Mr. Darcy Forever (15 page)

Alec laughed. ‘So where are we going?’

Mia shrugged. ‘Questions, questions!’ She turned back and smiled at him. ‘Don’t you trust me?’

‘
I’m not sure.’

Mia’s mouth dropped open. ‘What a thing to say!’

‘
But we've only just met.’

‘
Yes, but –’ Her eyes widened and then she sighed. ‘I feel as if I know you. Does that make sense? I know it sounds crazy and I’ve heard that line in a thousand movies and read it in a million books but it's exactly how I feel about you.’

She held his gaze for a moment, anxious as to what he would say. Had she gone too far? He was right - they had only just met. Maybe she was being too forward; she knew Sarah would be having fits if she knew what was going on and yet Mia couldn't help but say those words. She'd always had to express her feelings and worry about the consequences later. So, here she was again, wondering if her feelings were about to get her into trouble.

‘
Is that crazy?’ she asked.

‘
No, it's not crazy,’ he said. ‘I feel it too. I feel like I've known you both forever.’

‘
You do?’

He nodded and Mia smiled. ‘Good,’ she said, leading the way down some steps and onto a perfect little beach. For a moment she just stood there, shielding her eyes against the sun.

‘
What are you looking at?’ Alec asked her.

‘
That’s the field, isn't it?’

‘
What field?’

‘
The field where Marianne twists her ankle and Willoughby carries her home.’

‘
Friends of yours?’

Mia laughed. ‘No – they’re from a film.
Sense and Sensibility
. The Emma Thompson adaptation of the novel.’

‘
So, you're saying that a pair of fictional characters had some sort of mishap in that field?’

Mia nodded enthusiastically. ‘I think that's definitely the one.’ She pointed to the spot where she was sure it had happened.

‘
You are funny,’ he said.

‘
Why?’

‘
Because you care about things that didn't really happen.’

‘
But it did! It was filmed right there.’

‘
By actors playing fictional characters,’ Alec said.

‘
You don't read fiction?’

‘
Only the occasional thriller.’

Mia sighed. ‘Men just don't get Jane Austen, do they?’

‘
I guess not.’

Mia looked into his dark eyes which were twinkling delightfully in the sunshine and decided to forgive him. He was just too handsome not to forgive.

The queue for the Lorna Warwick talk was incredible.

‘
I didn’t realise she – I mean
he
was so popular.’ Mia said.

‘
Look at all the women here!’ Shelley said. ‘I don't think I’ll stand a chance.’

‘
Nonsense,’ Mia said. ‘You’re gorgeous. He’d be absolutely mad not to notice you. Have you got your book?’

‘
No. I didn’t have room in my little purse. Anyway, I was going to buy a brand new one. My others are all creased or covered in dog slobber.’

Mia frowned.

‘
Don’t ask!’ Shelley prompted.

It was then that the queue started to surge forward and there was a mad scrambling for the few chairs that had been put out in the shop. Mia and Shelley were pushed and elbowed to within an inch of their lives.

‘
I didn’t think people in muslin could shove so hard,’ Mia said.

‘
Just shove right back,’ Shelley advised.

But, even with a few tactfully placed elbows, they didn’t make it to a seat but got a very good position at the front of the room close to the table where Lorna Warwick would be talking and signing.

‘
I don’t think Jane Austen herself could command such a crowd,’ Mia said, looking at the bookshop which now housed more people than books.

There were stacks of Lorna Warwick’s latest book everywhere -
Christina and
the Count
– and its wildly romantic cover featuring a beautiful young heroine and a Gothic castle was drawing lots of attention from the fans. Two enormous posters advertised the event but neither alluded to the fact that Lorna Warwick was a man.

Mia had to admit to being a bit of a fan and Lorna Warwick’s books had certainly been there to distract her when the real world got too much for her. She’d lost count of the number of evenings that had been spent in the company of fictional characters. Once she opened a book and had nose-dived into its pages, she could almost forget about the roar of the traffic outside and the bass from her neighbour’s stereo coming through the walls. Fiction was always her medicine and Jane Austen never failed to cure a heart that had been bruised by life but her favourite writer had only left six novels behind. They were wonderful, of course, and could weather any number of reads but what did a fan do when they wanted something new?

Luckily, Mia had recently found the Austen Authors website and had discovered that there was a whole world of Austen sequels, prequels and spin-offs with irresistible titles like
Mr Darcy’s Secret
,
Murder at Mansfield Park
and
Wickham’s Diary
. She’d already seen a fine collection of such titles at Shelley’s.

Then there were the Lorna Warwick’s with their jewel-bright covers, handsome heroes and beautiful, spirited heroines. Shelley had a full set of paperbacks and, judging by their cracked spines and creased covers, they were well-loved.

‘
Where
is
he?’ Shelley asked, bringing Mia back to the present.

It was then that a member of staff appeared and, next to him, walked a tall man with broad shoulders and a shock of dark hair. He was wearing a dark suit and a crisp white shirt which was open at the throat.

An enormous cheer sounded and there were even a couple of wolf whistles.

‘
Wow!’ Shelley said. ‘He’s gorgeous! I do hope they start to put his photograph in his books now. It would be worth buying them for that alone.’

Mia smiled and nodded in agreement. Lorna Warwick was the best-looking man she'd seen in a long time.

They watched as he walked to the centre of the shop and waited for some sort of order to return before he spoke.

‘
Thank you!’ he said at last. ‘It’s a very great pleasure to be in Bath today as part of the amazing Jane Austen Festival. I'm Lorna Warwick although I'm sure you all realise that isn't my real name.’

The audience laughed and clapped as if he'd said the funniest thing in the world.

‘
I’m actually Warwick Lawton but please don't hold that against me.’

There was more laughter and then he went on to talk about how he wrote, how much Jane Austen's books had influenced him and then he read an extract from
Christina and the Count
, leaving the narrative at the sort of cliff-hanger that would have readers running to the till in record time so that they could buy their own copy and find out what happened next.

There was then the most almighty scrum to queue up and meet Warwick.

‘
I’m going to get him to put lots of kisses in my book,’ Shelley said once they'd both queued to buy their copies. ‘And can you take a photo of me with him with my phone?’

Mia nodded and grinned. It was all quite exciting. She’d never met an author before. Her favourite authors were usually people who’d been dead for at least a century. She couldn’t help wondering what kind of an author Jane Austen would be if she were alive today. Would she do talks and books signings? Would she do live chats on websites?

Before she knew it, Mia and Shelley had reached the front of the queue and Warwick Lawton was signing their books.

‘
Put “To Shelley with my undying love”,’ Shelley said, batting her eyelashes.

Warwick looked up, his pen hovering over the title page of the book. ‘Well,’ he began, ‘as much as I’d like to, I think my fiancée would have something to say about it.’

‘
Oh!’ Shelley said. ‘Is that Katherine? The woman you’ve dedicated your book to?’

Mia nudged Shelley in the ribs and Warwick cleared his throat.

‘
It is, indeed,’ Warwick said, signing the book with a big flourish.

Shelley scampered around to his side of the table and Mia took a quick photo with her phone.

‘
Thank you!’ she said. ‘Have you ever thought of using the name Shelley for a heroine?’

Warwick smiled.

‘
Because you can use it if you want. I don’t mind!’

Mia grabbed her arm and marched her away.

‘
I think he liked me,’ Shelley said. ‘Don’t you think?’ She paused for a moment before reaching the door and opened her book to see what Warwick Lawton had written. ‘To Shelley with my very best wishes,’ she read with a down-turned mouth. ‘And there's only one kiss.’

‘
But it's a very big kiss,’ Mia said.

‘
Yes,’ Shelley said. ‘It’s probably a kiss with tongues.’

They both burst out laughing and left the shop together, arm in arm.

* * *

Lloyd looked at his watch and Sarah bit her lip. He was bored with her already, wasn’t he? He was trying to think of an excuse to get up and leave. She knew she shouldn’t have told him about her OCD. Even though he had it himself, it didn’t mean that he’d want to spend time with a woman who had it.

She twisted her hands under the table and counted silently to ten. It was one of the ways she used to calm herself down and take control of a situation.

Eight. Nine. Ten.

‘
Well, I think it’s about time I got on,’ she said.

Lloyd looked at her, surprise in his eyes.

‘
And you must be busy too,’ she added. It was better to be in charge of these things, she told herself.

‘
Well, I’ve got an appointment at the Jane Austen Centre,’ he said. ‘Just to take a few photographs for the article.’

‘
Oh, right,’ Sarah said. So this was it, was it? A short but sweet meeting that didn’t come to anything.

‘
Would you like to come with me?’ he asked.

At first, Sarah thought she must have imagined his invitation but he repeated it and she smiled in relief that she wasn’t being dumped in a Bath tea room. ‘Well, I’ve never turned down an excuse to visit the Jane Austen Centre.’

‘
Good,’ he said.

They paid for their tea and left the shop together, wending their way through the beautiful back streets until they came out at Gay Street.

‘
She lived here, you know,’ Sarah said.

‘
What – in the Jane Austen Centre?’

‘
No – Gay Street - just a few houses up. It was one of her many addresses in Bath.’