Brothers
November 1801
It was pain that woke him.
His head was throbbing madly and he had difficulties to concentrate.
"Oh God… What happened?"
The room was dark with only a lowly light source coming from the right from a shuttered window. But even in this poor light he could discern the outlines of a brawny sitting man.
"You won a delay…"
He immediately recognized the voice.
"D'Arcy? How is it possible? I saw that steam barge go up in flames…"
There came his infamous snicker.
"Impressive bout of stage management, wasn't it? And it was even more credible on site, believe me. Flames, smoke and rushing water enlightened greatly my afternoon entertainment. Once more I almost managed to kill myself while playing with a bomb I had you planted…"
"Once more? What do you imply?"
"I imply nothing, I just state facts. Two days ago was the second time since I'm here in England that I framed you to be the bad guy."
George Darcy tried and stood up but his head was throbbing too heavily to allow it. He fell back.
"Not that you aren't a bad guy, George… Remember, you tried to kill my wife."
George made a face.
"Bad choice of unreliable accomplices" he said in a whisper. "It was never my intention to even harm her. I'm perhaps a bad guy but I'm not an idiot."
He sighed once more.
"Well I suppose you're here to make me pay for that mistake?"
He saw the shadow's head shake.
"I'm not bloodthirsty and I'm very capable to let trusted partners do the jobs they know best. And I have a few Irishmen in my service who would love to kill you to pleasure me."
There was the noise of a matchbox and soon the cell –because it was a cell- was candlelit.
"And I'm not yet sure if I'm going to have you killed, George. I should kill you because you've shown too many times that greed is too strong an incentive to really have trust in you."
George laughed.
"I must admit that greed and lecherousness are my two greatest foibles. Not necessarily in that order."
D'Arcy made a face and shook his head.
"I'm not, by principle, against using bad people to work with me, George, but I am, by principle, against having crooked family members."
"Each family has its black sheep… I'm the Darcy's!"
"Well you should begin to think about a way to turn gray without losing too much time because I'll be out of England for quite a long period and I won't let a snake that could bite people I love behind me."
This time George found the strength to sit up.
"Oh God stop looking at me as if I were an idiot! I agree that would have killed Fitzwilliam to get at Pemberley without a hesitation. But times changed: now that he is King of Wales I'm quite aware that killing him would be followed by quite a thorough inquiry I probably wouldn't survive."
He looked d'Arcy in the eyes.
"Why did you make all these efforts to make me pass as a heroic freedom fighter?"
That question earned him a smile.
"At least you are smarter than I thought" whispered d'Arcy. "I needed you to be honorable and able to gravitate around the English Crown."
That sentence made George frown.
"Smart" smiled d'Arcy "but not that smart it seems…"
That was enough for George to understand.
"You wanted to take my place, you bastard…"
D'Arcy's smile disappeared.
"I still can and I'll do it if you ever call me bastard again. My father sure was a rapist, a murderer and a crook but his blood was the bluest you can find outside a royal lineage. And my mother was of the finest French nobility." His voice had declined to become a mere whisper. "I'm a lot of things, George and you can call me a lot of things, cousin, and earn only a smile or a frown but 'bastard' will earn you a bullet between the eyes."
George made an apologetic gesture.
"Sorry, bad choice of words… Won't happen again! But I'm still right: you nurtured my new role to get yourself a convenient place where to play a role in this new England you were designing."
D'Arcy grumbled and shot a dark look towards George.
"As said already I-still-can!"
"Calm down man" urged George. "I already apologized for my bad choice of words, remember? And please do remember that you are, in your own more lofty terms, my only competition to the title of the Darcy family's black sheep. I'll admit that we are not competing in the same leagues but, even if your wife believes that you are a saint in hiding, you know as well as I that you are not a knight in shining armor!"
The allusion to Jane put a smile on d'Arcy's face and George made a fast prayer to thank God. He definitely didn't like being in the same room with an upset Geoffrey d'Arcy.
"She is indeed a marvel" crooned d'Arcy. "I still can't believe that I was able to conquer her…"
"Don't be a fool cousin" said George in the hope that the use of their alleged family toes would restrain his cousin's wrath. "There is no woman on Earth you couldn't seduce in a second. You are everything women crave for: powerful, strong, rich and handsome…" George could feel d'Arcy's inner frown. Shit, comparing his Jane to other women was clearly not my best idea of the day. He let his survival instinct take the direction of his affairs. "If you could convince her, there is no woman on Earth who wouldn't join you."
I need to get him back on more cheerful thoughts. I need him to concentrate on his wife…
"What, while you are out of town, can I do to protect your wives?"
George could still feel d'Arcy's mistrust but, to his carefully hidden relief, there was no longer a simmering anger in his opposite.
There was a long silence.
"Well, my initial plan would have placed me/you as the next best candidate to marry my beloved Jane" began d'Arcy. "It would have been a surprise for everybody but you/me being a hero and an English Freedom Fighter, it could have been explained in political terms. And since, before asking her, you/I would have brought a lot of evidence of your/my newfound honesty and seriousness, her accepting you/me could have been an acceptable story."
George swallowed the witty remark which was threatening his survival and looked at d'Arcy with all the gravity he was able to muster.
"That being no longer a possibility what could be my new role?"
D'Arcy looked at him and sighed.
"Most of the time, George, you are not an idiot and since you are Darcy's half-brother it doesn't really surprise me but, George you must look at yourself and accept that, when greed and a false sense of inequity is overpowering you, you become dumb as a doorknob. So, George I need to know if you are, from now on, able to accept that, even if you are Old Darcy's eldest son, you will never ever be the master of Pemberley!"
George opened his mouth to protest but d'Arcy stopped him with an imperial gesture.
"Stop fooling yourself, George! At the sole mention of Pemberley I have witnessed your ears flaming up and your lips becoming the finest lines one can imagine!" D'Arcy's dark mood crushed George's last attempt to delude himself.
"I am the eldest" was all he could say… "Pemberley should be mine!"
"Indeed you are the eldest" said d'Arcy. "But, you are not the legitimate heir and neither in French nor English law you would have gotten a chance to inherit the property."
D'Arcy looked him in the eyes.
"You know George; I always knew that you were Fitzwilliam's brother." He snickered. "I have a copy of every family document in Pemberley's library. And knowing that, I tried to give you an opportunity to convince me of your valor or, at least, of your utility." He made a face. "Until recently, you always failed!"
George had calmed down enough to accept d'Arcy's words without angering more. He knew quite well that his most debilitating fault was greed. He just wasn't able to accept, when there was money in game, that some chances were too hazardous.
"You tried to marry Georgiana and it could have been your best move to put your hands on Pemberley. Had you waited, married her and let her brother see how difficult it would have been for his sister to live a normal and probably poor life, he would have surrendered her money to her. You would just have needed a little patience and decency. But, as usual, your greed destroyed your last chances because had you accepted to marry Georgiana even without her dowry you would have won at last and would have been welcomed at Pemberley. And, there, you could have plotted to get rid of your brother in your discreet and deceptive manner." D'Arcy smiled at George. "Which gives me another argument to, perhaps, show a little faith in you, cousin. After all had you been out to kill Fitzwilliam it would have been the best and surest way. So, it seems that you were only after the sister's dowry and not the brother's blood. I'm not sure that it is because greed was clouding your judgment or because you are, after all, not a vicious and merciless killer!" He stopped talking and took a deep breath. "But you must accept, now and forever that you'll never get another chance to be the master of Pemberley. Even if the whole family recognizes you as a member of said family, you, now that there are quite a number of legitimate cousins under way and under protection, you will never be able to kill enough of them to finally inherit Pemberley. And even if you should be able to assassinate everybody who's before you in the line of succession, let it be known that I have taken every possible precaution to be sure that you wouldn't survive an hour the death of anyone of my kids!"
George couldn't help but smile.
"So I'm still a risk for the family! Why not just kill me and get rid of the problem I represent?"
D'Arcy answered with a smile of his own.
"Your head is not yet out of the snooze, George, please don't be too snug and forget it." The smile became much too shark like to George's liking. "You could see another day in freedom for two important reasons and a secondary one! My first reason is an ethical one. You've shown while you spoke with Pitney about the necessity to kill me that, in your own twisted way, you cared about what happened to me and even tried to convince him to let me live." D'Arcy's look was tainted with what could be called solicitude. "And since you didn't know that it was all staged, I really appreciate the efforts you did for my survival."
D'Arcy changed position and came to sit just in front of George.
"My second reason is an egotistical one. When I launched this whole scheme I was only married with Jane and it was acceptable to see George Darcy woo and marry d'Arcy's widow. But this changed the moment I married my second wife. Nobody would ever accept here in England or anywhere else in Europe, that an English Christian gentleman, even of dubious morals like you, marries two widows. Not without immediately birthing great suspicions about the groom. So, if I wanted to have my whole family back I was in need of another scheme involving a man whose foreign background would make this double marriage not only acceptable but believable without arousing a legitimate suspicion in even the dumbest of my numerous enemies. So, you see, George, your death was no longer necessary to provide me with an acceptable character!"
"And what's the last and secondary reason?" asked George.
"I let myself be convinced that your survival and new position could come handy in the success of said scheme."
"Somebody convinced you that I could be of use?"
"More than one person has tried to plead your case in order to protect you against my wrath, my dear George. My loving wife for instance is very angered with your father's cowardly solution of your birth and believes that, had he taken you openly into his family, you would have been a stout and honest fellow like your brother…" His smile became sarcastic. "I love Jane very much but from time to time I must admit that she sees a world that is quite unrealistic. Even Lizzy, probably stemming out of sisterly esprit de corps, has tried to convince me that you are not a desperate case that needs definitive solutions. They believe you could redeem yourself, George. Honestly, do you agree with them?"
George sighed.
"Honestly, I don't know! I understand your words and your arguments but I know that, in the past, I've reacted foolishly just out of anger and greed. And the fact that Pemberley isn't mine angers me day and night."
"Let's be clear, George, even with his new titles and properties, Pemberley is more important for Fitzwilliam than anything else in the world, Lizzy and their kids probably excluded. And the rest of the family –myself included- is of one mind where Pemberley is seen a very loved and appreciated haven. You will never be the legal Master of Pemberley, you must accept that now or I'll have to take measures to ensure that your misled love for Pemberley is not too great a risk for people I love."
George could only nod. He knew that what d'Arcy just said was the truth and he understood what his stubbornness could bring him but deep down there was that voice that shouted that Pemberley should have been his and his alone.
"I can't, I just can't, d'Arcy. And now that I know that I'm my father's eldest son, it's even more difficult for me to accept that the domain I cherish more than anything is in someone else's hands."
D'Arcy couldn't help but sigh. He would have preferred a lying bastard with whom he would have made short work of. But a truthful and desperate brother/cousin, that was a really difficult problem indeed. He would have to put that decision into other more competent hands.
He turned toward the door and shouted.
"Pitney, come in, you're needed!"
Piney Forks came in and sat a few yards away on d'Arcy's right.
"You've heard?" asked d'Arcy.
"Every word and, as I already said, I'm ready to do it. He is worth the try and the effort, I'm sure…"
D'Arcy pointed at George.
"Well, if you believe it is possible, I'll follow you in this. You know him better than anybody else and you know as well as I what will happen if you're wrong."
"I'm not wrong, Boss and, as said, I'll take full responsibility if I fail to deliver…"
"I know Pitney, I know. I really hope you're right and to give you the best chances to succeed, I'll double your allowance." He looked at him and George for quite a long time before standing up and walking to the door. Just before exiting he smiled at Pitney. "Good luck, my friend, I'll let you know when I return…"
"Godspeed Boss, and don't worry we will protect them all."
He looked at George a last time and George saw him nod in the darkness of the room.
"Good luck George" said he just before going out of the room. "These last ten years I have lost too many family members to accept to even loose one more. So take advantage of this fact and use what I have organized to build a new George Darcy and become what, in your heart, you have always dreamed to be: the admired and accepted son of Edward Darcy. And don't make the mistake to believe that this weakness of mine will give you carte blanche to hurt those I love."
And soon he was out of the room.
George looked at Pitney Forks.
"So you believe that I can be saved?"
"Indeed George, I do believe it. I've seen the Boss and I have seen young Fitzwilliam Darcy. They are men other men can look up to and admire. No reason for you not to be able to be worthy of the Darcy name. At least in decency!" His face became more serious. "I pleaded your case, George, because I really believe that somewhere, under all those petty frustrations you've nurtured for the last years, hides a decent man whose real wish is to be through and through a Darcy. And I believe even more that, under the right tutelage, I can alter you into an ally and an asset. And since we will need every asset for what is still before us, I have no choice but to succeed!"
George looked at the older man, doubts in his eyes.
"And how are you going to do that, Pitney?"
A smile came back on his companion's face.
"By drilling you mercilessly until you are exactly what I want you to be! You will never be the Boss' equal, but, as his brother, you'll have no choice but to become what the world has come to associate with the Darcy name. I'll see to it, trust me in this!"
George could only laugh at Pitney's words.
"You are embarking on a hopeless journey, my friend. I have tried and tried and nothing helped, I always fell back into the pits of my old habits."
Pitney Forks was silent for long seconds during which he looked at George.
"I have an argument that you never had" said he finally, " If you fail me, George, as promised to the Boss, I'll take my responsibilities! I will have no other choice but to do myself what I convinced my Boss not to do! Which means, George, that I'll kill you with my own hands!"