Felix was surprised at how instantly recognisable she was: he'd studied Austen in university and had seen a few portraits, but had, somewhat shamefully, always pictured her just as being Jennifer Ehle in the BBC Pride and Prejudice; but this was definitely the real article. She had dark brown hair, a small, pale face and the unmistakable air of someone who had been told repeatedly that they are not attractive.

He realised that she was studying him in return. "Doctor," she breathed, "Is that you?" She reached out to touch his face and reflectively Felix leaned back. "So changed." She whispered.

And then the Doctor bounded out of the TARDIS, "Hello, Miss Austen!"

Immediately Jane's hand fell to her side and she rushed over to the Doctor, "Oh, Doctor, thank providence!" She smiled at him, "I thought perhaps your face had altered again."

"No, no. Still rocking the chin." He responded, happily.

"And a bowtie," she added, pointedly.

"Hey now, bowties are-"

"No, Doctor, no." She turned to look at Felix. "So, who's this?"

Felix raised a hand in greeting, "Felix. Acton." He was unsure whether or not he should bow; he tried to remember what they did in films.

"Felix is my friend," The doctor explained, "From Birmingham."

"Oh!" Austen exclaimed, intrigued. "Are you perhaps related to Lady Maria Acton? With the forty acre estate?"

"No." Felix shook his head quite decisively, "Well, I mean, I guess I might be. Although, if I am, then inheritance tax is a-"

The Doctor coughed very loudly and then said, "So, Miss Austen, what seems to be the problem?"

"Didn't you get my note?" She asked.

"Well, 'note' is such a short word."

"I explained the predicament in some detail."

"Yes, well, emphasis on some. No, wait, emphasis on detail. Just give me the bitesize version."

Jane's brow furrowed, "I don't understand."

"What's gone wrong?" Felix helped.

"Cassandra Bixby is engaged to a monster." Austen replied.

"Well, I'm sorry, but there's not much I can do about that." The Doctor sucked in air through his teeth, "Domestics aren't really my thing."

"Have you tried taking her out and getting her off with someone else?" Felix suggested.

"No, Doctor, I mean she's betrothed to an alien."

"So?" Asked Felix; it was an unconscious reaction. He could feel his blood begin to boil, and an itching under his scalp- he'd had this conversation too many times in the last three years, from when he'd started dating Narrath.

"It is unnatural." She responded, as though this was self-evident, "He has bewitched her."

"Maybe she wants to be bewitched." Felix retorted, trying to keep his temper in check.

"I simply cannot think that of her." Austen sounded like it was genuinely the worst thing she could think of.

Felix was about to get into full-on rant mode when the Doctor stepped in between them and asked Jane "How do you know this man's an alien?"

"I saw him. Often he appears normal, even handsome, but I caught a glance of his true appearance. It was not of this world."

The Doctor rubbed his preponderence of chin, "Did he look a bit like a starfish with gangrene?"

"No," Austen answered, clearly disgusted by the thought.

"Not a Zygon, then. Probably using some kind of Schimmer. Must've slipped for a second; how long has she known him?"

"A month- which to Cassandra is a lifetime. She declared herself an old maid at fifteen."

"That's a while to keep a Schimmer up- no wonder he slipped." The Doctor mused, beginning to pace up and down "Must be up to something important. Is there anything special about Cassandra?"

"Her gaiety." Jane made the word sound like a class A felony.

Felix snorted, and hid it behind his hand. She turned on him.

"You seem to have a touch of it yourself, sir." She said to Felix, again accusingly.

"You have no idea how right you are," Felix replied.

"Miss Austen," said the Doctor, "Can you take us to her?"

"No." Jane looked at the floor for a second then back up, "She will not see me. This past summer, she made particular friends with a puritan woman from the colonies and so has become a keen advocate of the Beknight movement." The Doctor furrowed his brow, she explained "They do not allow intimate engagement between married and unmarried women: I can only speak to Cassandra if I bring my husband with me." She smirked, "Honestly, until now I had not thought it worth the worry."

The Doctor smiled and his eyes glinted, "Jane, how would you like to get hitched?"

"Absolutely not."

"It may save the world."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine then. If I must."