Snippet #1447037

Jane couldn't think back to a time when she'd been this nervous before. If Mrs. Doyle caught her sneaking out, the punishment for her actions would be severe. Even if she wasn't caught, there was still the issue of being back before she was missed.

But isn't London such a large city? she thought to herself as she feverishly pulled the buttons of her shoes through their respective holes with the button hook. I've always read that it was large. She finished with her shoes and rearranged her skirts as she stood. She reached for the door but froze before touching it.

"Is someone there?" she called softly, not stopping to think of how foolish it was to call out. There was no answer and before long her little lap dog came running into view. "Ah, Louis, shh." The little dog tilted his head to the side and stared at her with his big black eyes. "We don't want Mrs. Doyle hearing us." The dog sat. "Good boy."

Jane adjusted the angle of her very stylish Parisian hat before reaching for the door and (with another "Shh!" at the dog) leaving the house for the first time since her accident.

Immediately, Jane was almost pulled away by the wind. She'd forgotten about wind. She huddled against the door until she realized that the biting cold would not go away and the wind would not stop. She glanced at how the young ladies walked in the wind while trying to not get their dresses or hair mussed up. She observed their technique for a while, simply standing on the front step like a simpleton until she thought she understood.

She stepped down amongst the crowd and instantly became pushed and bustled about by more than the wind. It didn't look this busy from my window!

When she finally managed to get out of the press of people, she was completely lost. She didn't dwell on this, though. She'd just spied a couple walking arm in arm, a chaperone only a few steps behind. The young lady was dressed in the latest fashion, not much different from what Jane, herself, was wearing. The young man was obviously a fop. There was something about the way the two walked together that had Jane mesmerized.

It's just like in all of my books. She couldn't hear what they were saying but it had to be something brilliantly charming because that was what couples talked about. She imagined herself walking arm in arm with some gentleman. Someone like Miss Austen's Mr. Bingley. (She always, always preferred Mr. Bingley to Mr. Darcy. She didn't like that Darcy started out so proud.)

Reluctantly, Jane turned to leave the sight of the sweet looking couple. She had many more things she had to see before she was obligated to return home. She flexed the fingers of her right hand in anticipation as she was often wont to do, and started off.

Where to first? She rather wanted to see the Thames. She'd never seen a river before. Well, perhaps she had, but she didn't remember. She spent a longer amount of time trying to find the river than she'd ever imagine having passed. Minutes became hours upon hours. What Jane did know was that she was beginning to feel hungry by the time she reached the bridge. She wasn't about to go looking for a place that sold food when she'd only just found the bridge, however.

Jane was astounded again by the number of people around. This time the class of people surrounding her wasn't strictly her own and she gazed in wonderment at the people dressed in threadbare clothing she wouldn't have even begun to imagine owning herself. She hadn't realized how well off she was before and she still didn't really comprehend the poverty of some and she just kept thinking, They must be cold. She was cold, herself, in the limbs that were no made of metal.

"I wish..." Jane's words were lost in the low rumble of the city around her. She wished for a perfect world as the first bits of stark reality came marching through the fantasy in which she lived.