Mr. Darcy Forever (30 page)

‘
No,’ Mia said shaking her head.

‘
Yes we did! Only, I couldn't see it at the time. ‘What can I say? I made a huge, huge mistake, Mia. I was never meant to be with Sarah.’ He shook his head. ‘You just don’t understand how difficult she can be,’ Alec said. ‘I mean, the woman is nuts! She drove me mad, Mia! I've never known anyone like her in my life!’

‘
I don’t want to hear this, Alec.’

‘
One morning, when we were in bed-’

‘
Alec, don’t!’

‘
I thought things were – you know – getting romantic,’ he continued unabashed, ‘and she jumped out of bed to straighten a bloody curtain. I mean, that's not normal behaviour, is it?’

‘
It’s normal for Sarah,’ Mia said. ‘You must've known about her OCD!’

‘
Yes but I didn't realise it affected absolutely everything she does. She can't even leave the house without a crazy long list of things to do and everything’s got to be immaculate all the time. It's just madness and I couldn't stand it any longer. She’s so different from you, Mia! She’s so – so tightly wound. Not like you – you’re so free. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before.’

‘
You mustn't talk to me like this. You're married to Sarah - not me. It's her you should be talking to. You should be trying to work things out with her not come running back to me when you hit your first problem.’

‘
But it's you I love!’

‘
How can you say that?’

‘
Because it’s true.’

‘
No, it isn’t.’

‘
How can you be so sure about that?’

‘
Because I've changed. I'm not the girl you met down in Devon.

He looked puzzled for a moment. ‘I can’t believe you’d ever change. You'll always be the delightful young woman I met on holiday.’

Mia shook her head. ‘You don't know me. You might think you do but you don't.’

‘
Well, then let me get to know you all over again. We can do things right this time. I know I messed up. I should never have let you out of my sight but I'm only human. I make mistakes.’

‘
Listen to yourself!’ Mia said. ‘Don’t you realise how ridiculous you sound? You married my sister and yet you make it sound like you did nothing more than flirt with somebody. I might have been able to forgive you if you just flirted with Sarah a little but you
married
her. Does that mean nothing to you? Did you think, well, if it doesn't work out, I can always go back to the other sister?’

‘
No!’ he said. ‘I didn't think that at all.’

‘
Because I’m not a consolation prize, Alec!’

‘
I never thought of you like that. God! You’re not listening to me. I love you! I made a huge mistake and I want to put things right.’

She looked at him and, for the briefest of moments, almost felt sorry for him. He looked exhausted – as if he’d not slept for a week. His dark hair was dishevelled and his eyes were red. What had been happening between him and Sarah? How long had they been separated? She was tempted to ask but she didn’t want to talk to this man. He had broken her heart.

‘
We had something special, Mia,’ he said. ‘You can't just throw that away.’

Her eyes widened. ‘
I
didn't throw it away! You did!’

‘
I know,’ he said, ‘and I've paid the price ever since.’ He sighed and they were silent for a moment, the sound of the rain pattering on the pavements. Mia couldn't help thinking that, in any other circumstances, sheltering from the rain with a handsome man in a Georgian porch whilst wearing her favourite Regency gown would be wildly romantic. Instead, she was itching to get away. Everything inside her was telling her to go.

‘
Mia,’ Alec whispered, daring to take a step closer to her, ‘you’re the most amazing girl I've ever met. That week we had together was magical and I’ve never stopped thinking about it. It's what got me through some pretty rough times recently. I've wanted to talk to you for so long and I thought you'd understand why things haven't worked out with me and Sarah. I know how you must feel about everything and I know that you can probably never forgive Sarah but can't you find a little place in your heart for me?’

Mia looked at him, not quite knowing how to respond to such a declaration.

‘
You think I’d forgive you but not my own
sister
?’

‘
Well, come on, Mia – you’ve not spoken to her for over three years!’

‘
And that’s my business – it has nothing to do with you.’

‘
Oh, really? Nothing to do with me?’

‘
You know what I mean!’ she cried.

‘
So you’re going to forgive Sarah too?’

‘
I didn’t say that and I certainly didn’t say I was going to forgive you! I don’t even want to talk to you. This shouldn’t be happening, Alec. Please – just leave me alone.’

Mia left the shelter of the porch.

‘
Mia – don’t go!’ Alec said, running after her. ‘I came all this way to see you. I had to take time off work.’

‘
I didn’t ask you to!’ Mia said without looking back.

‘
I wasn’t blaming you,’ he said quickly. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘
That’s your problem, Alec,’ Mia said, stopping briefly to look back at him. ‘You say and do these things without any thought!’

‘
But I'm thinking now. I can't stop thinking about you.’

‘
But it's too late, Alec! It's much too late.’

Mia started to run and, this time, she didn't look back. She would rather run through the streets in the rain than stay for a moment longer in that man’s company. She couldn’t believe the nerve of him. First, he’d made love to her, then he’d married her sister and now he expected to be able to win her back. What was going on in that head of his? Did he really think that she’d allow him back into her heart so easily?

She could hear him running behind her but was determined to lose him once and for all this time. Just then, a double-decker bus pulled up in front of her. It was one of the buses that toured the city and, if she was quick enough, she could jump on to it.

She dared to look back behind her and saw Alec hopping in rage as he had to wait for traffic before crossing the road. Mia got on the bus, paid for a ticket, and sat down next to a white-haired lady.

‘
My dear!’ the woman exclaimed. ‘How wet you are!’

‘
Yes!’ Mia said. ‘I’m afraid I am.’ She laughed as the bus pulled away.

‘
What’s so funny?’ the woman asked.

Mia nodded towards the window and the woman turned to see a dark-haired man running alongside the bus.

‘
Is he with you?’

‘
No,’ Mia said. ‘He most certainly is not with me.’

When the rain started, Sarah and Lloyd were just coming out of the abbey.

‘
I love rain in cities,’ Lloyd said, getting his camera out again. ‘I love the reflections in the pavements and the jostle of umbrellas.’

Sarah nodded but she wasn’t really listening. ‘I’m divorced,’ she blurted.

‘
What?’ Lloyd looked at her, a surprised expression on his face.

She looked up at him and gave a tiny smile. ‘It seems so strange to say that. I guess I'm still getting used to it.’

‘
Were you married long?’

She shook her head. ‘Not long at all. It was all a terrible mistake and I’ll never forgive myself for it.’

‘
But surely you weren't to know at the time?’

‘
I should have known. Everything was pointing it out to me and yet - like a fool - I went ahead anyway. I've never done anything so rash in my life.’

‘
Do you keep in touch with him?’

Sarah gave a little laugh. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It was the man I was telling you about – the one my sister was in love with.’

‘
Ah!’ he said. ‘I see.’

They stood for a moment in the shelter of the abbey, wondering whether to venture out into the rain.

‘
I still can't believe it,’ Sarah said. ‘I used to think that I'd never ever get married - I just wasn't that type of person. I'm far too … complicated. I didn't think anyone would want to bother.’ She laughed. ‘But Alec did and it took me so much by surprise that I said yes without thinking about anything else. I mean, I thought about my sister - of course I did - but I just got so swept along by the idea of somebody loving me enough to want to spend the rest of their life with me that everything else seemed unimportant.’

‘
Does your sister know you're divorced?’ Lloyd asked.

Sarah shook her head. ‘We haven't spoken for years - not since I told her I was engaged. I tried so hard to reach her but she moved house and changed jobs and I couldn't trace her.’ There were tears in Sarah's eyes now and Lloyd reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder.

‘
You’re both Jane Austen fans, aren't you?’

Sarah nodded.

‘
Then, she might be here in Bath.’

‘
I’d thought of that,’ Sarah said. ‘There’s a part of me that is praying that she’s here somewhere - I so long to talk to her - but another part of me is dreading seeing her again. I keep looking out for her. I’ve imagined seeing her a dozen times already since I've been here - it's driving me mad.’

‘
Surely we can find out if she's here,’ Lloyd said.

‘
How?’

He looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘Well, where’s she likely to stay?’

‘
I don't know. Somewhere cheap. She never did have very much money.’

Lloyd pursed his lips together. ‘That doesn't really narrow things down, does it? What about the events? Do you know which ones she’s likely to attend?’

‘
She usually loves anything involving dancing,’ Sarah said.

‘
Okay, well, let’s have a look at the programme.’

Sarah took the festival programme out of her handbag and scanned the events. ‘There’s a dance demonstration on tonight.’

‘
Have you got a ticket for it?’

‘
Yes,’ Sarah said and then she swallowed. ‘Do you think Mia will really be there?’

‘
If she’s in Bath, there’s a very good chance she could be, isn’t there?’

Sarah took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. ‘I guess there is,’ she said.

Mia knew that she couldn’t sit on the tour bus forever. For a start, she was still soaking wet and was beginning to get funny looks from the other passengers. Then there was the fact that it kept going around in circles and Alec could leap onto it at any moment. So, at the next stop, she hopped off.

It was still raining but she wasn’t thinking about the weather as she walked down a street she didn’t recognise. She'd managed to calm down a little on the bus because the sweet woman sitting next to her had talked almost non-stop which had helped Mia to take her mind off things for just a little while.

‘
A girl like you shouldn't be having problems in love,’ the woman had said when Mia had confessed that she'd been running away from the dark-haired gentlemen. ‘Why, you're so young and beautiful! You should be attracting the very best of young men.’