Hi there. I've had this in my mind for quite a while so I decided to try a story. Anyway, hope you like it.

Becky

I was half-sobbing in the bathroom stall and I had a huge mustard stain on my new skirt. Safe to say my apparel was a mess, not to mention my current mood.

To think after six years in this firm I would finally get the promotion that I had worked so hard for. Instead stupid, self-important red nine-inch nails Barbara Matthews received it, simply because she does not have lipstick teeth and her bum looks better in a skirt!

Normally, knowing me, I could have walked out of there, handed in my resignation and gone to the next pub to get completely wasted, but I suppose the dinner I had planned with my mother after work prevented me from doing so.

I was eating a sandwich to calm myself down (food had always been my anti-depressive) and of course I now looked like a pig.

My cell phone beeped.

'Becky here…'

'Rebecca, darling! I'm waiting down in the lobby you know. I've been waiting for the past three minutes. Hasn't Sandra told you I was here? I told her that her new dye was not working at all; she looks more like a tart with that reddish hue. You haven't forgotten about our dinner have you? I brought photos from Nina's honeymoon!'

'Mum…' I mumbled. 'I'll be right there. I had to…fix some things.'

'Well, make haste dear. It's not as if you're a slave there. You'll soon become head executive, won't you?'

I grimaced and put my head in my hands.

'Um…about that, it's not very conclusive…'

'Your father talked to Harold this morning and he assured us he was saving a big surprise for you!'

Yeah, big surprise indeed. My boss and my father went to the same golf club. Needless to say, this offered mum infinite opportunities to start a useless conversation about daddy's "big connections".

'Should I come up and say hi to him?' she said cheerfully.

'No! No, you'd better stay there, I'm coming,' I sputtered and hung up.

The last thing I needed was mum coming here and throwing herself at the one man that I really despised right now.

I went to one of the sinks to wash my skirt and as I turned on the tap I felt this strange nausea overcoming me. Odd. I hadn't eaten anything suspicious, but before I could continue the thought I fell to the floor, barely conscious.

Elizabeth

'…and papa said we would soon have guests at Netherfield Hall. It shouldn't come as a surprise. That house is a charming example of a country estate and it should tempt the most affluent of gentlemen,' Charlotte was telling me as we promenaded through the Lucases' garden.

'Oh, then please do not let mama know. She would have a fit and make us finish all our trousseaus. I swear, that woman has no other occupation,' I replied.

We arrived at the small stable where Mr. Lucas kept his finest horses and I rushed inside to see my favourite stallion, Sandy when this scorching headache took hold of me and I couldn't take a further step. All I remember is falling in the hay stack.

Becky

I opened my eyes slowly and I felt something very soft underneath me. When I touched to see what it was I saw something yellow and then this voice was calling from afar.

'Lizzie! Lizzie, are you alright?'

A young woman was standing over me with the most interesting clothes I had seen; a bonnet and a very outdated dress. I looked around and saw wooden walls and…horses.

Where was I?

The woman took hold of my arm and raised me up but I was swooning so she steadied my shoulders.

'Goodness, Lizzie, you gave me a fright! But whatever are you wearing?'

I looked down at my black skirt, white blouse and brown boots. Apart from a general look of dirtiness I didn't see anything wrong with normal work clothes.

'I could ask you the same question,' I replied. 'Pardon, who are you?'

The woman stared at me baffled and chuckled.

'Oh, Lizzie, don't tease me now. You should be more careful how you walk; my father's stables are quite unkempt.'

Lizzie? Why was she calling me Lizzie if she did not even know me? Or did she? Was she confusing me with someone else?

'Sorry, I'm not Lizzie. My name is Rebecca. Can you tell me how I ended up here?' I said peeking at the open doors through which I saw a green space of land.

'Lizzie? What are you talking about? Did the fall affect your judgement?' she asked worried.

'I am not Lizzie. Now please be so kind as to tell me who you are,' I said slightly irritated.

'Oh, dear…I'd better call papa…' she said rushing towards the doors.

'Hey wait!' I called running after her. 'Where are you going?'

I was welcomed with a spectacular view as I walked out. I was in the middle of a wistful garden and around me I saw hills and forests and the most pleasant blue sky.

The air was so fresh and reviving.

I was in the country-side, but how I had got there was a mystery.

I reached a tall, modest-looking house and on the porch I saw an elderly man who was talking with the young woman.

He was wearing the same sort of clothes; breeches and waistcoat, made me think I was in the nineteenth century.

'Excuse me, but can you tell me where this is and how I got here?' I asked them.

'See papa? She seems to have forgotten who she is! She did not even remember who I was!' the woman wailed. The man approached me and turned a quizzical eye at me as he took my hand.

'She declares her name is Rebecca,' the woman added. 'Is she an acquaintance we might know papa?'

'No, I daresay not. Miss Bennet, do you know who I am?'

Miss Bennet? I frowned at him and stepped back. Lizzie Bennet? Elizabeth Bennet? It must have been a coincidence.

'Miss Bennet?' I exclaimed. 'Like in Pride and Prejudice?'

'Pardon me, Miss Bennet?'

'You know, the book, written by Jane Austen…'

'Oh, papa, she is terribly ill!' the woman moaned.

'Now, now, let us not fret. Charlotte, take her inside the house to rest.'

'Charlotte!' I exclaimed. 'Charlotte Lucas! You're Elizabeth's best friend.'

'Oh, now she seems to remember,' Charlotte told her father, exhaling a tired breath as she took me into what seemed to be a parlour and placing me on a sofa.

'Mathilda! Bring some water!' she called to someone.

I was starting to feel dizzy again. If this was Charlotte Lucas and she was addressing me as Lizzie…

'I have five sisters and I am to be married to Mr. Darcy?' I asked before I could contain myself.

'Mr. Darcy? I'm sure I haven't heard of a gentleman with such name,' Charlotte said warily. 'Elizabeth, do you have any pains?'

'Oh, God…' I muttered as I looked around the room. It resembled the rooms in my great-grandmother's old country-house that had burnt down when I was eight.

I was very frightened. How had I got to this place and…was this really the twenty-first century?

Or, was it that these people found it amusing to pretend to be novel characters?

I still hoped it was an odd coincidence.

Elizabeth

The first thing I recall is waking under something very hard and cold. There was also a bright, blistering light that was nothing like ordinary sunlight.

When I opened my eyes I saw a white, sparkling floor. There was this dreadful smell of medicine and urine around me.

I steadied myself against a…white, porcelain statue that resembled a very strange boudoir. And there were six of them, in a row!
I saw my pale face in a looking glass and cowered back from the light. There were some bright round balls above my head that shone a lot stronger than any lamps at home…

Home! Where was I indeed? I was no longer in the stable.

Suddenly, a white door opened and someone came in, wearing very strange attire, I must confess. It was a young girl, not older than I, who was sporting blue riding trousers and a very strange petticoat that had been cut up half-way.

I could only conclude this was a very troubled young girl. However, the place I found myself to be was troubled as well.

'Becky?! What are you doing on the floor? Is that a dress?'

I had no idea who she was talking to.

'I'm sorry, Miss, can you tell me where I am please?' I asked shyly.

'Ok, very funny, Becky. Now get up, your mum's waiting downstairs and she will not stop talking about this woman's honeymoon. You'd better clean up though.'

She gave me a hand and I reluctantly took it.

'So, is the dress something to impress your mum with?' she asked.

'My mother? Miss, I am sure I do not know what you are talking about.'

'Becky, are you okay?' she said placing her palm on my forehead.

'Please stop calling me Becky, my name is Elizabeth. Now, please tell me where I am.'

'Honey, maybe you should lie down a bit…' she said taking me out of that room.

I saw a large corridor that was very crammed with people walking back and forth and there were rooms with large windows where I could see men and women writing and looking at a grey box.

'Where am I?' I repeated frightened.

'You're at the publishing house, where do you think you are dummy?'

'Publishing house?' I repeated astonished. 'Are we not in Hertfordshire?'

'Hertfordshire?' she echoed surprised. 'Oh, you bumped your head pretty hard down there, didn't you? Your mum will blow her top if she sees you like this.'

She pulled me in one of those studies where another woman was working.

'Alex, sorry to bother, but Becky's not feeling very well.'

The woman rose from her seat and came to me looking distraught.

'Rebecca? What on Earth are you wearing?'

'I don't know, but I think she had a small accident…' she said and whispered something in the other woman's ear.

'It's very rude to gossip when I am present,' I said frowning.

'So…you think your name is Elizabeth?' the woman called Alex inquired.

'I should think I am.'

'Right…and you're in Hertfordshire?'

'Yes. I was walking with my friend Charlotte Lucas; now may I please know why you are calling me Becky? And what is this strange place? Is it a bank? A bureau of some sorts?'

'Maybe we should call the ambulance…' the first woman said.