Janet Aylmer - Darcy’s Story

Darcy could see that the arrival of her friend was a sincere pleasure to Elizabeth, though having Mr. Collins parading and addressing Darcy with obsequious civility was a trial which the latter did his best, for Elizabeth’s sake, to bear calmly.

He found Mr. Collins no more wearing than Sir William Lucas, who complimented him on carrying away the brightest jewel in the country every time they met, and expressed his hopes of their all meeting frequently at St. James’s. Elizabeth’s aunt in Meryton, Mrs. Philips, was a greater tax on his forbearance. Though she regarded Darcy with too much awe to speak with the familiarity which his friend Bingley’s good humour encouraged, yet, whenever she did speak, she must be vulgar.

Elizabeth did all she could to shield him from these embarrassments, and was anxious to keep him to herself, and together with those of her family with whom he might converse without mortification.

However, Darcy was aware that her concern about the uncomfortable feelings of all this took away for her from what should have been the pleasures of courtship. They both looked forward to the time when they should be together at Pemberley.

Matters continued in this fashion until, one morning a few days later, and about six weeks before their wedding, Elizabeth came to him.

She spoke rather hesitantly.

“My father tells me, Sir, that you are intending to make a most generous settlement on me on the occasion of our marriage.”

“My dear, it is no more than you deserve, or than I would wish for your comfort and security,” he replied, taking her hand.

And then an idea came to him. He wished nothing more than to be in her company every day, and a few days away from Hertfordshire would not be unwelcome.

“Elizabeth, it is several weeks since I saw Georgiana, and she is still in Derbyshire. She will, of course, be at our wedding. But a thought occurs to me. I must instruct my attorney to draw up your settlement, and your father says that Mr. Phillips can act for him on your behalf.

“However, rather than my travelling to town alone, Mr. Bennet could use your uncle Gardiner’s man in London, who was of great assistance to us in the matter of Lydia and Wickham. Would you be willing to accompany your father, if he is agreeable, to be in town for a few days, whilst these matters are settled? If so, I could write to Georgiana, and she could join me from Pemberley. Would the Gardiners be willing to receive you? I could then also show you our house in London.”

The manner of her reply left him in no doubt.

“Oh yes, Sir! And I am sure that my father would be very happy to be away from Longbourn, and all my mother’s preparations—although no doubt she will have some commissions for both of us to execute whilst we are in town.”

As Elizabeth had anticipated, her father greeted the suggestion with what in him amounted to alacrity, and the course of a few days brought happy confirmation of the welcome awaiting Elizabeth and her father in Gracechurch Street.

Darcy at the same time sent word to Derbyshire, and Georgiana confirmed that she and Mrs. Annesley could be in town within the week. 

It was a happy reunion for Darcy and Elizabeth with her uncle and his family when the coach called at the Gardiners’ home to deliver Mr. Bennet and his daughter for their stay in town.

Georgiana was expected in London the same day. It was arranged that Mr. Bennet and Darcy should meet with the attorneys on the morrow, and that Georgiana should then go with them to the Gardiners’ home for luncheon.

His sister’s meeting with Elizabeth was all that Darcy had hoped. It was clear that they would become more than the best of friends, and the two young ladies were soon in earnest conversation about the commissions which Mrs. Bennet had given on Jane’s behalf, for various furnishings were needed at Netherfield.

Mrs. Gardiner undertook to direct her brother and her niece to the nearest warehouses to choose samples for despatch to Hertfordshire, and it was agreed that Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth should then go to Darcy’s house for the rest of the day.

Mrs. Bennet’s requests having been dealt with, Darcy and his sister welcomed Elizabeth and her father on their arrival. Mr. Bennet was quick to accept Georgiana’s invitation to view the library.

“It is much less, Sir, than I have at Pemberley, but you may find something of interest,” Darcy observed, as Mr. Bennet and Georgiana left the drawing-room.

“Where would you like to go first?” he asked, turning to Elizabeth.

“There is something I would like to ask you, before we go round the house,” she replied, “if I may. It concerns Charlotte. It may be difficult, at least for a while, for us to visit Rosings, and you would not want me to stay at the parsonage at Hunsford. Neither of us would seek out Mr. Collins’ company, I know, but she was—indeed still is—a dear friend of mine. Would you object if, from time to time, she called in to see me here on her way to her family in Hertfordshire? She told me that she carried a message to you from Lady Catherine earlier this year.”

“Yes, indeed. She warned me of the reason for Lady Catherine planning a visit to town, and I was most grateful to be able to escape to Essex, to see my cousin, as a result!” said Darcy with feeling. “You are welcome to invite her to stay overnight here at any time, just so long as we can always be certain that Mr. Collins will be detained in Kent and unable to come with her!”

She thanked him warmly.

He turned as though to show her the room, but then stopped, and said, rather urgently, “Tell me, my dear, there is something that your sister Kitty mentioned to me last week at Longbourn that puzzled me, concerning Mr. Collins... about my being your second proposal.”

“Kitty ought not to have mentioned that. Although it was absurd as far as I was concerned, Mr. Collins did make an offer for my hand shortly after the ball at Netherfield. He had good intentions, at least in part, so that the entail giving Longbourn to him after my father’s death should not wholly disadvantage the rest of my family.”

Then she added, in a more lively tone,

“So, you see, I might have been subject to a daily sermon, not to mention a regular discourse on the state of Mr. Collins’ cabbages, such as my dear friend Charlotte has to bear. That would have been a heavy burden indeed, would it not?”

And she turned back with a quick smile to look at Darcy, until she saw his expression.

“Why, Sir, what is the matter?”

Darcy’s emotion at hearing her reply was so strong that he had to struggle to compose himself before he answered. Then he spoke vehemently, and with much less delicacy than perhaps was appropriate.

“It is the thought of Mr. Collins and you...of him having the right to...No, it does not bear thinking about!”

Elizabeth’s response to this was first to blush deeply, as she understood the meaning of his words. Then, after a short pause, she came forward and took his hands in hers.

It was several minutes before Darcy said, “Where can your father be? Georgiana must be a very eloquent guide to the library, for they have been gone at least a half hour!”

“I had not noticed...,” she paused, and coloured again as she said, “shall we go to them now?”

“In a moment,” Darcy said, “but first there is something you should see upstairs,” and he led the way to a sitting-room on the first floor overlooking the square. The furnishings were pleasant, if faded.

“This was my mother’s, and is as she left it.”

Elizabeth looked around her. “It must have many memories for you,” she said, looking at him keenly.

“Yes. But happy ones. I would like you to use it, if you will, and change the furnishings to your taste.”

“You were very fond of your mother?”

“Yes. She was,” he smiled, “a strong character, but a less dominating person than her elder sister, Lady Catherine. I wish that she had known you.”

“And I her. I will be very happy to have her room.”

The legal agreements having been settled, the marriages between Bingley and Miss Jane Bennet, and between Darcy and his dearest Elizabeth, took place as planned and, within a few days, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy were in Derbyshire.

The weather was fine for the time of year, and Darcy took great pleasure in showing Elizabeth the house, and the many walks and drives round the estate. The path alongside the stream that they had taken with her uncle and aunt a few months earlier had special memories for both. Darcy was also able to take his bride on the drive together in the curricle around the park that they had been denied by Lydia Bennet’s elopement.

He could not remember a happier time for him at Pemberley, and told Elizabeth so.

Shortly before Christmas, they were joined by Georgiana, and by Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner together with their children, and the festive season was celebrated with a pleasant informality and much laughter. Darcy caused Elizabeth to blush in front of the family by teasing her that, soon, the childish voices in the house might not be only those of welcome guests. She replied quietly but with a lively smile that she admitted that could be a possibility, should that be his preference.

Darcy took pleasure in seeing the ease with which his bride began to settle to the ways of running Pemberley. The preparations were already under way for the ball to be held on the eve of the New Year, and Georgiana delighted in showing her new sister all the corners of the house. Together, she and Elizabeth oversaw the details of the repast to be prepared. The day before the ball, Bingley and Jane arrived from Hertfordshire and, with Darcy’s cousin Fitzwilliam, joined the family already assembled.

It was with great pleasure on the eve of the New Year that Darcy welcomed his neighbours and introduced them to Elizabeth. When the time came, they took to the floor together to open the dancing.

As the music began, she turned to him in surprise, and said, “Is this not the same tune as was played at the ball at Netherfield last year? And, the same dance as we took together?”

“But of course!” said Darcy, smiling at her. “There was nothing the matter with either, all that was needed was for us to come to a proper understanding.”

And thus it was that, surrounded by their friends from Derbyshire and the relatives most dear to them, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy began their life together, in the comfort and elegance of their family party at Pemberley.

The Author, Janet Aylmer, Talks About Writing Darcy’s Story

Since Pride and Prejudice was first published nearly 200 years ago, it has become one of the best-loved novels in the English Language. Like many other people, I first read the book whilst I was at school, as did my children, and have enjoyed reading the novel again many times since then.

Modern media—radio, the cinema and television—have introduced Pride and Prejudice to many new audiences all around the world in recent years. It was after watching the BBC television serial in 1995, and discussing it with one of my daughters, that my curiosity was re-awakened about Mr. Darcy, and I decided to write this book for her. That led to the idea that other people might also enjoy reading Darcy’s Story.

I have been surprised and delighted to discover that my need to know more about Jane Austen’s hero is shared by people all over the world. At the time of writing, the book has been sold to readers not only in Great Britain, but in 37 other countries around the world via the Internet. Over 20,000 copies of the book have now been sold. The publishers have received many letters and emails expressing the enjoyment that so many people have found in reading Darcy’s Story. It seems that complementing Pride and Prejudice by writing this book has satisfied a long-felt need for many readers.

Everyone who has ever read Jane Austen’s novel will have their own idea of Mr. Darcy’s side of the story, and this book could be described as looking through the mirror of Pride and Prejudice (1940) from the other side. I am delighted that a story written nearly 200 years ago can still give pleasure in a very different era. I have also been glad to learn that people much more knowledgeable than I am about Jane Austen and her work have also liked the book.