When They Were Young: The Truth About Family Deleted Scenes

Happy Friday, everyone!

In honour of this month’s theme, ‘When They Were Young’, I am sharing some deleted scenes from my latest novel, The Truth About Family. It can be very difficult deciding what to leave in or discard when editing, but ultimately, I focused the story on Elizabeth, Darcy, and their friends and relations when they were adults, with a few mentions or flashbacks of their childhoods. I have scenes from two different time periods. The first is from when Elizabeth was five and Darcy twelve. Elizabeth is at Pemberley with the dowager Lady Romsley for the first of many family reunions Elizabeth will attend. Lady Catherine and Anne de Bourgh are already at Pemberley, but none of the other family is.

There was only a fortnight left in Fitzwilliam Darcy’s summer holidays. He was anticipating the arrival later that day of his cousins  Bramwell and Tom and their parents, Lord and Lady Romsley. His father’s brother, Frederick, his wife, Julia, and daughter, Rebecca, would arrive soon too. The best part about being home was spending time with his father, but Hugh Darcy was a very busy man. That meant that Darcy’s most usual companion was George Wickham. Bramwell and Fitzwilliam did not like Wickham, but Darcy was grateful for his presence, because it gave him a ready excuse to avoid his cousin Anne.

Darcy hardly saw Elizabeth, who spent most of her time in the schoolroom. Grandmother Romsley and Father were kind to her, but Mother was too busy with her sister and niece to pay her much attention. Rebecca was the same age as Elizabeth, and Darcy supposed it would be pleasant for them to have each other to play with. Anne was no company for either of them, and it was not just because of their disparate ages. One morning, after Elizabeth had been at Pemberley for several days, she had asked Anne if she wanted to do something together and rattled off a list of choices. Anne, who was becoming more and more like her mother each year, said, “I am the daughter of knight, granddaughter of an earl. You are a charity case,” and turned her back. Lady Catherine, sitting nearby, had smiled approvingly at Anne. The little girl had been disappointed but occupied herself with a book. When Father joined them , he talked to her until Nurse said it was time for her to return upstairs.

Darcy and Wickham were walking on the terrace when they saw Elizabeth crouched down and examining the plants by the edge of the stones. Her nurse sat at a little distance. Elizabeth stood when she heard their approach.

Darcy asked, “What are you doing?”

She pointed at a bush with yellow flowers. “I was studying the insects. I counted five different types. I wonder what they do. Is that your dog?”

Darcy lay a hand on the creature’s head and nodded.

“What is he called? Can I pet him? Is he a Great Dane?”

“His name is Thor, yes, he is a Great Dane, and are you not afraid? He is bigger than you are.”

Beside him, Wickham sighed.

Elizabeth shook her head, which caused her dark hair to sway. She held out a hand, which Thor sniffed, and soon Elizabeth was rubbing his head and back. Darcy watched with amusement as the dog sank to the ground in appreciation of her administrations.

“Did you ever discover why leaves are not blue?” he asked, referring to the question she had posed upon her arrival.

Wickham grunted and tapped a foot impatiently.

While still petting Thor, she said, “Mr Darcy explained, and I think I understand. Are there snakes here?”

“Why? Are you afraid of them?” It seemed impossible that a snake would frighten her when she was happy to hug Thor, as she was presently doing. The dog must weigh a hundred pounds more than she did.

She huffed as though insulted. “I am not! Snakes are very interesting. I was studying one near my home.”

“Enough,” exclaimed Wickham. “Go away, brat. We have things to do.”

Darcy was startled by his vehemence and whacked his arm.

“What? Your mother said you should stay away from her, not give her ideas that she is good enough to be in your exalted company.”

Darcy shook his head. There was no talking to Wickham sometimes. Father said it was his mother’s influence and that Wickham would grow out of it since he had Darcy as a model of how he should comport himself. Not that Wickham was anything but perfectly behaved when his godfather was nearby.

To Elizabeth, Darcy said, “Go on. Nurse is signalling to you..”

He called his dog to attention, and he and Wickham continued on their way to the stables.

Deleted Scene 2

This one takes place when Elizabeth is fifteen. Wickham was recently dismissed by Hugh Darcy after he threatened Elizabeth in scene I show in flashback in The Truth About Family. Fitzwilliam Darcy saw her soon after Wickham behaved in a disgusting manner, though she denied anything amiss had happened. The next morning, his father told him that he intended to give Wickham a valuable living and hoped he and Elizabeth would marry in several years. It encouraged Darcy to disclose all of Wickham’s dissolute misdeeds to his father, including his speculation that he had ‘done something’ to Elizabeth. The first part of this takes place a week later.  There is a slightly later part of it, too, that shows us Mr Hugh Darcy, who died before the events of TTAF take place. He was very fond of Elizabeth, and vice versa.

Within a week, Bramwell and Fitzwilliam arrived, as had Lord and Lady Romsley. A heavy cloud had hung over the house, and the good-humoured brothers—along with Rebecca, lately arrived with her parents—did much to lighten the mood. It helped that Fitzwilliam brought his new Dalmatian puppy, General, with him. The girls were in raptures over the little creature, while Darcy’s two-year-old Great Dane, Odin, looked upon the much smaller dog with curiosity. With Sterling bringing two of his dogs, to say nothing of the others belonging to Pemberley, it made for a loud situation at times.

The young men were in the park, where Fitzwilliam was attempting to train General. It was not going well. The puppy was more interested in chasing butterflies and nipping at Odin’s legs than attending to his master.

Bramwell laughed. “I fear ‘General’ is too grand a name for him. He appears touched in his upper works. Can you call them upper when it is more sideways in a canine?”

Fitzwilliam lunged at his brother, which the dogs found either alarming or great fun, and they all set to barking.

Once order was restored, Fitzwilliam said, “I must say, it is refreshing to visit and know we shall not see that—”

“Language,” Bramwell warned.

Darcy and Fitzwilliam looked around to see if someone was approaching.

“You do not even know what I was going to say!”

“Of course I do,” Bramwell scoffed. “Brothers. Besides, I am older than you.”

“That makes no sense,” said Darcy.

Bramwell waved this off. “The material point is that we do not have to see him. I am glad you told my uncle.”

Fitzwilliam added, “He means to say, ‘finally told my uncle’. Brothers. It works both ways.”

“But I am better at it,” Bramwell stated.

Darcy shook his head and let them debate the matter for a few minutes, after which they tried to best each other at insulting Wickham. Darcy took in his surroundings. It was a warm day, and he welcomed the gentle breeze. The air had a freshness to it that he always associated with the late spring.

“We should go fishing,” he announced.

“But I am hungry.” There was a touch of whine in Fitzwilliam’s voice.

“Breakfast was two hours ago!”

“Exactly,” Bramwell and Fitzwilliam said at the same moment.

They agreed to seek refreshments from Mrs Reynolds before heading to the stream, and began to make their way back to the house.

Fitzwilliam asked, “So, you do not know what he did to my little sister that last day?”

“He means—”

“I know what he means,” Darcy said. “No. She told my father, but he would not tell me.” He had told his cousins as much before, and Bramwell had attempted to coax the story from Elizabeth, but she refused to say.

Fitzwilliam kicked a stick, which General immediately pounced on. “God, I almost wish he was still here so that I could give him a good thrashing.”

“He will suffer the loss of Uncle Darcy’s patronage,” Bramwell said. “Tell us about this friend of yours. Bingley, is it?”

Several minutes later, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of laughter; they soon saw the source of it as Elizabeth and Rebecca came into view. The girls were walking towards them, and after Rebecca said something, both of them again laughed. Elizabeth caught sight of them and waved. Once the two parties met, Elizabeth crouched down as General leapt to her for attention. Odin, evidently wanting his share of her attention, hit her shoulder with his large nose.

“Odin,” Darcy called.

Elizabeth smiled at him. She had a lovely smile, Darcy noticed. “I do not mind. You great big baby.”

It took him a moment to realise she was speaking to his dog. She scratched Odin’s chin while playing with the puppy.

“Where are you two going?” Bramwell asked Rebecca.

“That way.” Rebecca used her parasol to point behind Bramwell.

“That way?” Bramwell repeated. “What does that mean? There is a great deal of way that way.”

Fitzwilliam said, “You sound like an idiot.”

Darcy looked at Elizabeth when he heard her quietly chuckling.

Rebecca spoke on as if she had not heard Fitzwilliam. “Yes, well, we do not know where exactly. Must one always have a destination in mind when taking a walk?”

“I did not say you must,” countered Bramwell.

“We are walking that way, with no particular scheme in mind,” Elizabeth said as she stood, leaning on Odin as she did. “And you three?”

“Are going fishing,” Darcy said with more heat than was necessary. Bramwell had actually looked between Rebecca, his brother, Elizabeth, and him, his lips parted. Darcy was certain he was on the point of crying off their plan.

“Want to join us?” Bramwell asked.

“No!” Rebecca cried.

Elizabeth laughed again. Did she always laugh so much, or was it only because Wickham was gone? And if that was it, just how much had his presence oppressed her? Whatever the reason, he appreciated her cheerfulness.

“Fishing is only for gentlemen,” Fitzwilliam said. “No ladies.”

“That is not what you say when we are at Romsley Hall and you need a companion,” Elizabeth said, regarding him with an arched eyebrow.

Bramwell laughed. “Thank you, darling little sister, for putting him in his place.”

At the same time, Fitzwilliam pretended to be injured by her words, which only caused her to roll her eyes. Elizabeth gave the dogs final pats, hooked her arm around Rebecca’s, wished them good luck, and walked away.

They stood in silence, watching the girls until they were were no longer in sight. Fitzwilliam punched his brother’s arm. “You are an idiot.”

Bramwell shot him an angry look and stamped away.

Darcy sensed that there was something he did not understand, but he dismissed the felling. The Romsleys, Bramwell, and Fitzwilliam saw a great deal of Rebecca and her parents in town, and Darcy assumed there was a ridiculous story of one sort or another that explained it all; likely, Bramwell had played one of his jokes on Rebecca and was trying to apologise for upsetting her.

At least he is headed in the right direction! Darcy thought, as he and Fitzwilliam began to follow.

It was a glorious June afternoon, and the party was outside. While the young people played battledoor and shuttlecock, Mr Hugh Darcy, Lady Anne, and Lord and Lady Romsley sat on the terrace; Mr and Mrs Frederick Darcy had gone for a drive. Elizabeth saw Mr Darcy and Lord Romsley watching and waved.

Charles Bingley had arrived four days earlier. Elizabeth liked him. He had happy manners and was ready to join them in whatever they suggested. Mr Darcy liked him, too, and spent quite a bit of time talking to him. Elizabeth suspected he was advising the orphaned young man, which was just like him. He was a generous, caring gentleman, and she was thankful to know him, to count him as a friend of sorts—as much as one could be friends with someone old enough to be your father. They had spent weeks at Pemberley, just the two of them, while Lady Anne and Darcy were at Rosings and the Romsleys were away, and she had enjoyed every minute of their time together. They spoke about all manner of things, walked, rode, and he always praised her singing and playing. Mr Darcy had been so kind and gentle when they discussed Wickham, too, promising she would never have to see him again. She knew he had told the earl and countess, who were her guardians of sorts, what had happened, but he must have encouraged them not to ask her about it, but they did not. Either that or they were not overly concerned, which was a distinct possibility.

The sun was high and hot, and after almost an hour, the young people decided to stop their game. Her foster brothers, Darcy, and Mr Bingley decided to wandered over to the stream, while Elizabeth and Rebecca went to sit with the Darcys and Romsleys. Mr Darcy patted the chair next to him, and Elizabeth dropped into it. Lady Romsley offered her a glass of lemonade, which she gladly took. It was sweet and cool, and she drank half the glass before placing it on the table, fanned herself with her hand, and laughed.

Mr Darcy asked, “Did you have fun, Lizzy girl?”

“I did. It is such a wonderful day.”

“I have been reflecting. It has been almost exactly ten years since my late mother-in-law brought you to us. What a good thing it was. A very good thing.”

Elizabeth smiled and knew that if her cheeks were not already flushed from exercise, she would have blushed. Mr Darcy brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

“You are a good girl, Elizabeth, and I am a very fortunate man to have you as part of my family. It is more than I deserve.”

She suspected he was thinking about Wickham again and felt guilty for exposing her to such a person, but she did not blame him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she said, “I am the fortunate one.”

A sense of peace flooded Elizabeth’s body as she sat beside him. The voices of the earl and countess, Lady Anne, and Rebecca faded to a murmur, as she took in the vista. She did love Pemberley, almost as much as she did her home at Romsley Hall. The distant trees gently swayed, and she watched the tall forms of the young men make their way across the lawn. I suppose it was a good thing old Lady Romsley took me away from Longbourn. I cannot imagine going through my life without knowing this place and these people.

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed these brief glimpses of Elizabeth and Darcy in their younger years.