Darcy the Lesser

Fitzwilliam Darcy is the second Darcy son, from his father's second marriage. His father and mother have passed, his brother rules Pemberley with a grasping hand, and Darcy is making his own way in the world with his half of his mother's jointure as a starting point. How might this impact his reception in Meryton and his first meeting with Elizabeth?

AN: By my count, I have had five requests for Darcy as a second son. I originally thought to throw Wickham into the mix, but decided against it. One request is for Darcy as a sea captain, but I am working on a full length story based around that premise.

At the Meryton Assembly, Michaelmas, 1811

"...five-THOUSAND a year! And oh so handsome too!"

"His friend is certainly more handsome," another matronly voice declared.

"Yes, yes, but he is only a second-son, and an impoverished one at that, from all reports. Having his brother here, now that would be a worthy thing. He has a grand estate in the north and ten-thousand a year!"

"Such a shame. This Darcy must be here living off the largess of his friend."

Another snorted, "Or he is here to act as the man's steward. Second sons often do not count for much, you know."

Elizabeth Bennet grimaced at the uncouth and very loudly stated suppositions of the matrons of Meryton, her own mother being the loudest of all.

Charlotte Lucas, whose own mother was also among the cackling hens, touched her friend's arm in sympathy. "Do not distress yourself, Eliza. We cannot change our mothers and we cannot quell them, so we must ignore them."

"I know this, Charlotte, but just think how mortifying it must be for the poor man to attend an assembly of strangers only to have his situation bandied about in such a way! No wonder Mr. Bingley's sisters look down on one and all here in such disdain! If it would not be forward, I would ask the man to dance myself just to thumb a nose at the hens."

"And the fact that he is tall, dark, and handsome has nothing to do with it? I have seen how your eyes fixed on Mr. Darcy from the moment he stepped foot in the hall. You have barely let him out of your sight," Charlotte teased her friend. Elizabeth usually seemed unaffected by the eligible men of the area.

Elizabeth blushed, "Your own suppositions are obviously flawed, Charlotte. I have no idea where Mr. Darcy is at this moment."

"Yes, but you know this because you are scanning the room for his handsome face." Both young women laughed.

"I will not lie. He is the handsomest man I have ever seen. But I also detest the idea that people are judged on their wealth and connections rather than their character and behavior. If I ever marry, it will be to a man I can love and respect, not just a man with a title or a thick bank account."

Elizabeth was being truthful when she claimed that she could not see where Mr. Darcy had disappeared to. That was because he had found a dark corner within ten feet of the two young women. Had Elizabeth known, she would have been mortified. As it was, her remarks had actually shown her in a positive light in that gentleman's thinking. He did not approach her now, though, first because they had not been introduced, and second because he was afraid to stumble over his words.

The opportunity came over halfway through the evening, when Bingley came to scold him into dancing. When Bingley pointed out the exact girl that Darcy had wanted to ask, the tall man screwed his courage to the sticking place and asked, "Will you introduce us, then?"

Elizabeth found it quite endearing the way that the tall, handsome man stumbled through asking her for a dance. He asked for the "next," so she deliberately misinterpreted his request, smiled, and answered, "Certainly, you can have this set. It is an honor."

While they danced, Elizabeth saw the others' astonishment and her mother's irritation, but she chose to ignore both. Being skilled at conversation, Elizabeth took the burden of talking off poor Mr. Darcy's hands. By the second dance, they were conversing easily. Elizabeth found out several important facts during their dances, but she chose to keep them to herself. In her own estimation, Meryton... and her mother... did not deserve to know the truth.

In the darkened interior of the Bennet carriage that night, Mrs. Bennet was torn between praising her eldest, Jane, for stealing Mr. Bingley's attention and berating her second daughter for wasting her attention on a pauper. Elizabeth endured it all with only the subtlest of smiles.

~oOo~

It was no accident the following morning when Mr. Darcy rode to the top of Oakham Mount and found Elizabeth Bennet seated on a rock, observing the sunrise. "Good morning, Miss Bennet. You had mentioned that you loved to observe the dawn from this spot, so I decided to take in the view myself." He hesitated before adding, "I did not expect that you would rise so early on the day after the night of the assembly?"

Elizabeth smiled at the handsome man as he dismounted, "Oh, I was raised as a country girl, Mr. Darcy. My sisters all sleep in, but from an early age I have cherished the silence and beauty of the morning. You seem of a similar mind?" She patted the large, flat rock which she sat on. It was easily large enough for both to sit while maintaining proper distance.

Darcy sat, removing his top hat to rest upon his lap, bill-up. Elizabeth grinned, "When I was little I used to imagine that my father kept all manner of secret items in his big hat. It was only later that I learned that he did in fact keep a pocket copy of Burns in it. He used to read it during church service when Mr. Felton was our parson."

"And now?" Darcy asked, amused and also enchanted with the pretty dark-haired young woman.

"Now we have Mr. Paisley, a Bible and history scholar. His sermons are much more intellectual, so Father pays attention and then debates them with the man during the week."

Darcy laughed, "It is well then that it is so. I have attempted to carry 'all manner of items' in my top hat and have only found that it hurts my head."

Elizabeth hesitated, then said, "I feel the need to apologize for the people of Meryton last evening, my mother the most..."

Darcy grinned, taking Elizabeth's breath away, "You do not need to apologize again, Miss Bennet. I have no idea how the people came about those details, but I was not offended. I had rather that they dismiss me than throw their daughters at me just because I have wealth." As Darcy had quietly explained while they danced, he was the master of his own estate, bringing in three-thousand a year and improving. That estate came to him through his mother as a portion of her jointure. He had also invested in an up-and-coming shipping house... ironically enough, Gardiner Shipping, a company owned by Elizabeth's own uncle.

It was an inappropriate and odd topic of conversation, but Darcy had felt the need to impress a young woman for the first time. He knew from eavesdropping that she found him as attractive as he found her, but he had wanted her to know that he was a viable choice for a suitor.

"I feel sorry for my sister, Jane. She truly likes your friend, Mr. Bingley, but fears that our mother's effusions will drive the man away."

Darcy hesitated, then replied, "I doubt that your mother will drive Bingley away... he's too good natured for that to bother him. I would caution that he is a young man who has fallen in and out of love quite a few times. That does not mean that he will not be serious this time, but perhaps..."

"Perhaps I should watch over the matter carefully. He is an honorable man, at least?"

"Oh, certainly. He would not dishonor your sister, but he might express himself in such a way to raise expectations and then hurry off to other entertainments later. I have spoken to him about this, so let us hope that he will do better now."

"Thank you. May I ask a personal question about your family?"

"Certainly?"

"Do you and your older brother get along at all?"

Darcy grimaced, "I am afraid not. My father's first marriage was to a woman with much more beauty and consequence than character. She died when Phillip was only two, but he inherited all of her worst traits. In his hands Pemberley, a vast and wealthy estate in Derbyshire, may very well fall into ruin."

Elizabeth saw the pain in Darcy's eyes could not help but reach over and cover his hand. As soon as she did so, she startled and began to withdraw, but Mr. Darcy captured her small hand with his two large ones and retained it possessively. Struggling to find her voice, she finally said, "It must pain you to see your childhood home in peril?" They both pretended that there was no liberty being taken or allowed.

"It is not easy, but then I have not been permitted back there since my father's funeral, so I do not see it. I argued with Phillip about his intentions for the estate and he threatened to have me driven out in chains. No, Pemberley must survive or fall on its own."

~oOo~

During another of their private meetings some weeks later, Elizabeth lamented that her mother was conspiring with her cousin, the heir presumptive of Longbourn, to marry her off to the man. Darcy was visibly alarmed, "Surely you will not be forced... you cannot... from what you have told me such a match would be terrible for you!"

Elizabeth reached out again and squeezed the man's clenched fist, causing it to open so that she could put her little hand in his big one, "I will never consent to such a match and my father will not force it on me."

"I am most gratified to hear it. My brother wished to wed our sister to dissolute man, Sir Rodney Hartley, because he had a great fortune and no need for my sister's dowry. Georgiana is an heiress, but she is also beautiful like our mother, though she is only six and ten. Sir Rodney has a reputation for his interest in younger ladies.

"I am pleased to say that Georgiana, was taken from Phillip's control into the hands of my mother's family."

"Thank goodness. They had the authority to do this?"

"My mother was the daughter of an earl. Her brother, my and Georgiana's uncle, is now the earl. It was accomplished regardless of who had the authority. If Phillip had his druthers, he would have sold Georgiana's hand to the highest bidder. I believe that he had a deal with Sir Rodney which would allow him to retain all of most of our sister's dowry for his own coffers."

Darcy was amazed to see the white-hot anger in Elizabeth's eyes, "That... that is vile! Her own brother marrying her off for money?"

"Money, influence, connections, power. Marriages have been arranged in such a way for millennia. I cannot agree with it either, but it is a reality. As much as I respect my uncle and aunt, the Earl and Countess of Matlock, I would not put it past them to do something similar, though they would take care that the husband was at least a good man. That is one of the reasons that I must make a success of my little estate and investments... and why I must find a wife to work beside me." Darcy squeezed Elizabeth's hand again, "Would you... might I... if it was possible..."

Elizabeth was once more endeared by Darcy's hesitant, uncertain manner, but unlike requesting a dance, she had to let him finish this request in his own time and in his own way. Finally he managed to ask, "Would you consider entering into a formal courtship with me, Miss Elizabeth Bennet?"

"So soon? What do you know of me except that I can dance and converse?"

"I know that you despised the gossip and judgments at the assembly. I know that you had the courage to stand up with me even knowing that it might reflect poorly on you. I know from our dance and our many conversations since that you understand about estate matters, tenants, and budgets. I saw how you reacted to what I said about my sister. And I know that you are quite beautiful. The rest we could learn about each other as well go on. So... will you?"

"Mr. Darcy, I can think of nothing that would make me happier than for us to see where this takes us. I would be honored to be courted by you."

Elizabeth received her first kiss there on Oakham Mount. Then she led her beau down the hill to speak with her father. By common agreement, no mention was made concerning the courtship to anyone else in the family except Jane.

~oOo~

Caroline Bingley scoffed six weeks later when the engagement of Mr. Darcy and Miss Eliza was announced at her ball. She had hoped that Mr. Darcy's older brother, the only Darcy who mattered, would attend so that she could capture the man's attention and become Mistress of Pemberley. Sadly the man never replied to the invitation.

Instead her brother had insisted on hosting the lesser Darcy at his estate like a vagabond for the past two months. And why? So that Mr. Darcy could teach her brother how to run an estate... as if he knew anything! The man wasn't even allowed on Pemberley property!

Mrs. Bennet was even more livid. That girl, her most troublesome daughter, had thrown away a perfectly respectable chance to marry Mr. Collins, the heir to Longbourn! And for what? So that she could be secretly courted by a pauper?!

She was so angry that when it came time for the wedding, she was tempted to wear black. The girl had circumvented that too by having a double wedding with her sister Jane and Jane's excellent catch, Mr. Bingley! How dare the chit steal her older and more deserving sister's attention?

In the end Mrs. Bennet expressed her irritation by giving her second daughter and her new husband the cut direct, right there at the wedding breakfast.

~oOo~

Cloverglen Park

Elizabeth was quite enchanted by her husband's estate in Kent. The county was truly the garden of England. She settled in and took control as the wife of Mr. Darcy and Mistress of Cloverglen with a grace that only added to her husband's admiration. And with a wife on the property, it was only a short while before Georgiana Darcy was able to join her brother and new sister there. Mr. Bennet paid the occasional visit. Jane and Bingley visited them often, but the rest of the Bennets moved on as if Elizabeth had been murdered instead of married.

The couple was all but summoned to attend Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, at her grand estate of Rosings. Lady Catherine maintained the connection with her nephew mainly because he was her nephew. She despised Phillip Darcy more because he held no Fitzwilliam blood than any other reason. Yet she also considered Cloverglen to be a minor estate of little consequence.

Despite all of this, Lady Catherine developed a grudging respect for her nephew's new wife and her impertinence, even if she would never admit to it. She demonstrated her approbation by instituting a regular correspondence with Mrs. Darcy. The text of her letters were usually detailed instructions on minor issues. The Darcys often read the letters in the evening and chuckled about their silliness. One idea in particular, the idea of installing shelves in the closets, afforded the Darcy's hours of amusement.

~oOo~

Miss Bingley was startled to learn that the lesser Darcy had a viable estate, but it was still too small to make the couple worthy of her presence. So when her brother made the trip to Kent, she remained in London. She was not missed.

Mr. and Mrs. Bingley purchased a neglected property in Kent not twelve miles away. With the help of the Darcys they quickly restored it to rights and turned it into a much more productive property than Netherfield might have been.

Just as Darcy hoped, Georgiana came to live with the Darcys. Elizabeth and Georgiana got along like long-lost sisters. Georgiana, previously a shy and withdrawn girl, blossomed under Elizabeth's care. In her seventeenth year she attracted the notice of their nearest neighbor, a baron who had inherited his estate and title unexpectedly and who often attended Fitzwilliam Darcy for advice. As he grew into his estate and title, his interest and fascination with Georgiana also grew. As much as it pained Darcy, he walked his little sister down the aisle and gave her hand to Baron Richfield on the same day she turned nineteen.

Two boys were born: Thomas George and William Richard. Elizabeth's father was on hand for both births, as were Charles and Jane Bingley and Baron and Baroness Richfield. Mrs. Bennet was notably absent, but Mary Patterson, nee Bennet, was on hand for the second birth with her new husband.

~oOo~

Wild was the uproar five years after the marriage of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth when Phillip Darcy suddenly died without a wife or an heir. The no-longer-lesser Darcy, his wife, and their two boys made the trip north to Pemberley, where the couple worked tirelessly for many years to restore the property back into a productive estate. They succeeded, but never felt the love for the property that they felt for their beautiful Cloverglen.

Suddenly all of the people who had dismissed the lesser Darcy were clamoring for his and his wife's attention. The worst of these was Miss Bingley, who had failed to secure any marriage and was no most thoroughly on-the-shelf. The second-worst was Mrs. Bennet, who now bragged to all and sundry about the same couple she had so vehemently disparaged. Neither lady was ever welcome on Pemberley or Cloverglen property.

For the next twenty years the family split their time between the two estates, restoring one and making the other one grow. They had two more children, both girls, who were welcomed with great joy by the rest of the family.

When their eldest, Thomas Darcy, was five and twenty, they gave over the management of Pemberley to him while the couple returned gratefully to Cloverglen. Though they eventually turned over the management of that estate to their second son, William, and his new wife, they continued to live in the dower house of the estate until the end of their days.