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Chapter One

Posted on Wednesday, 12 May 2004

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one time travels, especially back into an old English novel, unexplainably strange and wonderful things happen.

I stared down at my black and white skirt and pretty black shoes, making sure I looked completely in order. This was my last performance job before I had to return back to the University, and I wanted to make the most of it. I hurried down the long pathway towards the old English house. The windows were shining brightly, and about a million cars were parked out in the front. The family was not one of the most wealthy or aristocratic in England, but they did like company, and they did throw good parties.

Unfortunately for me, just as I was nearing the house it started to rain. The old saying is true: it never rains, it pours. What happened after that, I am not completely sure. I heard a thunderbolt that boomed so loudly that I had to cover my ears. I did not even have time to count one-one thousand before the lighting struck, and it seemed to strike alarmingly close to me. In fact, from the tingling sensation in my arms and ringing in my ears, I wasn’t sure if it had struck close by, or if it had actually struck me. In any case, I started to run, but soon enough slipped and fell. My head hit hard, and the last thing I saw was the light coming from the house, which now did not seem quite so bright as before.

The next sensation I felt was entirely different. Someone was gently lifting me up away from the flooding ground and carrying me off, to where I could not guess. I tried to speak, but was immediately hushed. Suddenly he was sitting me on top of a very tall horse. I could not see very clearly and my head ached so, but I remember feeling rather at a loss as to why anyone would be riding in this weather. The man was very soon sitting behind me, holding onto me tightly and hurrying me towards somewhere. As I said before, my vision was significantly impaired at this point, but I seemed to be in a completely different place than where I had fallen before. At this point however, I did not care, and allowed myself to take comfort in the warmth of the stranger who was kind enough to rescue me.

Very soon we were nearing the house, and I was relieved to see that it was the same English Manor that I had been headed for when I’d fallen. Perhaps I’d not gotten quite so close to it as I had imagined. The man was now stopping his horse, which greatly relieved me because it had been a bumpy ride and my head was now searing with pain. I did not dare open my eyes any longer, for fear the light would be too painful.

Once again, I was in his arms and could hear him pound on the manor door. Someone opened it, and I heard a cry of astonishment, and then a scurrying of feet. Soon someone else came to the door.

“What on earth happened?” It was strange that I did not recognize the man’s voice, and also strange that I could not hear the noises of the guests.

“I found her on the side of the road. The coach was overturned, and the riders either shot or fled. They must have been overtaken by highway men,” the voice of my rescuer said. He had a deep voice, and I enjoyed the sound of it.

Suddenly another voice, not quite so pleasant was in my ear. “Oh gracious, are we all to be murdered in our beds? I do believe I shall faint, what will become of us, what will become of the poor child?”

“Mrs. Bennet, will you please calm yourself!” It was the voice of the man whom had spoken first, “I am sure that the villains will be sought after and punished. Now go and fetch Jane and Lizzy, and we will attend to this girl’s needs.”

I heard much more scurrying of feet and some yelling upstairs. At this point, I had not yet opened my eyes, and was beginning to be afraid to do so. What had happened to me? Where on earth was I, and who were these strangers?

“Please, come in sir, you may lay her on the couch in this room until we can move her elsewhere.”

This idea sounded fine to me, but the voice of the stranger protested, “Excuse me sir, I mean no disrespect, but I would much rather carry her myself to the bed where she will be placed. And I will send an apothecary as soon as possible. This girl must receive only the best attention.” This idea sounded even more pleasant to me, and I enjoyed the fact that the stranger was being such a gentleman!

“I assure you sir, she will receive the very best attention here, you need not have any fear of that. Ah, here are Jane and Lizzy.”

At this point I was carried up stairs, listening to the gentle murmurs of the two young women who helped to tuck me into bed and smoothed the hair away from my face. I could hear that my stranger was leaving, and so I had to catch a glimpse of him before he left. My eyes struggled open and I saw a very tall, handsome looking man leaving the room. I sighed with relief – I knew he was going to be handsome. I struggled to stay awake, but the pain in my head to took over, and the exhaustion from the ordeal was trapping me into sleep. Just before I dosed off, I managed to murmur “What was his name?”

One of the two sisters, she had dark hair I saw when I managed a glance, said with a smile in her voice, “I’ll go and find out.” She hurried from the room and I sighed with relief, determined to not fall asleep until she returned. I know that she caught him just before he left, because I heard the sound of horse hoofs trampling away from the house just before the girl returned.

She came over to me and whispered into my ear, “His name is Mr. Darcy, Fitzwilliam Darcy.” And I finally drifted off to sleep, trying not to think about the confusing circumstances in which I now found myself.

Chapter Two

Posted on Monday, 31 May 2004

“Oh Jane, do you think she will be all right? I hardly know what to think, what with the strange robbery and her rescue.” The voice was distant and far away, waking me gently from my sleep.

“I do hope so Lizzy, I do hope so. The doctor said to watch her for a few days and make sure nothing goes wrong.” The voices were so pleasant sounding, and I did not want to disturb them, so I decided to just keep quiet and listen for a little while.

“And was not it very kind of Mr. Darcy to call and make sure she was all right, and so early in the morning! What a good man he must be.”

“Why Lizzy, I have not heard you speak like that before. And he is handsome too, which is always such a compliment to good manners.”

“Jane, stop it, you are teasing me!”

“Will he call back again soon? For he seemed so disappointed that he could not see her.”

“Jane, I cannot help but admit that I hope he returns very soon!”

I opened my eyes for a moment, long enough to see the two young women sitting together while the sun was setting, shining brightly through the window. But my head started to throb immediately, and I decided that it was better if I kept my eyes closed and so I drifted back to sleep, enjoying the sound of their quiet laughter.

The next morning – well, I presume it was the next morning – I woke up with some alarm. I didn’t seem to recognize where I was. Morning light was streaming into the room and so I quickly got out of bed and hurried over to it. My head was still very tender, but not so bad as the day before. Yes indeed, I recognized this house as the place where I would occasionally come and perform, but there were some trees and the back yard that I did not seem to remember. I was startled when someone entered the room.

“Anne! What on earth are you doing out of bed?” It was one of the two girls, and she hurried to get me back under the covers. I obeyed her orders, but I felt excited and jittery and had some questions that needed answers.

“This may sound strange, but who are you and what exactly am I doing here?” I asked, wondering also how she knew my name.

“I am Jane. Jane, your cousin, remember?” My eyes opened wide with shock.

“I don’t have a cousin. I don’t have any relatives at all,” I insisted, bewildered at this change of events. I also noted the funny dress she was wearing, and the way her hair was fixed. Was she going to some sort of costume party?

“Oh dear,” Jane murmured and pressed her hand against my forehead. “The doctor warned us something like this might happen.”

“Something like what,” said I, becoming very wary of the whole situation. “What year is this?”

At this point Jane’s eyes filled up with tears and she hurried downstairs after giving me a reassuring pat on the hand. I waited in silence until she returned with the second woman from before. I smiled at her, for she had been the one who had given me the name of my stranger.

“I do not know what seems to be the matter, Lizzy, but she does not seem to quite understand who she is.” Lizzy came over to sit by me while Jane hovered nearby.

“What can you remember about yourself, Anne? Do you know that your name is Anne?” Lizzy asked me in a calm, but firm way. I wasn’t really in the mood for it, though.

“Of course I know my own name! My name is Anne Bates, and I’ve been an orphan since the age of twelve. I go to the University of Hertfordshire and I was on my way to sing for a party at this house when something happened with lightning on the road.” Lizzy and Jane exchanged concerned looks. “Why are you looking at me like that, what’s going on?”

“Anne, you have gotten the part about your name correctly, and your mother did die when you were twelve. But the rest is all wrong! Jane, I think we will need to have a talk with father before we tell her anything. I do not know what we should do.”

“Try and get some rest, dearest,” Jane said, and then they both left me.

I didn’t really like being alone. My head started to swim, and my eyes filled up with tears. I knew who I was, or at least I did until about five minutes ago. And suddenly names were beginning to go off in my head. Fitzwilliam Darcy seemed like an awfully familiar name, but for the life of me I couldn’t think of where it was from. Where was I and what had happened to me?

Chapter Three

Posted on Monday, 7 June 2004

I drifted in and out of sleep for the next few hours until at last I woke up and felt no more pain at the back of my head. Suddenly the future seemed much brighter and I was quite certain that I could sort things out now that the world seemed to be in its proper proportions. I sprung out of bed in my usual way, and then remembered that it wasn’t a good idea to move too fast after having just recovered from a serious knock on the head. I was wearing some sort of frilly nightgown, and so I looked around for a robe. Finding nothing, I settled upon throwing the blanket around my shoulders and hurried out the room. The two sisters had evidently left me alone to sleep, but I was ready to find them and meet the questions that I had been incapable of answering earlier in the day.

I had not gone very far down the hallway when met up with two other young women. They promptly began screeching something about how I was awake, which seemed a little obvious to me, and also made me head hurt, so I tried to move past them. That did me no good, and soon enough I was being rushed down staircase, through the halls to the living room, (at last a room that I could recognize!). Two other women whom I did not recognize also entered the room. There was a lot of chattering going on and I could not make head nor tail of it, and there were altogether too many faces for me to keep up with. I think they were perhaps asking me how I was feeling, and saying something about how I was going to catch a fever if I did not put on some slippers.

“Good heavens, what is this?” The chattering immediately stopped, and all faces turned towards the door, where there stood an older gentleman and none other than my hero, Mr. Darcy!

The silence reverberated about the room. I couldn’t stand it and so I tried to look around the four women huddled about me and murmured something about feeling much better. At last the four women stood away from me. The older gentleman was looking quite furious, and Mr. Darcy seemed to turn bright red, and looked away.

“Mrs. Bennet, I demand an explanation!” the gentleman was beginning to turn red himself. “This young woman should not be out of bed, and in nothing more than her nightgown!” At this point, Mr. Darcy left the room.

“Mr. Bennet, the girls brought her downstairs and I tried to argue, but we didn’t have a chance to take her back up ... oh, my poor nerves!” Mrs. Bennet then sat down and whipped out a rather large and frilly handkerchief. At this point, I was beginning to feel foolish and embarrassed, so I stood up and explained myself to Mr. Bennet.

“I was only trying to find someone who could tell me what was going and, and maybe make a few calls to make sure people know where I am. I am very sorry, I did not know it would upset everyone so much. I’m actually feeling much better.” Mr. Bennet’s face visibly softened.

“You will be making no calls until you completely recovered. Besides, who do you know here that you would need to visit? I will go and get Jane and Lizzy, and they will help you back to your room. We will have this thing sorted out soon enough, don’t worry. In the meantime, I suppose Mr. Darcy will have to go home,” Mr. Bennet turned to leave the room, “Oh and one more thing, no more of this walking about in nothing more than your nightclothes, we wouldn’t want something like this to happen again.”

Mr. Bennet left the room, and I stared down at the nightgown, wondering what in the world was wrong with it, especially since I had myself covered completely with the blanket. The uneasy feeling which had invaded my senses earlier in the day returned, and I was relieved when Jane and Lizzy came hurrying in to take me back upstairs.

And then the scolding began. “That was very foolish of you Anne, wandering about the house.” It was the first time Jane’s voice sounded even remotely stern.

“Yes and in your nightgown! What must Mr. Darcy think,” Lizzy groaned, “You have been ill, you must take better care of yourself.”

“I really am feeling better, it was just a hard knock on the head. I’m sure if it had been a concussion the doctor would have sent me to the hospital,” I tried to explain, but my words fell upon deaf ears and I was soon tucked back in bed.

“Now Anne, are you feeling up to talking a little? There are some things we want to make sure you know,” Jane asked, in a much softer tone.

“Yes, don’t leave me alone, I have a few questions to ask myself,” I replied, and propped myself up with the pillows.

“Anne, you were coming here to live with us after the death of your father last year. Do you remember anything about us? Can you remember what happened on the road?” Jane asked, taking my hand.

“Jane, honestly, I do not remember anything accept what I told you before. That is who I am, that is what I remember.” The two sisters looked at each other.

“Amnesia then, the doctor was right. Anne, we’ll just have to start at the beginning... “

And so Lizzy began her tale, the story of my life, a story which I had no remembrance of. I had other memories of a completely different life in a different place, and I was soon to find out, a different time. But I listened patiently, wondering if what I remember had been right in the first place... wondering if I was Anne, the college student of the 21st century, or Anne, the young woman of the early 19th century who had just inherited a fortune of eight thousand pounds. One thing I was sure of, however, was that, regardless of what time I was in, I was still the same person, the same Anne, and I intended to keep it that way.

In the meantime, however, Jane and Lizzy were going to teach me the basics of how to survive in the society in which I had so suddenly arrived. They thought it was amnesia, and quite frankly, I didn’t know what was what. I did not want to tell them that I thought I was from a different time, I might be sent to Bedlam instead of allowed stay! So I kept my mouth shut and wondered if I had just dreamed up that other world while I had been sleeping. And I did wonder whether Mr. Darcy would come back again to visit me, after he had been so shocked my appearance earlier in the day.

My lessons soon began, and I was a ready pupil. Lesson number one? Never walk about the house in nothing more than a sheet and a nightgown. I did wonder whether Mr. Darcy would come back again to visit me, and hoped that my embarrassing appearance earlier would not prevent him from doing so.

Chapter Four

Posted on Monday, 21 June 2004

Life began again at a whirlwind pace. I first learned how to stand and sit, and then how to properly address strangers, relatives, close friends, etc, etc. Then there was a whole new code for addressing those in the “upper” class, and those in the “lower” class. Everything was so different from what I had known, but I enjoyed Jane and Lizzy’s company so much that I did not mind working hard to please them. Mr. Darcy never did call on me again, however, and I wondered what he must think of me, and whether I had spoiled all hopes of my ever meeting him again.

I did not spend much time with the rest of the family at the beginning; most of my time was spent in my room or out in the gardens with the two oldest girls. Indeed, the younger sisters of the Bennet family had frightened me so much on my first encounter with them that I was not too eager to renew the relationship. It was on cool Tuesday evening that I was at last declared “quite well” by Jane, “good enough” by Lizzy, and allowed to descend to the sitting room and become one of the family.

“What a fine thing it is for the girls that we already have such a strong connection with him, and Mr. Bingley, of course. Just think of it, Mr. Bennet, ten thousand a year!” Mrs. Bennet was prattling away as usual when I entered the sitting room. “Oh, there you are, Anne, I trust that you are quite well?”

“Very well, thank you, ma’am,” I replied with a smile and found a chair next to Mary, who did not look up from her book.

“No more of this amnesia then, Anne, I trust?” Mr. Bennet inquired with a chuckle, “And since there has been no more scampering about in nightgowns, I am now able to quite happily welcome you into the family.”

“I’m very sorry for the embarrassment that I must have caused you and your family, especially in front of Mr. Darcy!” I was eager to make every possible amends to the family who had been so very kind to me.

“I just hope that it did not effect anything ...” Mrs. Bennet began, and then stopped, “Well, no matter. You will all meet him again at the Assembly on Saturday, and his friend, Mr. Bingley – who himself has a large fortune of five thousand pounds a year!”

Mrs. Bennet’s behavior did not surprise me too much, since I had been warned about her by Jane and Lizzy. They had not warned me, however, about Mr. Bennet’s sly wit and humor, and during the course of the evening, I kept finding it quite hard not to laugh. She went on and on about the young men, Mr. Bennet went on and on in his teasing and joking, until at length the youngest girl, Lydia, spoke to me quite suddenly.

“Anne, do you remember how to dance?”

The question caught me by surprise. “Umm... I remember something about dancing lessons when I was little...” But then I remembered that the lessons I had taken were from a different time, something about jazz ... “No,” I stammered, “I don’t think I remember how to dance.”

The two youngest girls were horrified. “Oh no, you must learn at once, we’ll all help teach you!” Kitty was telling me as she yanked me to my feet.

“Mary, play something at once! How horrid, to forget how to dance. Isn’t it quite shocking, mamma?” Lydia exclaimed as she lead me to the center of the room.

After many loud protests from Mary (and myself), the music started and Lizzy became my partner, insisting that she and Jane teach me how to dance, not Kitty and Lydia. A new set of lessons began, and I only hoped that they could get me ready by Saturday.

The night of the Meryton assembly was one of the warmest that autumn. The stars were shining so brightly as we stepped out of the carriage into the Assembly hall that I was loath to join the large mass of people pressed in the one small dance hall. The heat was overwhelming as you walked in, and I knew that it was going to be a very long evening. Immediately I scanned the room for my rescuer, but saw no glimpse of him and so I followed Jane an Lizzy over to the wall.

“Now remember Anne,” Lizzy whispered in my ear, “you can only dance the sixth song in the evening, it is the only one you will know. Please be careful, you do not want to give the gossips anything more to chatter about than they already have.”

I began to keep count. Apparently the word had already gotten out that I was a woman with a fortune of 10,000 pounds, and so every eligible gentleman, young and old came to ask me to dance. More often than not I was quite glad to refuse them, and very happy that Lizzy was able to take my place. Although I had many offers, there were not many gentlemen present that evening and more than one lady was in want of a partner.

Just as I was beginning to become quite bored, he walked in. I had forgotten how handsome he was, and perhaps it was just the heat, but everything seemed to become a little more fuzzy. His eyes scanned the room quickly until they found mine, and then I saw the hint of a smile on his lips and perhaps a blush creeping up his cheek. I smiled back immediately and was about to walk over and speak to him, but then remembered in time that I was never to address someone without having been properly introduced. Especially not someone as eligible as Mr. Darcy.

I didn’t quite know what to do, but then Mrs. Bennet, if you can believe it, came to my rescue. She walked over to stand by me, smiling and nodding to her friends, beckoning for Jane and Lizzy, who were not dancing at the moment, to come stand by her. Mr. Darcy and his friend soon came over, bowing deeply, and were both properly introduced to Mrs. Bennet.

“It is a great honor to make your acquaintance, Mr. Darcy, I am sure. And you also, Mr. Bingley,” Mrs. Bennet’s smile was very wide, and Jane and Lizzy seemed suddenly uncomfortable. But I didn’t really care. Mr. Darcy was looking at me and that was all that really mattered. I did hope that I hadn’t offended him too badly on our last encounter. “This is my eldest daughter Jane, and this is Elizabeth. Mary is sitting over there – ” we all looked towards the poor girl, who had not danced all evening, “and Kitty and Lydia are the youngest dancing.”

The silence was quite awkward until I heard Lizzy whisper sharply, “Mamma!”

“Oh yes, and this is Miss Anne Bates, our cousin. She has come to live with us at Longbourn, but of course you have already met her, Mr. Darcy!”

“Indeed we have, Mrs. Bennet,” Mr. Darcy said, bowing to me once again. Now it was my turn to blush. “I hope you are feeling better, Miss Bates?”

“Much better, thank you,” I stammered, and wished the room wasn’t quite so warm. I heard Mr. Bingley asking Jane for the next two dances, and was relieved to divert my attention to something else. Mr. Darcy seemed to demand attention wherever he went. Jane of course accepted, and Mrs. Bennet was tickled pink.

“Oh Jane is such an excellent dancer,” she gushed as Mr. Bingley led her off. “Do you care for dancing yourself, Mr. Darcy?”

“I rarely dance, Mrs. Bennet. However, tonight I think might be an exception,” he replied, smiling at me once again. “In fact, I would be greatly honored if Miss B– ”

“Oh Elizabeth is an excellent dancer, what an honor!” Mrs. Bennet squealed. Both Lizzy and I looked at each other, quite confused, and Mr. Darcy seemed taken aback.

“I thank you for the honor, Mr. Darcy, but I am not in the humor for dancing tonight, and so I must decline. Anne, however, has not danced yet this evening, and since it is the sixth song,” Lizzy said, giving me a knowing glance, “I am sure she will be a more suitable partner.”

Mr. Darcy looked absolutely relieved, and I was too flustered and pleased to say much, so we just danced. It took much of a concentration, but I was good with rhythm and so only made a few mistakes. Mr. Darcy did not seem to be the type who liked to talk much anyway, and so we danced and enjoyed each other’s company. He was so charming, and I found myself liking him more and more. I did feel sorry for Lizzy, though. She stood alone and watched us with a sort of wistful look in her eye. I knew it was because she could not dance because of the shortage of partners, and I wished that somehow I could help.

Mr. Darcy asked to dance the next dance with me, and so I was glad for Lizzy’s sake that I had to say no. But he did not dance the next dance with her and so I was rather disappointed at first, but as the evening wore on he did at last dance once with her, after my repeated refusals to dance with him any more. Every time that he was not preoccupied, he came and stood by me. He did not say much at first, but then we began to talk of music and art. I was a Literature and Music major at college in that dream-life that I had long ago, and so I used what I remembered to keep up in the conversation.

We did not speak of our earlier encounter, and I only felt relief that our relationship could start anew. I left the assembly feeling very pleased that the evening had gone so well, and quite enamored with Mr. Darcy.

“Well, you certainly made a spectacle of yourself, Anne, dancing only one dance and spending the rest of the evening hanging on Mr. Darcy!” Mrs. Bennet seemed extremely vexed with me as we drove home in the carriage. “I did not know what to say to Mrs. Long, we were quite shocked!”

“Mamma,” Lizzy exclaimed sternly, “Anne could only dance one dance because she only knew one dance! And of course Mr. Darcy would pay attentions to her, he was very worried about her the whole time she was unwell.”

Mrs. Bennet continued with her grumbling, but Lizzy gave me a reassuring squeeze on the arm and whispered in my ear, “I understand Anne, pay no attention to Mamma. She is only jealous because she wanted Mr. Darcy to pay attention to... well, never mind. He is quite handsome, is he not? And so very kind! I do not blame you at all for liking him.”

We smiled together, rolling our eyes at Mrs. Bennet, and I felt much comforted. I did like him, I liked him very much indeed.