"Lord Greencester, my sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy."

The girl was pretty. A little young and very delicate looking, with clear, pale skin and large dark eyes. Tav wasn't attracted to girls, but there was an appealing sparkle in her eye. It wasn't a flirty look she was giving him, not at all, but she did seem amused.

"Call me Tav," he said, and winced when her hand shot up to cover her mouth, a giggling gasp escaping her. This strange world was going to take some getting used to, and he glanced over toward Darcy to see if he was about to be horsewhipped off the property, but the man was giving him a different kind of look. Almost searching. And he had a flush across the high bones of his pale cheeks that was incredibly distracting.

He'd practically forgotten he was talking to the girl, until he felt the warmth of her leaning in too close. "I cannot do that, not yet, anyway," she whispered, but there was a flash of a very cheeky grin too, and Tav was extremely grateful Lady Catherine had apparently made herself scarce for the awkward introductions.

Darcy moved further from them, examining some painting on the far wall and glancing over from time to time.

"You may have to guide me here, Miss Georgiana," Tav asked, trying to maintain the kind of decorum he'd only ever read about. "Formal social interactions are not my forte."

"I had heard as much," she grinned, and leaned in even closer. "My brother was furious when our aunt read out your uncle's letter over breakfast one morning. 'Twould seem he heard a little too much about where your true 'forte' lies whilst in London."

Tav was confused. This sweet but saucy girl was not the character had seemed like in the story, but everything else was so true to form. 

"Do you know Sam?" he asked, apropos of nothing, but she didn't seem put out, tapping her finger against her lower lip as she thought.

"The doctor's assistant?" she asked after a moment. Tav shook his head but felt an uncomfortable weight in his gut. If this Darcy and Georgiana really were actors, they were very good. Too good. 

Tav couldn't focus on that, though, because it made him horribly uncomfortable. He could try and work out why this Georgiana was so out of character compared to what he would expect. A  harmless mystery to focus on instead of horrible confusion.

"Forgive me, but I'm surprised to see you so relaxed around me, particularly given my apparent reputation." And her history with Wickham, though he certainly wasn't going to bring up that name.

"You must not believe everything you hear, Lord Greencester. Can I admit something?"

He nodded tentatively, a little worried about where this might be going, glancing over to check Darcy was still seemingly enraptured by a painting of an ugly woman next to a horse.

"You can trust me not to repeat things that you've said," he offered.

"I thought as much, even if you may find me too trusting. It has got me into difficult circumstances in the past. And I promised myself I would be more guarded going forward. But you have a kind face, Lord Greencester, and you remind me somewhat of my brother, too. My big secret? My life is terribly boring. I have very few friends. Most of the girls in the neighbourhood only court me for my family connections and money, and the ones I would spend time with my aunt deems beneath me and forbids. My brother, who I do adore, has far more important things to worry about in the city and spends fortunes on excellent governesses and tutors for me, quite forgetting that opening my mind in that way is dangerous when I do nothing but sit in this mausoleum of a house each day."

"I can see how a quick mind might not be satisfied with that," he allowed.

"Indeed. I can play a role as well as anyone, but it is most disappointing, and I crave some kind of adventure. The trip we just returned from is the first time my brother has allowed me to spend time in a city for quite some time. Years."

She looked almost tearful, and Tav presumed the last time had been the whole Wickham debacle.

"I do not wish to marry, Lord Greencester," she continued, a more determined set to her jaw, "but if marriage will finally allow me freedom, I will take it. My brother seeks a husband who will be painfully kind to me; I seek a husband who will leave me to my own devices as much as possible. Can you be that husband? I promise not to put a stop to your personal activities as long as you do not bring shame to me."

* * * * *

After Georgiana's unexpected proposal, Tav managed to settle into something like acceptance over the next day or two. Darcy was furious, of course, though he hid it behind a clenched jaw and furrowed brow as Georgiana slipped back into the innocent countenance she presented to the world. Tav felt a kind of honour that she'd seen something in him that allowed her to show her true self, though he felt sorry for Darcy, who clearly adored her and worried about her in equal measure.

It gave the two of them freedom to become closer, with a clear promise between them that there were no real expectations. On every occasion, Darcy was a shadow at their backs, rarely including himself but never going far away.  Faced with it, Tav could understand why Georgiana wanted to escape the life of a perpetually monitored maiden, even if she didn't truly want to marry.

A huge problem with this time he spent in Georgiana's pleasant company was how much time it allowed him to worry about how he arrived in this place - and fear for his own sanity. It wasn't some trick. Several days of perpetual company told him that this was not a play being performed for either his benefit or that of some mysterious trickster. Only Machiavellian villains would go that far, and Sam was not that, in the least. And the more he got to know of Darcy and Georgiana, neither were they.

Darcy did slowly start to relax around him, usually drawn in by the two of them, or the rare occasions when Georgiana reluctantly allowed herself to be forced into genteel social situations with her aunt and cousin, a dull, vacuous girl a year or two older than her. One such instance, Darcy suggested Tav walk with him along the cliff top again and he agreed, eager to take any direction that may lead to an explanation of what was going on.

"You seem to have become fond of my sister in a short time," Darcy probed when they reached the high path and could take in the incredible view.

"She is an extremely engaging young lady," Tav hedged.

"Well, I should hope so, you are engaged to her."

"Why! Mr Darcy, that sounded a lot like a joke," Tav exclaimed, feeling vindicated at the bright blush that climbed up Darcy's long neck.

After a moment, Darcy's mouth turned down. "I suppose you'll be thinking of arranging a ceremony shortly."

"Yes. I presume that would be usual," Tav responded, unable to hide his own reluctance, though Darcy was doing his brooding stare over the valley and didn't seem to notice.

"I find myself fond of your company, Lord Greencester," Darcy said softly as they settled onto a clump of dry grass, seated to take in the best of the view.

"Perhaps you could call me Tav, if we're to be brothers," Tav urged, perhaps pushing too fast, still unsure of the etiquette. Darcy's response wasn't promising, his eyebrows pulled together as he looked into Tav's eyes for far longer than he should.

"Wait a minute," he jolted his head as if he'd just woken, "Tav?"

"It's short for Octavius."

"I thought your name was Charles?"

It took Tav a moment even to remember that this Lord Greencester had existed here – in this place that clearly felt real to Darcy but more and more like a dream, or nightmare, to him – and the confusion gave him a feeling like vertigo, even as he tried to think of something to change the uncomfortable course of the conversation.

"Did you hear from Elizabeth?" he asked after a moment. Darcy's concerned face shifted back to confusion as a shadow seemed to flit briefly over the sun.

"Who? Oh, yes, of course, Elizabeth. Uh, no, not yet." Though he sounded only vaguely interested.

Later that same day, Georgiana managed to escape her aunt and cousin, and pulled Tav and Darcy away from the house, clutching her drawing case to her side and thrusting a blanket at Tav. She was breathless at her breakout, infecting the two men with her giddy excitement, and they were all laughing and bright when they finally collapsed on the blanket some way from the house.

Once he'd helped Georgiana set up her small easel, Tav looked with disappointment toward where Darcy had meandered off, his good mood leaching free. Darcy was brooding again, although Tav kept catching the brief looks he sent over.

"Why does he look at me that way?"

Georgiana didn't answer his question, tipping her head in a way highly reminiscent of her brother instead. "I feel as though some of the stories about you must be wild exaggerations," she said, instead.

"Stories?"

She giggled. "It would be highly unbecoming of me to talk of such things. But the way I hear it, there are a number of once-maidens who can no longer claim such a thing in polite society, thanks to you."

"What? No!" Tav could feel his cheeks heating.

"No. I may have believed it once, but not since knowing you but a few days. In fact, I feel the maidens of any town are quite, quite safe around you. Maidens are equally safe around my brother."

Tav found himself even redder, and ducked his head when he caught Darcy looking his way.

"But Elizabeth?"

"Who?" Georgiana asked absent-mindedly as she flicked her brush over the canvas, apparently unobservant of the darkening of the natural light impacting her view.

Tav had no time to respond, because Darcy was returning, his mood apparently suddenly restored as he dropped next to Tav, leaning their shoulders together.

"What are your dreams?" Tav asked, his mind on it while he was trying to make sense over what was happening to him.

"As hopes?" Georgiana asked and Tav nodded, letting himself press just a tiny bit harder against Darcy's side. "I hope, perhaps, to travel one day." She glanced nervously toward her brother, settling when he smiled. "Possibly, if I have all the luck, possibly to live in a city and to feel the bustle and vibrancy that the countryside is so lacking."

Darcy hummed, Tav could feel it vibrating against his own body and it made him shiver.

"What about you?" he asked the man, his voice almost a whisper.

"My dreams will never become real."

"Pretend."

"Alright. I would live without the expectation of society bearing down on me. Free to lo- free to live any way I want, without the pressure of gossips and shame hanging over my head."

Tav felt that in his heart, hanging his head.

"You seem tired, Lord Greencester," Georgiana murmured, a kind smile on her face. "I may be some time. There's no one to see, lay down. Rest your eyes."

Tav wasn't sure how, but somehow he found himself on his back, his head just resting against Darcy's strong thigh, and Darcy's hand smoothing through his hair, until he dropped away into sleep, wondering if he'd wake up in his own bed at the university, having achieved the perfect ending to his dream.