Darcy’s Story Read online

  Darcy’s Story

  Janet Aylmer

  What is it about Fitzwilliam Darcy? Two hundred years after he captivated Elizabeth Bennett, readers still can't seem to get their fill of him. This title is just the latest in Darcy-inspired Jane Austen "fanfiction." Aylmer adheres more closely to the original in Darcy's Story, which retells Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. Big chunks of dialogue are lifted straight from Austen, accompanied by Darcy's own thoughts and perceptions. It's an interesting idea, but Aylmer's reverence for the text stands in the way of creating a lively story. There is no attempt to match Austen's sparkle or to flesh out the period setting, and opportunities to create more drama are missed; for example, Wickham's attempted abduction of Georgiana, which in another writer's hands might be a novel in itself, is dealt with in a few matter-of-fact sentences. As a result, this Darcy seems a dull dog. Nevertheless, the book should appeal to ardent Austen fans, especially if they object to too much tinkering.

  Janet Aylmer

  Darcy’s Story

  This book is dedicated to the very many people who have

  enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice since it was first

  published in 1813, and especially to

  Rachel

  Who always wants to know more.

  Preface

  Jane Austen’s famous novel Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813, and it has been popular with readers ever since.

  In Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, she created two of the best loved characters in romantic fiction. Millions of people over the years have been intrigued by Mr. Darcy, the handsome, proud but enigmatic hero of the novel, and the story of how he meets, misunderstands and finally is united with Elizabeth Bennet.

  However, Pride and Prejudice reveals surprisingly little about Darcy and how he is changed from a “haughty, reserved and fastidious” young man to the ardent and humble suitor for the hand of the woman he loves.

  Darcy’s Story explores Darcy’s thoughts and actions, and the reasons behind them, and demonstrates that the hero is just as interesting a person as Elizabeth Bennet herself.

  Many readers of the novel have agreed with the author when she described Elizabeth Bennet in a letter to her sister Cassandra as being “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.” Her independence of mind, and lack of respect for people who take their social position too seriously, have been described as very modern for the time, now nearly two centuries ago, when the book was completed.

  Darcy is a more sombre and reserved personality than Elizabeth, very conscious of his social position, and often appearing aloof and distant. In the story, he observes himself that “my temper would perhaps be called resentful.” Described by the author of Pride and Prejudice early in the book as “the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world,” Darcy changes so much that Elizabeth can assure her father that “Indeed he has no improper pride. He is perfectly amiable. You do not know what he really is . . .”

  This book explains much more about Darcy’s relationships with his formidable aunt, the forthright Lady Catherine de Bourgh, with his sister, Georgiana, and with his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. We see Elizabeth Bennet, her parents and sisters, and Mr. Bennet’s cousin, the odious but comical curate Mr. Collins, through Darcy’s eyes.

  Darcy’s Story reveals how he overcomes the problems and misunderstandings that threaten to separate him from Elizabeth, so that he is able to say to her towards the end of the story “By you I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You shewed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.”

  Part One

  Mr. Darcy... had a fine tall person, handsome

  features, noble mien... and ten thousand pounds a

  year, but not all his large estate in Derbyshire could

  save him from being proud, above his company and

  above being pleased.

  1

  It is a consequence of possessing an income of ten thousand pounds a year that a man may order his life to his own liking, and choose his own society.

  The tall and handsome young man surveying his estate from the first floor window had much to be proud of, and few matters to regret. The estate at Pemberley was ten miles round. The gracious prospect from the house overlooked a verdant valley where the stream had been dammed to form a lake in the foreground. The vista over the park extended across to the woods beyond, where the view widened and the slopes on the far side blended with the trees across the hills to each side. Beyond, the High Peak could be seen in the distance. It was a view of which its owner never wearied; and one of many reasons why he was happier in Derbyshire than in any other place.

  “You never tire of that view, Darcy?” said Colonel Fitzwilliam.

  “No,” he replied, turning to look at his cousin, “but should I?”

  “I do not value the landscape of Derbyshire as highly as you do, perhaps, but I dare say that if I had inherited such a handsome house and a fine estate myself, I might have the same preference.”

  Darcy smiled and answered, “All you lack is a wealthy wife; make a prudent marriage, and you could be in the same position.”

  His cousin paused for a few moments before saying, “I do not need an heiress to a great estate, just someone whose fortune would compensate for my being the younger son, rather than having the prospect of being the next Earl ___. And I myself give some priority to the lady being agreeable, as you should.”

  Darcy made no reply to this, but gazed at the prospect over the lake for some time. Then he turned to Fitzwilliam. “Seeing the new growth on the trees at this time of year reminds me that both my mother and later my father died in this month.” He paused, and then added, “I am glad to have your company for a few days, for I find it easy to become melancholy in May, indeed resentful that my mother was taken from me so early.”

  Fitzwilliam reflected it was a very great pity that the late Mr. George Darcy had also not lived longer.

  “Your parents were very fond of each other,” said Fitzwilliam.

  “Yes,” said Darcy, “indeed, a rarity in our level of society, I am sure you would agree?”

  “You are thinking of Lady Catherine, our aunt, and Sir Lewis de Bourgh, I suppose?”

  “They are but one example,” said his cousin.

  “But do not forget,” said Fitzwilliam, “that your mother was very young at the time of her marriage, so that her disposition was not set, whereas our aunt was not only the elder sister, but was two and thirty when she wed. In any case, her marriage was not so much unhappy as more formal. And you should recall that Sir Lewis was an elderly widower when they met, and died only three years later, when his daughter was only two years old. At least his will left Lady Catherine a considerable fortune, together with a very handsome house and with the estate at Rosings in trust for our cousin Anne.”

  “But if you are trying to suggest,” said Darcy testily, “that a gentleman whom our aunt had met taking the waters at Bath, and who was very nearly a contemporary of our grandfather, could have had a really happy marriage with someone of such strong opinions as Lady Catherine, I do not believe you!”

  Fitzwilliam reflected to himself that Lady Catherine could more properly be described as arrogant, with an ill concealed contempt for her inferiors in society. Indeed, he knew that Darcy himself could appear to be disdainful in company. Although he had inherited his father’s shy, reserved disposition and dislike of the social round in town, in many other respects his cousin strongly resembled his mother, having a strong sense of his social position and being jealous of his ancestry and the possession of his great estate.

  “Perhaps it would have been as useful if Sir Lewis could have bequeathed An
ne better health rather than so large a fortune, for she was a sickly child from the beginning,” said Fitzwilliam. “But you must excuse me, for I must make preparations for when we leave tomorrow.”

  * * *

  Darcy returned to sit at the table where he had been writing a letter to Georgiana.

  His sister, more than ten years his junior, had been left on their father’s death five years earlier to the guardianship of himself and his cousin Fitzwilliam. Although she was happiest when in Derbyshire, since their bereavement Georgiana had lived mainly in London, so that she might have access to the best of tutors, and be instructed in music and dancing prior to her being presented at court.

  She was now some fifteen years of age, and had lately left school. Darcy had recently employed a Mrs. Younge as his sister’s companion, who had been recommended by an acquaintance of his uncle, the Earl ___, for whom she had occupied a similar post. At the suggestion of Mrs. Younge, who knew the place well, she and Georgiana were shortly to travel from Darcy’s house in London to Ramsgate, to take the sea air for a few weeks.

  They were to break their journey at Rosings, the home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter Anne, who was several years’ younger than Darcy. He himself had recently spent a few days with Fitzwilliam there on his annual visit, but with little enjoyment from the company of his aunt and cousin.

  On Lady Catherine’s insistence, Georgiana and Mrs. Younge were to be accompanied on their journey through Kent by a pair of manservants, in addition to the coachman and his assistant, as outriders alongside the chaise.

  He took up the letter that he had most recently received from his sister.

  I know, my dear brother, that you wish us to visit my aunt on our journey. I confess that lately I find her manner rather severe for my taste, and her strictures on my accomplishments compared to those of Anne rather dispiriting.

  Here he paused.

  His recollection was that, despite the little time she spent in society, their cousin’s health had not enabled her to acquire many accomplishments, save a very proper disdain for inferior companions and a rather constant concern for her own indispositions.

  Certainly, any talents Anne might possess were far inferior to those of his sister, although Georgiana was several years younger. However, he was aware that his aunt considered those accomplishments that her daughter lacked would be well within her abilities, should her health ever permit her to acquire them.

  “Mrs. Younge tells me that there will be company enough for me in Ramsgate—someone whom we know well from Derbyshire.

  I will write to you in London once we have arrived.

  Your loving sister,

  Georgiana”

  Darcy wondered who the someone from Derbyshire could be, as he was not aware of any friend who might be in Kent at present. For a moment, he thought to add to his reply, to mention that he might have time from his business in town to join them for a few days.

  However, that was not certain, so he left his letter as it was.

  * * *

  The family at Pemberley was well respected in the neighbourhood and, although properly conscious of his position as one of the wealthiest men in the country, the late Mr. George Darcy had been a conscientious employer and benevolent to the poor. Fitzwilliam Darcy had continued his father’s habit of giving charity to the deserving without seeking to have it known, as well as Mr. George Darcy’s interest in the fine library at Pemberley.

  It was during one of his rare visits to London to consult his attorney that George Darcy had met his wife, Lady Anne, daughter of the late Earl ___, in her first season. Her family had considered a marriage to the owner of one of the richest estates in the country eminently suitable for their younger daughter.

  George and Lady Anne Darcy had had little in common with their sister in Kent, save considerable wealth and position. However, they were both aware of their family responsibilities. Although Mr. George Darcy had rarely made the journey when he visited town, Lady Anne had been to Rosings regularly.

  Before his mother’s premature demise, when his sister Georgiana was but a small child, Darcy had gone with them both to stay with Lady Catherine several times a year. Lady Anne’s death had been a severe blow to him, leaving him with no close confidant but his cousin Fitzwilliam. Since that unhappy event, Darcy had reduced his attendance on his aunt to one annual visit, and usually went to stay in Kent in the Spring, a few weeks after Easter.

  When the weather was inclement, there was little entertainment at Rosings, and Lady Catherine could be a demanding companion. For that reason, Darcy often asked Fitzwilliam to go with him, to provide some relief to his aunt’s strictures, and offer more congenial company.

  Lady Catherine’s opportunities to travel to Pemberley were restricted by her daughter Anne’s ill-health and the distance to Derbyshire from Kent. She did, however, make regular visits to the spa at Bath in the hope of improving her daughter’s condition, staying with an elderly relative who had a spacious house just off Laura Place.

  Wherever she was, she took it upon herself to supervise her nephew and niece from a distance, by writing regularly to advise them on their conduct, their choice of companions, and the limited number of families with whom it was proper for them to associate.

  From her most recent communications, Darcy understood that Lady Catherine considered the time was approaching when he should consider marriage. She had hinted strongly that she had one particular lady in mind, that she and her sister had agreed many years ago that this marriage should be made within the family, and to her daughter Anne.

  To this idea he was indifferent. At six years and twenty, Darcy was in no hurry to marry.

  On leaving the university, Darcy had very soon discovered that young ladies of consequence and of marriageable age were more than happy to be in his company, and that their mothers did their best to entice him to accept social invitations and to put their daughters in his way.

  He, however, disliked the season and as far as he could avoided attendance at the social functions in London. He was equally disinclined to attend formal balls and dances at home in Derbyshire, or elsewhere in the country where his friends resided. In any case, he had yet to meet any young woman who took his interest.

  He doubted that he would be as fortunate as his father, in finding in his marriage both a person of equal social position (a paramount consideration), and whom he could also regard with the affection that had so manifestly subsisted between his parents. That combination was, as Darcy had noted too often, unlikely to be attained by most people of his own status and fortune.

  However, he did agree with his aunt, Lady Catherine, that his future wife must above all be from a family of background and repute equal to his own, as one of the richest men of consequence in the country.

  2

  After luncheon, the two young men walked through the house. The sight of a miniature on the wall prompted Fitzwilliam to ask Darcy a question.

  “I am surprised that you keep an image of that gentleman. I thought that your fears about his disposition had proved to be justified?”

  “Yes,” replied Darcy, “but this room has been left as it was when my father died, in respect for his memory. In any case, George Wickham’s father was a faithful servant to mine, and very kind to me also. He devoted most of his life to running this estate.”

  “A pity,” his cousin replied, “that he did not take more care in his marriage, for his wife was not only much younger, but was also a woman of very extravagant habits, and with a frivolous disposition.”

  Darcy did not reply.

  “I have also heard,” said Fitzwilliam, “that George Wickham has been putting it about that you did not discharge your responsibilities to him in accordance with your father’s wishes.”

  “Yes,” said Darcy shortly, “but, as you know, there is no truth in that. I hope never to have any more dealings with that gentleman. Hopefully, when I paid him off, that was the end of it.”

  Hi
s cousin’s remark reminded Darcy that young Mr. Wickham had been born within a few months of himself. The owner of Pemberley had gladly consented to be godfather to the child of his steward, who was named after him. The boy had been a great favourite of Mr. Darcy, to the extent that his own son had sometimes been jealous of young George Wickham’s pleasing address, good figure and very happy readiness of conversation.

  The cost of sending the steward’s son to school and later to Cambridge had been borne by his godfather. When they were young, the two boys had been regular companions. However, his own acquaintance with the son as he grew to manhood had convinced Darcy that young Mr. Wickham had not inherited the integrity or abilities that had served his father so well. At college, Darcy saw the young man turn to frivolous and dissolute habits, of which his benefactor had remained unaware.

  When Darcy’s father died, he had asked in his will that provision be made for George Wickham. If the young man desired to take holy orders, the request was that a valuable family living should be his. Mr. George Darcy also left his godson the sum of one thousand pounds.

  The steward had not long survived his master. Within half a year of leaving Cambridge, young Mr. Wickham decided against holy orders and accepted instead the sum of three thousand pounds from Darcy, saying that he intended to study for the law.

  Darcy had doubted the likelihood of Wickham applying himself to that profession. He had heard nothing more of his childhood companion, since the day several years ago when the sum of money agreed had been paid to him, until Wick-ham had written to him when the living at Kympton on the Pemberley estate had become vacant. He said that he had spent the money paid to him, that he had changed his mind, and would now like to go into the Church. He had asked for the living, which included an excellent parsonage house.