Mary Simonsen - A Wife for Mr Darcy

As soon as Mr. Darcy departed, Miss Montford went to the window to make sure that he was truly gone. When she saw him wave off the hackney, she was afraid he might return. But with her nose pressed to the pane, she watched as he continued walking in the direction of his house, and she let out a sigh of relief. With tears in her eyes, she went to the small sitting room adjacent to the parlor where Mrs. Redford, her companion and chaperone, sat during her visits with Mr. Darcy. This was not a secret because the rocking of Mrs. Redford’s chair and the clicking of her knitting needles provided a rhythmic background to all their conversations.

Mrs. Redford, who had taken the place of Letitia’s mother when Lady Margaret had died when the child was eight, came over and gave her a hug, and she clung to her companion in absolute misery. Letitia took out an embroidered handkerchief from a drawer stuffed full of them.

“It had such a promising beginning, but now…” After dabbing everything that was wet, she explained what had gone wrong. “When Papa introduced me to Mr. Darcy, I could hardly believe he was interested in me at all, but I was flattered by his attention. At first, we talked about all those things that one is supposed to talk about in a ballroom: dancing, the number of couples, the weather, plays at Haymarket, and the opera. But then things started to change. I noticed he became impatient when I talked about the weather. Then at the public ball at Merritt’s, he introduced me to Charles Bingley, and Mr. Bingley asked me to dance. What could I say? He is a friend of Mr. Darcy’s, and although he is most agreeable company, he is not a gentleman. And then he asked if I knew Mr. Bingley’s sisters. How would I know them? We have no friends in common.

“Tonight was the worst of all. He spoke of subjects that are of no interest to me. I do not care where my tea comes from. I know little of the exploits of the explorers, and Papa absolutely forbids any discussion about America because they overthrew their lawful king. Yet Mr. Darcy admires them, and I know that Papa would find that most objectionable. And he has befriended a coffee broker person, and this man, Mr. Gardiner, and his wife are now at Pemberley with their niece, who is sister to Mr. Bingley’s betrothed. He is forming a circle of friends with people not of my station. Am I to be expected to entertain them in our home? To visit them at their estates and in their homes?

“But the very worst was when he said he had always encouraged his sister to be independent and told me that she has gone to Pemberley with people new to her acquaintance and without a male relation. Will Mr. Darcy expect me to be independent? Will he put me in a carriage and send me off on my own?

“Mr. Jasper Wiggins is not like him at all,” Letitia continued to complain through her sniffles. “He loves talking about the weather and is excellent at guessing the number of couples in a ballroom. Mr. Wiggins was acceptable to Papa as a suitable marriage partner for me because he comes from a prominent banking family, and his father is to be knighted. But once Mr. Darcy came to the house, Mr. Wiggins was pushed aside, and now Papa will make me marry Mr. Darcy.” She then burst into tears. “And he is such a big man.”

Mrs. Redford continued to listen to Letitia’s complaints through bouts of sobbing, but she had already heard enough. The facts of the matter were that Mr. Darcy did not love Letitia, and Letitia was a nervous wreck around Mr. Darcy. It was obvious to Mrs. Redford that both individuals wanted to get out of the relationship. The obstacle was Sir John, who was determined to have Mr. Darcy as a son-in-law, and she knew why. If Letitia were to marry into one of the oldest families in the realm that would be a real feather in Sir John’s cap. Connections—this was all about connections.

Sir John, who had spent most of the last two months in the country shooting, believed that all was well in London. He had no idea how distressed his youngest daughter was. But Mrs. Redford understood her employer and knew well his weaknesses. He was a vain, self-important man, and, hopefully, his vanity and snobbery would be Letitia’s way out and, for that matter, Mr. Darcy’s as well.

Mrs. Redford was not alone in her scheming. Colonel Fitzwilliam was enjoying his time away from his regiment and his commanding officer, a total incompetent, whose only rival was the Prince of Wales. The prince had come to Kent to review the troops, and with every inch of his tailored uniform decorated with unearned military honors, he had looked like a bejeweled stuffed sausage. It was at that moment that Richard had thought about selling his commission. But for the time being, his own affairs had to be put aside because his cousin was in danger of making a disastrous mistake, and because he had to move quickly, his military training would serve him well.

Richard’s plan was unconventional and involved enlisting the support of his brother, Antony, Lord Fitzwilliam. Antony had married Eleanor Henley, the daughter of the 2nd Earl Henley, and with the exception of his two lovely daughters, the marriage had been a disaster. The misery of his marriage had set him on a course of reckless spending, excessive drinking, and gaming, as well as bedding half the married women in London society, resulting in more than one close call with a husband.

In order to prevent Darcy from visiting Anne in Kent, he needed a rider to go to Rosings to update their cousin on the swirl of events taking place in London, and for that, Richard was in need of the services of Gregg, Antony’s manservant, an accomplished horseman. Richard brought his brother up to date on the disaster-in-the-making that was the Montford/ Darcy courtship.

“This does not sound like the Darcy I know,” Antony said. “But if he is not going to learn from my mistakes, then why should I help him? On the other hand, he is my cousin, and on occasion has lent me money. So I shall agree to send my man to Kent, as Darcy lacks my experience in handling unpleasant situations. However, I would like to know how Anne is going to help prevent a marriage in London when she is sequestered with Empress Catherine in Rosings Park.”

“I need Anne’s help to get Darcy to Pemberley. Once there, our cousin will be unable to resist the charms of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I am telling you, Antony, he is head over heels in love with the lady. This is a Will Darcy you do not know.”

Richard also took Mercer into his confidence, urging him to plant seeds of doubt about Miss Montford whenever possible, even at the risk of his master’s displeasure. Mercer readily agreed, as he was a daily witness to his growing unhappiness. When Mr. Darcy had repeated a comment made by his housemaster at Eton, “You have made your bed, and now you must lie in it,” Mercer had responded by saying that was an excellent lesson for a boy, but perhaps being miserable for the rest of his life might be too harsh even for his housemaster.

“And what did Mr. Darcy say?” Richard asked.

“He told me he wished to hear no more on the subject.”

The next evening, after dinner, Darcy took the day’s post into the parlor and was happy to see that he had a letter from Anne de Bourgh.

“Damn!” Darcy said after scanning the letter.

“What?” Richard asked innocently.

“Anne is to go to her Aunt Hargrave’s and will not be at Rosings when I had planned to visit,” and he read on. “However, she is eagerly looking forward to receiving a description of the autumn colors from Georgie. Very interesting since I had not mentioned that Georgie was in Derbyshire. I had intended to tell Anne when I saw her.”

“I may have mentioned it to Antony, and I know he is in frequent correspondence with Anne,” Richard said, quickly trying to cover up Anne’s mistake. He could not blame his cousin for the slipup as she was a novice conspirator.

“Am I to believe that Antony immediately dashed off a letter to Anne to apprise her of Georgie’s whereabouts? So my next question is, did you have something to do with this?” and he held out Anne’s letter.

“I thank you for the compliment. If you think I am capable of informing Anne in Kent of events in London that have only just happened, you obviously think me a clever fellow.” Darcy agreed that it was unlikely. “Listen, Darcy,” Richard quickly added, “you cannot avoid Miss Elizabeth. Her sister is to marry your closest friend, and you will see her at the wedding, at christenings, when you visit with Bingley at Netherfield, and on many other occasions. I suggest you write to Georgiana and tell her you are coming to Pemberley for the shooting and fishing and that you will have limited contact with her guests.”