Hello-and thanks for stopping in! This is my first ever chapter of my first ever fan fiction - and as such I will be very grateful for any constructive criticism you have to offer me! (Which is certainly not to say I won't enjoy compliments or other comments - but do be gentle).
This will focus on the Darcys. I will give Georgiana more depth - so please be honest if I'm taking too much liberty. I definitely want to stay true to the characters that Jane Austen created! You will also get to know Miss Younge much better as well as Mr. Wickham.
I will create a romance for Georgiana which did not exist in the original Pride and Prejudice, but that won't be until later. Of course, there will be plenty of Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet - so don't worry! It will be a couple chapters until we meet our favorite heroine, but she will get plenty of attention (from the point of view of our favorite hero this time).
I hope to make this a novel-length story. So far I have 17 chapters planned which go until Mr. Darcy's visit to Kent. I hope to cover all the events from the original book - but I'm not sure how far off track the story will take me. Already in my second chapter I've decided to do something very differently than what my original outline suggests! The rating will remain "K" as far as I know.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pride and Prejudice or any recognizable characters. They are all the creation of Jane Austen, may her memory live on!
I - A Girl at Fifteen
A young person at fifteen (almost sixteen), specifically one of the female sex, is said to possess every refinement necessary for an introduction to society. Prior to introduction, the only refinement lacking is experience in the tact one must utilize to facilitate successful repartee and, most importantly, to attract suitors.
Such was the object of Georgiana Darcy's summer prior to her sixteenth birthday. In six months, Miss Darcy was to be introduced into society during the London season. Her loving caregivers placed her in the amiable care of Miss Younge in order to perfect her countenance, music, dance, and other fine accomplishments in preparation for this momentous occasion. Should a young lady find herself lacking in these accomplishments, she should expect the censure and gossip of her more delicate and (and this goes without saying) refined peers.
Miss Darcy could not be said to want in any of her accomplishments. Eager to please her relations, she spent each hour of her day in the useful employment of practicing the piano-forte, harp, languages, literature, stitching, interior decorating, botany, and dance - among several others. Her serene countenance and quiet patience charmed her elders such that they took extra care to protect those virtues which were so admirable in the highest circles of society. Miss Younge was thought to be an esteemed governess and during this particular summer her personal goal was to draw Georgiana out. During lessons, Miss Darcy's shy disposition prevented her from attempting anything at which she might fail, and Miss Younge feared that her charge might prove unimpressive indeed if she chose not to display any depth of character in society for fear that her character might be perceived to have flaws.
It was during such a lesson that we meet our two characters. Miss Younge and Miss Darcy had been sent to a pleasant seaside estate in a small village west of the Darcy family's primary estate in Derbyshire. Drawn outside by a sea breeze which was particularly calm today, the ladies were analyzing Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare.
"Georgiana, you have a contemplative look about you. Do you find this sonnet to be unsettling in some way?"
The base of Miss Darcy's delicate and long neck betrayed embarrassment by the appearance of a pinkish tint, "Oh! No, Miss Younge! Master Shakespeare's sonnets are not unsettling, I should say. Yet, I am intrigued by his manner of..." here Georgiana stopped and looked down at her lap.
Miss Younge's eyebrow raised at her pupil's near success at attempting literary criticism, but upon Miss Darcy's sudden departure from her thought, the governess let out a sigh, "Miss Darcy, you cannot always falter mid-sentence. What were your thoughts just now, pray?"
Georgiana looked up from her lap timidly, "Miss Younge, I do have a peculiar reaction to this sonnet, but I fear that I might seem simple in relating it. What should some lady or gentleman think if my opinions are always so simple or silly? I cannot bear to be seen as such, and just the fear of it makes continuing my thoughts unbearable, every time!" Her cheeks were now burning as she foresaw those scenes of appearing simple and silly.
Never having much access to society apart from some aunts, uncles, cousins, and her elder brother's close friends, Georgiana could only imagine how judged she would be should she begin to speak opinions which perhaps were not so elevated. One of her brother's friends in particular, a Miss Caroline Bingley, was often overheard by Georgiana criticizing her peers in their lack of intelligent conversation. Georgiana knew she could not manage such harsh criticisms and had determined, therefore, it best to be quiet unless one could speak with absolute conviction.
Miss Younge, having always celebrated her own frank nature and thinking it to be one of her most valuable virtues, would not go soft at her pupil's tender apprehensions. "Sonnet 130 is one of Shakespeare's most debated sonnets. Some readers find it tender while others find it repulsive. I am sure your interpretation cannot be much simpler than base readings (though, certainly not scholarly). Finish your thought from earlier or we shall never make any progress, and then what will your brother think of you next season, let alone any eligible young men?"
There was the critical point, the ultimate fear in Miss Darcy's heart: the necessity to impress and converse in a stimulating manner to young men. Georgiana's gaze left her instructor's face and she gazed into the sea. Miss Younge's patience, now quite thin, spurred her to speak the following forcefully: "Well, I find this sonnet shocking," Miss Younge began with an air of confidence, "what is this man about in singing of his mistresses flaws? Were I the recipient of such sentiments, I should not find any happiness in this alleged...flattery... 'if hair be wires, black wires grow on her head'...what gentleman would say such a thing about she whom he apparently admires? Her breath reeks? Then by all means, sir, depart from me!"
Miss Darcy's attention was quickly and acutely returned at this speech, "Oh no, Miss Younge, I feel quite differently! Yes, this sonnet does not sing of unearthly praises in the way that so many sonnets before and after have, but how often have I read about 'eyes like the sun, the moon, the stars' or 'soft golden hair' or 'eyes like an angel'? This man does not possess an angel in his heart, but a human! I find these sentiments very romantic, indeed! Despite her lack of rosy cheeks, red lips, musical voice, or wings of an angel for transport...he loves her because she is his, her virtues are hers, not exaggerated or imagined to be greater than they are." Miss Darcy looked once again out to the sea, the horizon of which was beginning to draw in the setting sun, and continued, "I should think, I should hope, that a young man who admires me...would admire what is real about me. I care not about unearthly things, none of which are applicable to myself. I do hope that a man can see what in me is human and praise it as worthy of his affection."
Miss Younge's lips curved into a triumphant smile at Miss Darcy's speech. Miss Darcy's own golden curls were silhouetted by the setting sun, the flush of her cheeks was no longer that of embarrassment but that of the passion in debate, her brow was slightly knitted and her eyes were wild with her romantic notions of truth and honor. "Very good, Miss Darcy. That was a true critique of Master Shakespeare's finest work. Now, shall I always expect to have to provoke you into giving your opinions? I cannot follow you around the ton, you know. You will have to impress the gentry on your own. Just remember that you have opinions and they are valid."
At that moment Mrs. Smith came with the day's post and the ladies returned to the house for tea. Georgiana, having received a letter from her cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, settled herself on the sofa. Before reading her own correspondence, Miss Younge studied her charge for a few moments. The young girl would be turning 16 in August, only 2 months away. Miss Younge had been Miss Darcy's governess since the passing of Old Mr. Darcy, when the care of Miss Georgiana's future fell upon the late Mr. Darcy's son, Mr. Darcy, and nephew, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Georgiana was 11 years old when she began her education with a governess, and already her accomplishments were impressive. The Darcy family took great pains with their two children and those pains showed in Mr. Darcy's demeanor, principles, and intellect. Unlike her brother's dark features, Miss Darcy was fair - though she stood taller than most women. She had a graceful air and a sweet smile, her eyes were always full of eager curiosity combined with a calm reserve - a quality Miss Younge knew eligible men would find intriguing if only she would allow herself to be drawn out just a little.
Miss Younge had never been to London prior to being hired by the Darcy family. Her father was a humble tradesman on the Irish Coast and her mother the daughter of a struggling aristocrat. Her education took place in the home of her mother's wealthier sister, in a village only thirty miles from her home. After the death of her parents, Mrs. Younge was never forgiven by her family for her sin of marrying into trade. Despite their own financial problems, the old blood pride was harmed greatly by the condescension of such a match. Still, they agreed to take in and educate Mr. and Mrs. Younge's only daughter - pitying her for having no prospects. They considered their duty to charity fulfilled by providing her with a rounded knowledge of basic accomplishments, so that she may one day find employment as a governess and perhaps catch the eye of someone more successful than her father in the trading sphere. Certainly, she would never catch the eye of a gentleman - with nothing of a dowry to recommend her. So it was that Miss Younge was raised to understand her position: that her duty was to uphold the aristocracy but never to aspire to it. A decent education combined with a want in the true delicacies of accomplished women, Miss Younge turned out to be useful in her station - if a little tactless and ignorant. Her removal from the country to London by the Darcy family shocked her senses initially with all of high society's stimulation. The sting of being on the cusp of the gentry but unable to break through to the surface was forever her fate. In this struggle she found a kindred spirit in a family friend of the Darcys: Mr. George Wickham.
In her five years thus far with the Darcy family, Miss Younge only had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Wickham once. He had come to sympathize with the family's loss of old Mr. Darcy. He was everything amiable and kind, which Miss Younge had never encountered in a gentleman (as she took Mr. Wickham to be) educated at Cambridge. She understood him to be a great scholar and together they spent many pleasant afternoons discussing his dreams of going into law. That he sought her out, spoke to her with such kindness, and on such a level of equality, secured her loyalty to his friendship. She never once imagined herself to be an object of more tender affections for him - for she knew that she was not in the same social sphere as he. He spoke quite often of his status as a son of the late Mr. Darcy; that he and Mr. Darcy were raised as brothers. Though she respected the master of the house with great reverence, she never understood Mr. Darcy's cool reserve around such a man as Mr. Wickham, who was all manners and kindness.
Though she had not the opportunity to see Mr. Wickham these five years, they kept an infrequent correspondence. Mr. Wickham would never write to her while at the Darcy estates in London or Derbyshire, but during she and Georgiana's occasional stays on the coast, Mr. Wickham corresponded quite frequently indeed. She saw no harm in this correspondence which might be deemed improper, for Mr. Wickham was a part of the family in which she was employed. Never having the privilege of close contact with Mr. Darcy, Miss Younge could not possibly know why the distance between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy was intended by the latter.
It was while Miss Darcy was reading correspondence from her cousin that Miss Younge perused one such correspondence from her old friend.
My Dearest Madame,
I am so pleased to hear that Miss Darcy is doing so well in her French lessons. I must confess that I have devoted many hours to the betterment of her education and it eases me greatly to know that her education these five years has been in your capable hands.
In response to your enquiry regarding my studies in the Law, I thank you and am pleased to inform you that they are progressing quite as I had hoped. Life in London is tiresome and I find myself exhausted both physically and, I am sorry to say, financially as well...
At this last sentence Miss Younge sighed heavily. She knew that Mr. Darcy had it in his power to assist his father's favorite financially and it continually baffled her why he refused to do so. A man who so eagerly wished to study the law and improve himself, and it is met with such unexplained stinginess!
...Being that my studies are recessed for the summer, I find that I should benefit exquisitely in a visit to that delightful cottage. Upon your affirmative response to this letter, I can be there in three weeks' time. I eagerly await your response.
Yours,
George Wickham
Miss Younge was only too happy to affirm that Mr. Wickham was most welcome to visit Miss Darcy and herself. She immediately wrote a brief reply to his letter and requested Mrs. Smith to ensure it be posted as soon as possible.