Mr. Darcy Forever (32 page)

‘
I know,’ she said but she couldn't stop her hands from twitching in her lap.

‘
You mustn’t be disappointed if she’s not here,’ Lloyd went on.

She nodded but she couldn’t help her eyes fixing themselves to the door as more people entered. Most were wearing the very finest of Regency gowns in a rainbow riot of colours. There was a very pretty girl wearing a dress the colour of summer sunshine and another in the palest pink which reminded Sarah of the inside of a shell. They were all finished so beautifully too with pretty ribbons, beads and bows.

Sarah looked down at her own modest dress. She’d never been one to overdo things when it came to accessories and now felt quite bare next to her peacock-like companions.

‘
What’s the matter?’ Lloyd asked her as she examined her simple white gown with the blue sash.

‘
I feel –’ she paused, ‘a little plain.’

‘
You look great,’ Lloyd told her.

‘
You’re sure I’m not too white?’

‘
White?’ he said quizzically. ‘You mean white like a swan? Or a perfect summer cloud? Or the first snowdrop of the year?’

Sarah laughed. ‘Well, when you put it like that!’

‘
White is the most desirable of colours,’ he said with a wink that made Sarah blush. And he was right too. White had, indeed, been a favourite colour in the time of Jane Austen. You couldn’t go wrong with white – it was the colour of modesty and femininity and always looked pretty and fresh.

She glanced towards the door again, eager not to miss a single soul. A woman with a huge bosom entered, her face stony as if dancing was the very last thing on her mind. Sarah watched as she grabbed hold of a woman checking the tickets and instantly recognised her from one of the talks she’d been to. Hadn’t she been disagreeable there too – complaining about something that didn’t warrant complaining about at all? How such a woman could be a Jane Austen fan beggared belief. Austen fans were usually amiable and enthusiastic but this woman seemed to be on a permanent mission to make everybody’s lives miserable.

Sarah looked away, determined to find somebody happier to watch.

And that’s when she saw her. Wearing a simple cream gown with a square neckline, not dissimilar to her own, she looked around the room.

‘
That’s her!’ Sarah blurted, grabbing hold of Lloyd’s arm.

‘
Are you sure?’ he said.

‘
Of
course
I’m sure!’

‘
I mean, all these gowns make everyone look the same. Which one is she?’

‘
The one with the dark curly hair.’ Sarah couldn’t help but smile as she saw her little sister. She hadn’t changed at all – at least, not from the outside – although Sarah could see there was a certain sadness in her eyes and she looked unsure about being there.

‘
Right!’ Lloyd said. ‘The one who’s looking over here now?’

‘
Oh, God! Do you think she saw me?’ Sarah asked, ducking her head.

‘
Well, isn’t that the whole point of being here?’

‘
But I’m not ready yet.’

‘
No, I don’t think she saw you,’ Lloyd assured her. ‘And she’s moving away now. But what’s your plan?’

‘
I don’t have a plan,’ Sarah said, surfacing again, ‘which is highly unusual for me but this is a highly unusual situation.’ For a moment, she made a mental list of how this evening might go.

1. See sister from afar.
   

2. Contrive to meet sister.
   

3. Apologise to sister for having stolen and married the man she loved.
   

4. Run out of room in tears after being slapped by sister.
   

Sarah sighed. Perhaps it was better that she didn’t make that particular list.

‘
I really don’t know what I’m going to do,’ she confessed to Lloyd.

He took her hand and squeezed it and her eyes opened wide with pleasure at his sudden touch. ‘Why don’t you let the evening pan out naturally? Just see what happens? Don’t try to force anything.’

‘
Okay,’ she said with a nod, half-expecting him to release her hand now but rather thrilled when he kept hold of it.

‘
Are you sure I let the dress out enough?’ Shelley asked as they entered the arts centre.

‘
The dress is fine, Shelley. Don’t fuss. Where shall we sit? There aren’t many seats left.’

‘
Over there – in front of the stage. Isn’t that where you like to be?’

Mia gave a little smile but didn’t answer. ‘How many men are there?’ she asked as they found the two last remaining seats together.

‘
Not enough,’ Shelley said, quickly eyeing up the men on offer. ‘And most of them are
ancient!
’

‘
That’s always the way,’ Mia said and then they both fell silent as the dancers entered the room.

The first half of the evening was delightful with the dancers performing for the audience. The music was soft and sweet and the costumes were mesmerizing, their pretty fondant colours swirling across the floor. A little earlier than Jane Austen’s time, the ladies’ dresses were more Marie Antoinette than Elizabeth Bennet. Curly white wigs were worn and, everywhere, there was an abundance of lace and bows.

‘
Make me a dress like that one,’ Mia whispered to Shelley, pointing to a resplendent dress in pink. It was the sort of dress which would have forced the wearer to walk through most doors sideways because it was so wide.

‘
I love the lace-work,’ Shelley said and Mia nodded, looking in envy at the frothy lace at the end of the sleeves. ‘They just don’t make clothes like that any more.’

‘
Yes, but imagine running for a bus in a dress like that! Or trying to find a seat on the tube!’

‘
But the romance of it all!’ Shelley said.

‘
Yes, modern life is definitely lacking something, isn’t it? I suppose that’s why events like this are so popular.’

‘
But I’m not sure I like the men’s clothes so much,’ Shelley said.

‘
No - lace doesn’t work so well on a man, does it?’

‘
They all looked like fops!’ Shelley said and they giggled.

‘
No, Mr Darcy’s clothes were much more manly,’ Mia said.

Shelley nodded. ‘You couldn’t stride across a muddy meadow in that poor excuse for a pair of shoes,’ she said, nodding to the feminine footwear that one of the men was sporting.

It was shortly after this that things got lively with the audience being encouraged to join in. The room was soon filled with willing volunteers. This was what a lot of the Austen fans had come for – to dance! To feel the same giddy delights that Catherine Morland and Jane Bennet might have experienced when dancing with the men they loved.

One of the ladies from the dance group walked up onto the stage and began giving detailed instructions for the participants.

‘
I’ll never remember all that!’ Mia said to Shelley.

‘
Don’t worry – nobody ever does and it’s much more fun when it all goes wrong. Just keep moving!’

So Mia kept on moving and, sure enough, it wasn’t long before she was moving totally in the wrong direction with arms twisting left instead of right and her feet tumbling over each other. It wasn’t so bad when she was partnered with Shelley because they just laughed but, when they had to cross over and switch partners, Mia was paired with a very sour-faced woman who tutted and shook her head in disapproval.

‘
Other way, girl!’ she bellowed above the music, her huge bosom shaking alarmingly in disdain.

‘
Oh, you poor thing,’ Shelley said afterwards. ‘Trust you to have to dance with that dreadful Mrs Soames.’

But worse was to come. Much worse.

‘
Come on, then,’ Lloyd said at the other side of the room.

‘
But I thought you weren’t dancing,’ Sarah said.

‘
Well, I can’t have you being a wallflower all evening, can I?’

Sarah smiled. She was glad he’d decided to give it a go because it wasn’t much fun sitting down and watching everyone else have all the fun.

‘
But what about Mia?’ she asked, as he led her to the floor at the start of the next dance.

‘
She’s on the other side of the room,’ Lloyd said.

Sarah looked uncertain for a moment and glanced down at the length of the room as if trying to gauge the distance between them both.

‘
It’ll be fine,’ Lloyd said and Sarah gave in and, five minutes later, she was so glad she had. Together, they slipped some circles, got two-hand turns down to perfection and cast each other down the outside. Sarah felt sure that Lloyd had grossly misrepresented himself when he’d told her he couldn’t dance. He was a wonderful partner and Sarah was proud to get several envious glances from the female dancers around her.

‘
I haven’t had such a good workout in ages,’ Lloyd said as they came to the end of yet another dance. ‘You don’t mind if I sit the next one out, do you? I think I’ll just take a few shots with the old camera.’

Sarah nodded, not sure what to do. Part of her wanted to join Lloyd on the sidelines but the other half wanted to continue dancing.

‘
Take your partners,’ the organiser called from the stage.

Sarah looked around the room and then caught the eye of a kind-looking woman who was also searching for a partner.

‘
I know I’m not exactly Mr Darcy,’ the woman began, ‘but I generally move in the right direction.’

Sarah laughed and her fate was sealed. She hadn’t realised it but she was now in the middle of the room and ever closer to her sister.

Mia hadn’t laughed so much in ages and it felt good. Shelley had been right to insist on her coming out tonight. The memory of Alec was fading fast, each dance step taking her further away from her encounter with him. He was consigned – once more – to the past. He had broken her heart once but she wasn’t going to let him do it again. She would dance him out of her system once and for all.

‘
You look happy!’ Shelley told her as they met in the middle of their dancing quartet.

‘
I am!’ Mia said, smiling at her friend. ‘I really am!’

The dancing went on and Sarah was impressed with her new partner. Her name was Doris Norris and, despite her age, she seemed inexhaustible.

‘
One has to keep active at
any
age,’ she told Sarah in between dances and Sarah agreed.

It was during a long set dance called ‘Irish Lamentation’ that it happened. Somebody somewhere in the room turned the wrong way and caused absolute mayhem because everybody seemed to lose their partner at the same time and Sarah was wandering around trying desperately to find Doris Norris once more. But she didn't find Doris. She found Mia.

Suddenly, after three years of being apart, Sarah and Mia were dancing together, their arms intertwined and their fingers locked. There was no escaping for either of them as everybody seemed to have partnered up again.

At first, Sarah couldn’t believe it. How had it happened? She hadn’t planned this. She hadn’t meant to be on this side of the room at all. Lloyd had told her everything would be all right and it wasn’t. But, at the same time, wasn't this what she wanted?