Before Elizabeth

I’m glad you’re enjoying the Prelude to Pemberley segments so much! Although this isn’t an official one, it really could have been. It’s actually an excerpt from the prequel portion of my novel Fitzwilliam Darcy in His Own Words,  before Darcy has met Elizabeth and he’s considering marriage in a very logically minded way. [If any of you have read the marvelous book The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, there’s a little of Don Tillman in this incarnation of Fitzwilliam Darcy!]

So Darcy’s not looking for romance. In fact he mistrusts love altogether, due to things in his past. So he wants to find an appropriate wife for sensible reasons – to help with managing Georgiana, for one! I hope you enjoy this virtual “Prelude” excerpt, and remember, Darcy is telling the story himself.

With this latest trouble concerning Georgiana, with this most recent reminder of my inadequacy to serve as her sole parental figure, my mind turned once again to the need of finding assistance in the form of a suitable marriage partner. I had by this time got over the initial shock of having all Pemberley unexpectedly thrust into my hands. I was of a good age for getting on with what must come next: finding myself a wife. And with Georgiana settled in London, I was at liberty to undertake the project.

The customary way to proceed might have been to throw myself into the marriage market of a London season. I had seen enough to know that with noble connections, a generous income, and extensive properties belonging to me, I would not have long remained without companionship in that environment. However, it has always seemed a very vulgar business to me, what with all the extravagance, pomp and parade, deals to be struck, and prime goods going to the highest bidder. Although my father had advised not to sell myself cheaply, I could not believe that is what he had in mind. And personally, I had no desire to be made a party to such a coarse practice again. Besides, I lacked two of the essentials for enjoying a London season, those being a great appetite for dancing and a facility for conversing with strangers.

I chose a quieter, more dignified approach instead; I chose to look to established connections rather than attempting to forge new – and possibly questionable – ones beyond.

Photo: BBC

When I considered those established associations with my new object in view, two suitable candidates immediately suggested themselves. I could seek a wife in my cousin Anne de Bourgh – my mother’s early design for me – or I could look to my father’s more recent suggestion of Miss Lambright. I knew that with one I acquired an overbearing mother-in-law, a woman whom I was obliged to tolerate as my aunt but did not necessarily desire any nearer connection to. With the other I acquired no mother-in-law at all, for the viscount had lately lost his lady to illness. All other considerations being more or less equal in my mind, that seemed a good basis for deciding where to begin. Consequently, I made plans for visiting Viscount Harcourt at once.

The viscount and his family were not in our closest circle of acquaintances, but while my father lived, he had made a decided point of maintaining the connection. Although it was true that since then the association had suffered some neglect, I was quite certain I would be well received just as before, since several letters of ceremony had circulated between our two households in the interim. Georgiana and I had been favored with a very handsome letter of condolence from the viscount on the occasion of my father’s death. And I had been careful to return the courtesy when the viscount’s wife, who I believed to have held me in some affection, had herself died.

Therefore, I could come to them at Ravenshaw under the auspices of the past, not needing to reveal my more particular interest on this occasion unless or until the moment became right to do so. I could renew my acquaintance with Miss Lambright without being suspected of pretentions to marriage. I could discover if she were still at liberty without making myself ridiculous. Then I might see if I could like her well enough to consider anything more – anything more than maintaining the longstanding friendship between our two families. Such was my strategy.

Although I could not recall having formed any notions of particular regard for Miss Lambright as a result of our prior encounters, neither had I any unfavorable ones. I remembered her as a somewhat plain-looking, even tempered girl several years my junior, neither overly shy nor inappropriately gregarious. When I had most recently seen her, she must have been fifteen or sixteen years of age. Though her figure was still somewhat unformed at that time, it was clear even then that she was built tall and spare like her father.

These lingering impressions of Miss Lambright were based on fairly limited – and now outdated – information, since the visits between our two households were infrequent and the fact that usually Georgiana, and not I myself, had been the young lady’s chief companion on these prior occasions. The last time, however, Miss Lambright and I were necessarily thrust into closer company…

So, what will Darcy think of the suitable Miss Lambright, now that she is  all grown up? And what specific trait of his does she find especially attractive? (And, no, it’s not his money!) I hope you’ll read more of this expanded view of the P&P story! Here’s the book blurb:

Fitzwilliam Darcy, In His Own Words

What was Mr. Darcy’s life like before he met Elizabeth Bennet? – before he stepped onto the Pride and Prejudice stage at the Meryton assembly? More importantly, where is he and what is he doing all the time he’s absent from the page thereafter? And what is his relationship to a woman named Amelia?

With Fitzwilliam Darcy, in His Own Words, the iconic literary hero finally tells his own story, from the traumas of his early life to the consummation of his love for Elizabeth and everything in between.

This is not a variation but a supplement to the original story, chronicled in Darcy’s point of view – a behind-the-scenes look at the things Jane Austen didn’t tell us. As it happens, Darcy’s journey was more tortuous than she let on, his happy ending with Elizabeth in jeopardy at every turn in his struggle between duty and his heart’s desire, between the suitable lady he has promised to marry and the woman he can’t stop thinking about.

[Available here in paperback, Kindle, KU, and audio.]