A/N: I read a writing prompt a long time ago that asked: "What is Darcy without Pemberley?" That prompt led to this story, which plays a little fast and loose with 1800s inheritance laws. I tried to make a very unlikely situation feel realistic, and I hope it doesn't prove too bad of a read. Only for people who are comfortable going off-canon!
"If I did well - " Father coughed, his frame hunching over. William supported the elderly man as well as he could. "It was only because of you."
"Father, you're too kind." William sniffed. The coughing resumed, and William tried his best to soothe his ailing parent before assisting him to a reclining position once more. Father had appeared weak - the lines on his faces deeper, the light in his eyes dimmer - since his return from England the year prior, and the deterioration had been steady ever since. Dr. Smith had not minced words when he'd informed William and Georgiana a mere week ago that old Mr. Darcy had only days to live.
"We shall miss you dearly, Father," Georgiana avowed with sweet, childlike passion as she knelt on the other side of the bed. She grasped Father's free hand. "William will take excellent care of the ranch."
"I'm glad." Father smiled weakly. "I'm glad."
"It is your ranch." William fought against his tears. It was hardly manly to openly weep. "Not a man can think of Darcy Ranch without thinking of George Darcy."
"But they will forget." Father smiled grimly. "And they will come to know it as yours."
William swiped a tear away.
"Do tell Mother we miss her too," said Georgiana, her face awash with unapologetic tears. There were benefits to being a woman, William supposed. "It has been so very many years."
Father nodded. "Yes, it has."
For a solemn moment, no one spoke. William could hear the workers outside their door - perhaps straining their ears as they attempted to listen in. He frankly no longer cared. Father was a decent man - a decent farmer, a decent parent, a decent master. William knew many would share the grief of their loss in varying forms.
"I've set you a good dowry." Father whispered to Georgiana then. "Will will see to it, shan't you?"
"Of course," William nodded as his father glanced at him, perhaps seeking for confirmation. "I shall do everything you want of me, Father."
"Good." Another round of coughs wracked the older man's body. William watched helplessly as life ebbed away from the one man he had always considered a model for life. "I have written it all."
William nodded. "I am aware."
"You are a good son - my best son," Father spoke hoarsely, his fingers weak as they wrapped around William's hand. William swallowed the lump in his throat. "You should have it all - the ranch, the money."
"Father, I beg you, do not think another moment longer about - "
"And my estate - in England."
Brother and sister traded a look. William examined his father for delirium.
"I know what I speak of." Father smiled, even more weakly than he did but a moment ago. "I do not hallucinate. You come from a line of gentry. Our estate in Derbyshire - Pemberley - is rightfully yours."
"Pemberley?" William echoed hollowly.
Father nodded, sighing all the while. "You are my eldest. You shall have Pemberley."
William sat speechless. How was he to interpret this sudden revelation? It was true that he had always surmised Father had property in England. Father had visited often, even amidst the risks of war, and his stays had always numbered by the months, if not years. It was, in fact, the sole reason William managed the ranch so well on his own. He'd had plenty of opportunities to play master before becoming one in truth.
"Claim it," Father urged.
"Claim?"
"Promise me - to claim Pemberley when I am gone."
William barely had the chance to make his promise, before Father ceased breathing altogether.
"He was a good man, your father," Mrs. Thurmond hummed after the simple funeral.
"Thank you." William bowed.
"We will miss him dearly," Mrs. Aldwell cooed, a hand on William's arm. "Are you certain you do not wish for more company these days?"
William swallowed at the sight of Mrs. Aldwell's three daughters, already crowding in behind their mother. He shook his head politely. "There is no need. Georgiana and I shall get along well enough."
"But your sister shall marry," Mrs. Aldwell countered.
"Come along, Susan, do stop bothering the poor boy," the parson's wife interjected as she approached. The grey-haired woman glanced at William with an almost pitying stare.
In most other moments, William would most certainly dislike being referred to as a 'poor boy' and being subjected to such pitying glances. He was nearly thirty, a fully-grown man now in charge of his own ranch and his own sister.
Given that the dispenser of such treatment was saving him from Mrs. Aldwell's eagerness to pair him with one of her daughers', however, William allowed it.
"Thank you for your help and for your husband's assistance, Mrs. Richter." William bowed.
"Oh don't be so formal, poor boy." Mrs. Richter patted him on the shoulder. It was yet another act William had to forgive. "We shall all be family for you."
His smile, at least, was genuine. "Thank you, each and all, for your kind regards."
"Do tell Samuel if you ever need a hand with the papers," Mrs. Thummond reminded. William glanced at Mrs. Thummond's nephew, who was currently conversing with Georgiana in hushed and tender tones. The match was inevitable.
Given the limited choices in their area, it was not too bad of a match at all.
Samuel was kind, and mannerly - a dedicated young lawyer and a dedicated nephew. It was common knowledge that Mrs. Thummond's property would become his one day.
If they had lived in England, where wealth and rank and titles mattered, perhaps few would consider a man's assets based upon his livelihood and distant relations. But here in the New World, every person was only as good as the work of his hands.
And William acknowledged that Samuel Newton, though not quite a farming man, did at least apply himself to his trade.
Perhaps, after a short season of mourning, it was time for Georgiana to marry.
"Thank you, Mrs. Thummond," William replied belatedly. "I shall visit him shortly to discuss my father's papers."
Mrs. Thummond nodded approvingly, as if she was glad he agreed.
Another half hour of polite conversation followed, during which Mrs. Aldwell promised thrice to bring the bereaved Darcy family 'every comfort,' before the guests trickled out the door one by one. Mrs. Thummond and young Samuel Newton were, quite naturally, the last to depart. Given the extraordinary circumstances, William turned a blind enough eye to the way the latter clasped Georgiana's hands.
He did, however, wait until the very last moment to call out, "Samuel."
"Yes, Will?" The young man turned at the door. Their families were close enough for such addresses to appear wholly natural.
William waited a while, pondering, before asking, "My father referred to certain properties in the old country on his deathbed. Do you believe we would have trouble proving such matters?"
Newton paused. "And we are certain his claims were true?"
"He repeated it, insisted upon it," Georgiana mentioned then. William noticed then that she appeared significantly older, a true young woman, in her mourning clothes. "It was what he mentioned last before he passed."
Newton nodded. "If he had died intestate, perhaps it would have been harder. Since he had drafted a will, I suppose we can study it for directives regarding how to handle the matter."
"Thank you." William nodded. "I shall be over in a day or two. I cannot vouch for whether or not his claims were a result of delirium, although he did appear to know his mind."
"Will is being too hesitant," Georgiana piped in. "I am quite certain Father knew of what he was speaking."
Newton nodded at the two siblings. "I shall study and prepare the papers as soon as I can."
"Thank you." William smiled a small smile at the man who was undoubtedly going to be his brother ere long. "I hope it does not overburden you."
"Not at all. It is my work, isn't it?" Newton smiled back. "Depending upon the terms of his will, however, a trip to England might be in order. Do consider the matter, Will."
"Very well, I shall."
A/N: Here we go on a new AU! As is the case recently, I can't commit to responding to reviews one by one, but I promise I read and remember all of them! Since I proofread these on my own (often with a very sleep-deprived brain), some mistakes might be inevitable. Please bear with me. Thank you!