Faithful Readers, I previously failed to post this chapter, which is a very important since it gives us Darcy's history, so I am sure some of you were confused about the missing details. I am reposting the chapters I have already posted, as well as a few new ones today. Sorry for the inconvenience & I hope you are enjoying my tale!

Thank youMissPhryneFisher & NotACursedChild for calling my attention to my omission!

Fitzwilliam Darcy, Duke of Derbyshire & Dextile, Earl of Santon, Baron Claymore, had come into his inheritance much sooner than he had ever hoped for. His mother had died when his sister was still but a child, his father following her only a few short years later. He acceded to his father's titles and became a duke of two seats as well as an earl and a baron, all while only having barely reached his majority. He had to battle with his father's family, and some of his mother's, for control of his inheritance as well as custody of his sister. If his father was not such a perceptive man who anticipated the reactions of his relations, and styled his will accordingly, or if he had been a weaker man without a mind of his own, he would still be going to court to claim his rights.

No sooner had his father's death been announced, his relatives converged on Pemberley, the Darcys' main and most profitable estate, to get a piece of the Darcy fortune in any way that they could. His father's younger, disgruntled brother came with a solicitor, claiming there was some clause in the patents of the titles his father had held that said they should now go to his brother instead of his son, and demanding more of the Darcy estates be given to him along with a huge monetary settlement. Never did he expect his young nephew, who he always thought would be easily managed, to be ready to dispute his claims with a barrister and solicitor of his own at the estate to counteract any attempt he made to lay claim to his inheritance.

Though all the titles held by the Darcys, except for Derbyshire and Claymore, were not primogeniture titles, and the patents had special reminders allowing younger sons to inherit while the eldest still lives, his grandfather Darcy failed to distribute any of the titles to his younger son besides the earldom of Fayette, which his uncle held. Though his uncle was styled Marquess of Hapsburg, the secondary title to the Dextile dukedom, for most of his life, when his grandfather died, his will left the dukedom to his eldest son, George Darcy, Fitzwilliam's father. Stripping his second son of the title he expected to inherit for most of his life, and only bestowing his second earldom upon him.

His grandfather saw a want of principle in his youngest son and refused to bequeath him the titles in fear of what the seats would become if they fell under his control. And with the prerogative to do so in his letters patent, there was nothing his son could do to change his will. He warned, punished, and threatened to disinherit his youngest son if he did not change his dissolute ways, all to no avail. He could not understand how the son he loved and cared for, and raised with no less discipline than his eldest, could turn out so horribly. He felt he had no choice but to bestow the tiles on his brother, not wanting his son to ruin his heritage. This caused a permanent rift in the family and Lord Johnathan Darcy, the Earl of Fayette, never forgave his elder brother for taking what was, in his mind, rightfully his, though his brother had no say in how their father distributed his titles or wealth.

Wilson Darcy, Fitzwilliam's grandfather, was proven correct as the Fayette earldom was now all but destitute under his son's control, with nothing but the estate and townhouse tied to the earldom left. Lord Fayette had sold the two smaller estates he had inherited from his father, though one was set aside for Viscount Henley, the secondary title of Fayette. Leaving his son and heir without an estate until he acceded to the earldom. Every time he lost money in a venture or at the gaming tables, he blamed his elder brother for his woes and vowed to reclaim his title and wealth once he died, assured his malleable son would put Dextile, a very wealthy dukedom of over 20000 a year, though it was nothing to Derbyshire, which was worth well over double that amount, under his control.

Obviously he did not realize that the duke could not bestow his titles on someone else while he lived, as he mistakenly believed. He could not pass Dextile to him once he inherited the seat, nor could his father have left it to him since the reminder says it has to pass to sons of the body of the current title holder before it would revert back to a younger son of the previous one. Astonishingly having no knowledge of this, his disappointing visit to Pemberley upon his brother's death left him without his title and with the hatred he had for the father now handed down to the son.

Along with having to deal with his Uncle Fayette, his Fitzwilliam relations were not far behind, arriving mere days after his uncle was sent away in a snit after not getting what he came for. His aunts, the ladies Catherine and Matlock, his uncle's sister and wife, invaded his estate with their unappealing daughters in tow, determined to make him marry one of them immediately. They too thinking he would be pliable to their machinations. The mothers and daughters fought with each other for over a sen'night as to who would become his bride, until he calmly called his uncle into his study and advised him he would be made to marry no one against his will. And if that is what brought his family tither, then they should vacate his property immediately so that he and his sister could properly mourn the loss of their father.

After badgering, pleading, and cajoling, still with no results, the threats came. The threats to have him declared unfit and too young to see his duties, as well as threatening to take the custody of his sister away from him using his cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, who was named as his sister's secondary guardian in his father's will, if he did not marry one of their daughters posthaste. Though he knew immediately there was nothing any of them could say to make his cousin even think to take his sister away from him, even if he could, he was livid at their attempts. He refused to comply, assuring them they had no power to take his titles, estates, wealth, and most assuredly not his sister away from him using any means. After reminding them that he was now one of, if not the, most powerful dukes in the country who could ruin them before they even blinked, he threw them from his property with instructions never to return.

A few years later, his uncle and aunt Matlock made an overture toward him to heal the breach in the family once they saw there was nothing they could do to change his mind or make him do their bidding. Though they still had hopes for him and their still unmarried daughter, he was more important to their family than any advantage that the marriage would bring. They vowed to never exert such pressure on him again, while apologizing for their highhandedness and lack of support at such a trying time. After a year or so of them keeping their word and supporting him in any way that they could, he finally believed them. Their efforts had indeed healed the breach and now they could not be closer.

The same could not be said of his aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh nee Fitzwilliam who left Pemberley with a vow to carry her point and make him do his duty to their family by marrying her daughter, which was also his mother's favorite wish. He knew his mother had no such wish, and most certainly never agreed to engage him to his cousin over his cradle as she insisted, and he paid little heed to the woman. He still did his obligation of going to her estate to look over her books and make sure all was well with the colonel once a year, until he had to all but cut the acquaintance after his aunt tried to have his cousin compromise him. He had not returned to Rosings since, and did not repine the loss.

Once he came into his inheritance, not only did the matchmaking mamas and their daughters come out in droves to entrap him, so did his family. It is understandable that he had developed such a distaste for the marriage mart and vowed to never marry if the vapid women the ton had on display were all he had to choose from. He never met a genuine woman since he came out in society, and never expected to find one. Which is why he always entered the parts of the country where no one knew who he was, hiding his identity. Those instances were very rare as he felt as if everyone in England knew of his titles and wealth, and wanted something from him.

So when he saw the intriguing beauty that he was immediately drawn to, he did what any irrational man raised to only look well upon his family and to look meanly upon others, and who had also been hunted for most of his adult life would do, he dissembled and feigned disinterest. Hoping to leave his unprecedented attraction to someone of the opposite sex behind, giving her no power over him, and no chance for her to throw herself at his titles. He now knew that, after meeting the beauty in a little known place called Hertfordshire, his life would never be the same.