth. “Because he wants to go to Pemberley, of course.”
* * *
Once again, we return to the theme of me running as fast as I can through train stations, cursing myself for my poor fitness and lack of sports bra. I dashed up the escalator and sprinted toward platform four, my lungs almost bursting. When I reached the ticket barriers, I could see the Derby train on the platform and heard the whistle to signal its departure.
“Help! I need to get through the barrier!” I shouted at the nearest guard.
“Ticket?”
“I don’t have one, but it’s an emergency and—”
“No ticket, no travel.”
“But I need to get on that train!”
“There’s another one just before nine p.m.,” the guard said. “You can get a ticket from the machine over there.”
“Please, I have to—”
I stopped as I saw the train begin to pull out of the station. For a second, I almost sank to my knees again, but I’m English and this was a public place, so my own sense of embarrassment stopped me. Still, metaphorically speaking, I sank to my knees and let out a low wail of despair. Darcy was on the train, speeding northbound, and by the time it reached its destination, he might well have disappeared completely. I was too late.
Tears filled my eyes, and I blinked them away as I pulled out my phone and started to compose a message to the others.
“Miss Knight?”
I looked around to see Darcy sitting on a bench behind me. I almost whooped in relief, until I saw the right sleeve of his jacket dangling by his side.
“Darcy!” I ran toward him and pulled open his jacket, hoping tosee his arm hiding inside, but it was gone. I looked up at him, aghast. “You’re fading.”
He visibly swallowed, and I saw how pale his face was.
“We need to get you to Baskerville Books. You’ve been in this world too long; we have to return you to your own.”
I turned and began to walk toward the escalator, then stopped when I realized he wasn’t following me. I spun back around.
“What are you waiting for?” I said. “This is urgent, come on!”
“Why did you not tell me who I really am?”
I felt my insides twist. “I’m sorry, Darcy, and I promise I’ll explain on the Tube. Please, we have to get a move on.” I took a step toward him, but he physically recoiled.
“You have used me abominably ill, Miss Knight. Tell me what reason you have for concealing my true identity from me—for I am a character from thatPride and Prejudicenovel, am I not?”
“You are, and I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner; but I was scared that if you knew the truth, it would distress you too much. You were struggling enough with the whole time-travel thing, without the added head-fuck of finding out you’re a character from a novel.”
“But you knew from the first moment we met?” Darcy said.
“Pretty much.”
“And did you also comprehend how I got here? Is this something that occurs frequently in your world, but you always disguise the truth from your unfortunate victims?”
“No, this has never happened to me before, I swear,” I said. “And to begin with, I had no idea how you’d got here. But now I know…sort of.Pride and Prejudiceis one of my favorite books, and somehow I read you out of a copy the night you appeared on the bus. I had no idea I was doing it, but I think maybe I needed you here for some reason andthat’s why you appeared. The book you came from belonged to a special bookshop owned by the man you met at Bianca’s party, Nick. I have to take you to him now so he can help get you back into the book before it’s too late.”
I waited for Darcy to move, but he remained sitting where he was, staring at me as if I were a complete stranger.
“Did you know before today that this Nick gentleman could return me?”
Oh God. But there was no point in lying; it was all going to come out anyway. “I suspected he could, yes, but I also didn’t trust Nick with your safety. I thought he hated you and meant you harm, when actually—”
