Disclaimer: I obviously don't own any of the characters or bits that are taken from Pride and Prejudice and obviously Doctor Who belongs to the BBC.
"So… Doctor Jones." Mrs Bennet said, leaning across the dining table to address the Doctor. "What brings you to our quiet little corner?"
The Doctor shot Evie a look, but the teenager just looked back at him, smiling. He'd dropped her in it earlier and now it was payback time. She looked down innocently, focusing on the food on her plate instead of the conversation. Evie could hear him answering the question as best she could and a thought suddenly hit her. They should have thought out their cover story properly. What if she told people their parents were dead and the Doctor said they were alive?
"So then we decided to stay for the summer season, not that there's much left of it." The Doctor was saying.
"You've got nothing to rush back to town for, then?" Mrs Bennet asked meaningfully. Evie caught Lydia's eye across the table and they both smirked, looking down quickly. They might be 200 years apart, but they were still teenage girls.
Awkwardly, they finished dinner. The Doctor was determined to fend off Mrs Bennet's questions, which seemed to be infuriating the woman. He excused them, saying they needed to sort a few family matters before getting ready for the Assembly that night. Mr Bennet happily leant them the carriage to save them walking. He seemed to have taken a liking to the Doctor and invited him to come back and discuss the 'important things' with him at any time.
As the carriage pulled away, Evie turned to the Doctor seriously.
"Ok, we need to get some things sorted. Like, for starters what about our family? These people are obsessed with family and stuff, they're bound to ask."
The Doctor grinned. "I thought you were freaked out about falling into a novel." He teased. She pulled a face at him. "OK, OK, you're right! Why don't we go for the simple; orphaned and the only family we have is each other."
"Fair enough." She said with a shrug, making a mental note not to mention her sisters. "And… we were left enough money for you to become a doctor and me to have a governess, yeah?"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" He said with a grin. He looked so gorgeous when he smiled like that that Evie wished he hadn't said they were brother and sister. She sighed. "What's wrong?"
"Oh…" She hadn't meant to sigh that audibly. "I'm fine… this is just… weird." Then she remembered something. "Why did you disappear earlier?"
"I went 'alien hunting'." He said with a grin.
"Find anything?"
"Nope, nothing."
"And you're happy about that, because?" Evie demanded, wondering why he was so cheerful.
"I'm having fun! I've never been in a novel before."
"Well… one last thing… you need a proper first name. I can't refer to you as Doctor, can I… that's just odd."
"Ooh!" He exclaimed excitedly. "I know! I've always liked the name Thaddeus… or Uriah! Or maybe something like Zebulon or Horatio."
"You're actually kidding me?" Evie said pulling a face of complete disbelief. "I refuse to introduce you to people like that. 'Oh, hi, this is my brother Doctor Zebulon Jones.' Seriously?"
"Calm down!" The Doctor said with a grin. "If it means that much to you I'll pick something a bit cooler! Honestly, girls!" He said rolling his eyes. "What about Henry?"
Evie nodded. "Much better… Henry."
x
By the time Evie had worked out how to get back into the dress and make her hair look presentable – Mrs Bennet had exclaimed at the sight of it earlier – she and the Doctor were very late. As they left he pulled out a device and aimed it at their bedroom doors, which were opposite each other across the narrow corridor. It made a strange, high-pitched whirring sound.
"What's that?" Evie asked, wrapping her shawl tighter round her shoudlers.
"Sonic screwdriver. It'll stop anything getting in while we're out."
"I thought you said there was nothing here?"
"I said I didn't find anything." The Doctor said. "It's a different thing. You look lovely, by the way."
Evie blushed and was glad that in the dimness of the staircase he wouldn't see how red she'd gone. "Thanks."
As they reached the Assembly rooms, Evie was very glad she'd forced the Doctor to choose a name earlier because it seemed they needed to be announced before they could go inside.
"Doctor Henry Jones and Miss Evie Jones."
Lydia and Kitty immediately appeared at her side, pulling her into the room. They wove through the crowds of people. Evie glanced back over her shoulder at the Doctor who was looking slightly lost. As Evie watched, however, she saw Mrs Bennet swoop on him. Now she felt slightly guilty.
"Mr Bingley's here!" Lydia squealed grasping Evie's hands tightly. Somehow she'd managed to become the best friend of a fictional character quite by accident. It was crazy! "He's only brought his two sisters; Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst, Mr Hurst and his friend, Mr Darcy. Apparently Mr Darcy has ten thousand a year and a large estate in Derbyshire!" She gushed.
"No way!" Evie said, pretending to be shocked. Lydia and Kitty started squealing again. The girls were distracted almost immediately by two members of the militia who came up and asked them to dance. A third came and asked Evie to dance and, horrified, she politely refused, finding herself sitting with none other than Elizabeth Bennet herself.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" She asked the younger girl politely. Evie nodded. "I'm sure there must be a great difference in the entertainments of London when compared to such a small company as ours?"
"Yes." The teenager answered nervously, trying to use proper language. She was momentarily distracted by the sight of the Doctor dancing with a young woman. She felt a pang of jealousy, but shook her head to return to the conversation with Elizabeth. "There's a vast difference, although I'm finding that the company here is much more friendly."
Elizabeth smiled. "It seems that your brother is enjoying the company of Charlotte Lucas."
"So he is." Evie said, almost bitterly, watching the Doctor laughing with the young woman. She turned to continue her conversation with the Bennet, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted Mr Darcy walking towards them.
"Come, Darcy." Mr Bingley was saying in a cajoling tone. "I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance."
Mr Darcy, when he replied, sounded most offended. "I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this it would be insupportable. Your sisters are both engaged and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with."
Evie tried to decipher the meaning of his words, wishing she'd listened in GCSE English now. Elizabeth was smirking, overhearing the conversation. Evie rolled her eyes at her companion and they both just about managed to contain their giggles. The teenager was bracing herself for what he was going to say next.
"I would not be so fastidious as you are for a kingdom!" His friend replied in astonishment. "Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening; and there are some of them you see uncommonly pretty."
"What does fastidious mean?" Evie whispered, not caring that it would make her sound stupid, when everyone used words like that in everyday conversation around here.
"It means being very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail." Elizabeth told Evie with a smile. "Being difficult to please."
"Oh… cool." She said absent-mindedly with a shrug. Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, either to comment on her turn of phrase or the fact she hadn't known what the word meant, but she stopped; eavesdropping again.
"You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room." Mr Darcy said. Elizabeth beamed with pride, realising he was talking about Jane.
"Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld!" His friend gushed. Evie had to work hard to stop herself pulling a face at how slushy he was being. "But there is one of her sisters sitting down behind you, who is very pretty and, I dare say, very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you." Evie waggled her eyebrows at Elizabeth at the words, making the older woman blush and swat at her, laughing.
"Which do you mean?" Elizabeth and Evie both glanced over their shoulders and realised that Mr Darcy was staring at them. They quickly turned around again, looking wide-eyed at each other. "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to her partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me."