Young Darcy Inherits Heavy Mantle of Responsibility: excerpt from a WIP

Darcy and GeorgianaMiss Georgiana Darcy of Pemberley, which will debut later this summer, is a Pride and Prejudice sequel told from Georgiana’s perspective, meant to go hand-in-hand with my earlier novel The Darcys of Pemberley. While I’ve been impatiently awaiting it’s release, I have enjoyed sharing a few excerpts with you here at Austen Variations! (See dates 3/23, 3/30, 4/27 and a related post 5/20 The Enigmatic Miss Darcy). Although the upcoming book focuses on life after P&P, I selected the few flashback scenes for these posts, figuring everybody can relate to these and also to avoid spoilers.

Today’s episode is as much about Mr. Darcy as his sister. Although this book features Georgiana, including her recollections of events that shaped her life and character, she shares a common history (as well as a connected future) with Mr. Darcy himself. In this scene, she tells the story of when their father died – something that would have a profound impact on them both. 



I was twelve at the time, and William and I had been away visiting our Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin de Bourgh when we received the urgent summons. My brother, to whom the message was addressed, told me only that Papa was ill and wanted us home.

As a child who had already lost one parent to illness, it took no more than those few words to mightily alarm me. My fears were further awakened by what I observed in my brother’s demeanor. He had grown quite pale and there was a grim, hardened set to his mouth. Plus, his haste to be gone told me there was no time to lose.

Looking back, I can more fully appreciate what William must have been feeling. He cared deeply for our father and would miss him. But beyond the grief, he must have felt the inescapable weight of responsibility shifting even then onto his young shoulders.

We left immediately, and all the way home I fretted over what I would find when we arrived. I thought of Papa and pleaded with God that he would not be taken from me. Although Papa had never been overly demonstrative of his affection nor indulgent with his time, I knew that I was loved. And I believed that I was safe so long as my stalwart father was there to watch over my world. He seemed so strong, so confident, so immovable that it defied logic that he could be defeated by something as insubstantial as an illness one could not even see. And yet in my heart, I feared the worst.

After silently pondering these things for more than a day as we rode side by side in the carriage, I looked up at my brother. With tears already pooling in my eyes, I asked him, “Is Papa going to die?”

I could see the sadness in his own eyes as William stroked my hair, waiting as long as possible before delivering the blow. “I am sorry, Geegee. I wish I could spare you, but yes, I believe he is going to die. That is what the medical men who have been attending him predict. We will find out the truth soon enough. In the meantime, we must prepare ourselves but also continue to hope for the best. Understand?”

I nodded and blinked, which sent the unshed tears rolling down my cheeks at last. William put his arm about my shoulders and drew me closer. He spent the rest of our journey alternately trying to comfort and distract me. It was he who the same day first pointed out to me that charming village I have so admired ever since, suggesting it looked as if it might have come out of one of the fairy stories I still liked to read. Even this could not make me long forget what lay ahead however.

Upon our arrival to Pemberley, we were told that Papa was very weak but still alive, and so we went directly to his bedside. To this day I can remember how strangely diminished he looked lying there, almost shrunken into himself and at least ten years older than when I had last seen him. Gone, seemingly overnight, were his robust physique and his larger-than-life presence, both stolen away by some murdering sickness which the doctors could neither clearly diagnose nor cure.

“Come here and kiss me, my child,” this man, whom I barely recognized as my father, said in an unfamiliar, raspy voice.

My courage faltered and, as I so often did, I looked to William for reassurance. He nodded and sent me forward with a gentle nudge. I dutifully kissed Papa on the forehead and then focused my attention on his eyes, where he seemed most like his former self.

“You are a good girl,” he said, “and I have always been proud of you, Georgiana. You must learn to listen to your brother now, though. He will look after you when I am gone.”

“Yes, Papa,” I managed through my tears. Papa then turned to William and I gave way.

“I am glad you have come in time, son,” he said, a note of relief sounding in his words. “It is a heavy mantle I must now pass on to you, but one I am confident you are able to bear.”

“Father, I am grieved, grieved and afraid,” said William, his voice faltering. He was on one knee at the bedside, holding my father’s hand in both of his.

“You mustn’t fear for me or for yourself either. I am going to join your mother, and you… Well, you are ready to come out from behind my shadow. I have taught you all that I know, so you are fully equipped to assume your place as master of Pemberley. Take as much care superintending it as I know you will with your sister. It is a living, breathing thing with many souls dependent on its continuing to prosper.”

William waited silently while Papa gathered enough strength to speak again.

“I tell you nothing new, my son. These things you have understood from your youth. I am only pleased to have been given this last chance to encourage you… and to see my children’s faces again.”

These were Papa’s final words. After looking once more with watery eyes from my brother to myself and back again, his lids closed, he presently fell into unconsciousness, and soon afterward breathed his last.

Mr. Darcy tormentedI fled the room as soon as it was over to seek comfort in Mrs. Reynolds’s arms, but William remained more than an hour longer. When he finally emerged, he looked haggard, as if he had been through a brutal battle and barely survived. I believe during that time he had fought against and finally come to terms with the new realities of his situation – not only Papa’s death but also the end of his own life as he had known it. Nothing would ever be the same for him again. Although William had never been frivolous, now any carefree feelings were gone. At three-and-twenty, he was suddenly responsible for not only the care of a younger sibling but also the management of a small empire.

My life had changed too, but not so severely. I had merely lost my father; William had lost his youth and his freedom as well that day. A less conscientious person might not have allowed his new responsibilities to bind him. In fact, I have heard of cases where the opposite was true – a young man, suddenly finding himself in charge of his father’s riches, runs amok and ruins his family. My brother is cut of much sturdier cloth, fortunately. He took his new position seriously, so seriously that I rarely heard him laugh or saw him being playful after that – not until he met Elizabeth, at least. That finally revived him.

William has fulfilled his responsibility to me very admirably. No one could have asked for a more caring and conscientious brother to watch over her growing up. And yet, I still miss my father, even after all the years that have passed. Time has eased the pain, but I still grieve. I still remember, even when I did not wish to.

I did not wish to now, and yet despite my best efforts to the contrary, my thoughts had come full circle; after briefly taking a more cheerful turn, they had run back to contemplating calamity again – the dark despair of when I returned home to find my father dying. What would I find at Pemberley this time, I wondered? I prayed God I was wrong, but my every instinct told me it would be something equally harrowing.



I’ve always felt that Darcy’s reserve and serious nature grew, at least in part, from the heavy responsibility he was obliged to take on so young. What do you think? Would he have been a different sort of man if his father had lived? If so, would we still admire him as much as we do?

 

16 comments

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    • Carol on May 26, 2015 at 4:10 am
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    I definitely feel that Darcy would have been different if his father’s death wouldn’t have thrust him into his role as Master of Pemberley at such an early age. The loss of both parents weighed heavily on his mind besides the shouldering of all his family’s financial affairs. His upbringing prohibited him from being anything but successful at the loss of himself. Never being outgoing and at ease in society, he retreated farther into himself than before, making him seem more aloof and proud than he might have been if his circumstances been different. Besides, he had to fight off the tons matchmaking mother’s and their insipid daughters leaving his life joyless than most men his age. Most twenty-three year old men today could not have handled this life that was dealt him.

    1. I agree, Carol; it would have had to change him. People might think Darcy’s lucky to be rich, but with privilege comes responsibility, and it wouldn’t have been easy, especially at so young an age.

    • Sheila L. M. on May 26, 2015 at 9:24 am
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    I agree. Having those responsibilities at such a young age had to be daunting. Just the thought of rearing a sister on the brink of puberty is mind boggling. There were no close relatives to help with even that. So many aspects he had to consider: day-to-day finances, investments, tenants and their complaints, hiring or firing of servants, meetings with the housekeeper and his steward, taking time to stay in shape, etc. What time did he have to socialize or contemplate the need for a wife and then an heir, himself.

    I was brought to tears myself in reading this. Well done.

    1. I’m glad it touched you, Sheila. Here’s a quote on the subject from “The Darcys of Pemberley.”

      When Elizabeth considered how many people depended on her husband for their livelihood and security, it sometimes alarmed her. Along with the power he possessed – as husband, brother, landlord, and master to a host of servants and workers – came heavy responsibility. A less conscientious man might not have felt the burden of this trust. But she knew Darcy was acutely aware of his obligation to protect the welfare of all those under his guardianship, and mindful that his choices in the management of Pemberley could effect dozens of others for good or for ill.

    • Kathy Berlin on May 26, 2015 at 12:31 pm
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    In essentials, I believe Darcy would have remained unchanged from canon if his father had lived. I do think he would have been more approachable, however. With his father’s counsel, he would likely have learned to tolerate the attentions of others better, with more equanimity. But, would he have been friends with Bingley? We are not told in canon (I don’t believe) where they met, nor how long they have been friends. Would he have needed Bingley’s easiness to offset his own uncomfortable feeling in company? If the friendship had happened anyway, I do think his father would have scotched Caroline’s pretensions rather quickly. He would have wanted a better woman for his son and made it clear she was not welcome to the family, if we accept that his marriage was a good one. Caroline’s inherent nastiness would have eliminated her. Would Elizabeth qualify? Maybe, once he saw Darcy’s feelings, I do not think he would have discounted them and Elizabeth had breeding, wit, good manners, and an engaging personality. This is speculation, of course, because we are not given information on his father other than he was a good landlord and well-thought of in Lambton. I would like to think he was not just a good man, but a man that was happy in his marriage and would want the same for his son. But we do need Bingley to get Darcy to Meryton!

    1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Kathy, some of which mirror my own and which I mention in the book! – the hope that the elder Darcy’s marriage had been good, Bingley’s (and Fitzwilliam’s) lightheartedness needed to balance out Darcy’s tendency toward gravity. But I hadn’t really thought about whether his choice of Elizabeth would have been approved by his parents or not, had they lived. Hmm. There might be another book in there somewhere!

  1. Yes, I agree that Darcy’s serious mien was forged in the responsibilities given him at a young age, an age in which life is just beginning for most young men of his class. With the studious years of university behind him, Darcy would have been launched into the social scene, albeit a mite unwillingly and awkwardly. But instead he took on the mantle of responsibility for Pemberley and all the people who depended on the great house for their livelihood. In addition, Darcy must now raise a young girl on the cusp of her awkward teen years. Richard will help, of course, but his own position in the army demands that Darcy must take the lion’s share of responsibility for Georgiana’s growth and welfare. I am not surprised that such heavy responsibility would make an already serious young man even more so, and the time he spent at Pemberley seeing to his responsibilities rather than in the ballrooms of London as his fellow Cambridge graduates most likely did, stunted his social growth, making him withdrawn and impatient in social situations as his responsibilities were never far from his mind.

    Until Elizabeth burst into his life, turning his mind, heart, and dedication to responsibility topsy-turvy…which was exactly what he needed.

    A wonderful flashback! I can’t wait to read the book when it comes out, and I plan to read The Darcys of Pemberley while I wait. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this gem with us!

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Susanne, and thanks for adding to the discussion!

      Just one note of interest, though. We don’t know that Colonel Fitzwilliam’s first name was Richard. I understand that other JAFF authors have given him that moniker, but JA never tells us. So don’t be too surprised when you read in my books that his name is John! Haha!

    • Deborah on May 27, 2015 at 7:58 am
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    I read this yesterday and am just now getting a chance to respond, Shannon. It was interesting reading this part of Darcy’s life from Georgiana’s point of view, especially since Jane only mentions it. I believe Darcy was a naturally reserved and serious person, I have seen that in my son from a very early age. Being given the responsibility of an estate at search an early age would’ve made him even more serious and reserved. The responsibilities and management of such an estate as well as the responsibility of a preteen girl would be nearly overwhelming and he is someone who wants to make his father proud. He also has been pursued by fortune hunters and once the estate became his I am sure the pursuit became even more intense. If his father had lived we still would’ve loved him, but perhaps he wouldn’t have been so tense. He may have been slightly more relaxed and not have had Ramsgate to deal with as well. He may then not have insulted Elizabeth at the Meryton Assembly, but then there wouldn’t have been a story.

    Thank you for sharing and I am looking forward to the release of this book.

    1. Thanks for coming back to comment, Deborah. I agree with you. I think Darcy was already serious by nature and that his early responsibilities just made exaggerated that trait. The business with Wickham made him more guarded. Without these two things, he might have been more relaxed and open when he met Elizabeth. But then, as you say, there wouldn’t have been a story – at least not the same one.

    • EvelynTost on May 27, 2015 at 5:10 pm
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    Oh, Shannon! Thank you for that wonderful excerpt. I agree with everything said pretty much. Darcy was a quiet serious boy, who lost his mother early, which made him even more quiet and serious, and then the loss of his father, and all the responsibility fell to him– I can hardly imagine all that he probably faced, and even though his father felt he was prepared, how could he really totally be ready for it? I’m sure his father’s guidance in society would have been sorely missed! I cannot imagine myself dealing with any of what he had to do!! Thank you!

    Now, I am going to go back and read “The Darcys of Penberley” again!!!

    1. That would be great, Evelyn! Then you’ll have the inside track when Georgiana’s story comes out. You’ll know what’s going on before she does. 😉

    • Anji on May 29, 2015 at 11:54 am
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    Lovely excerpt, Shannon, and I’m really looking forward to the publication of your book.

    I’m trying to work out in my mind what, if anything, would have happened between Georgiana and Wickham if Darcy Senior had still been alive. Where would she have been sent to school? Would she ever have gone to Ramsgate? Would Darcy Senior have eventually seen through Wickham’s facade of goodness and amiability to the rotteness underneath? A plot bunny for someone with much more talent for writing than me there, possibly.

    In canon, when we first meet Darcy, he’s still getting over the shock of Ramsgate, possibly it’s why he’s staying with the Bingleys in the first place. We know from what the good Colonel says at Rosings, that Darcy is amiable enough in company he’s familiar with but the Colonel has obviously never seen him amongst strangers. What does he mean by strangers? He must have seen him amongst the people of “the ton”, some of whom may be strangers to them, surely? Could “strangers” possibly mean people who might be regarded as a somewhat lower social class? Darcy could be out of his comfort zone then, as he may be able to relate to his peers, tenants and servants but not folk like the people of Meryton.

    As probably an already serious young man when his Father died, the added responsibility obviously didn’t break him but maybe just added to his introverted personality. Then along comes Ramsgate!

    Sorry if this all sounds somewhat jumbled and incoherent but I’ve been typing it as the thoughts occurred and don’t have time right now to organise them properly.

    1. No problem, Anji. I followed your thoughts just fine!
      Worst case scenario: old Mr. Darcy, had he lived, might have made it easy for Wickham, actually promoting the match between W and G! There’s a plot possibility!

        • EvelynTost on May 30, 2015 at 11:45 pm
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        Hmmm, the plot line elder Mr. Darcy still alive and dealing with Ramsgate and Wickham trying to elope with Georgiana– sounds like the new book I just read by Leslie Diamond “Unwavering Trust”. I recommend it as I enjoyed it very much, and, even though it has much more in it, the above plot line is covered. Thanks

        1. Good to know, Evelyn. I read almost no JAFF myself, not wanting to be influenced by another writer’s ideas. So I don’t know what’s been done and what hasn’t! – although 2 authors, even starting with the very same premise, are bound to write entirely different books. There seems to be no limit to what creative minds can do with JA’s novels, P&P especially. 😀

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