Madam and Missy — A Pride and Prejudice Variation
This is dedicated to all the writers both here and on KU who've released their stories for free! As I enjoy reading them so much, I thought that I'd have a go, and here it is.
[Note that I'm a Brit, so have written with British spelling, punctuation and terminology 😏]
In which Lydia is cleverer still and draws the Fitzwilliam family tree
Longbourn
Elizabeth
Later that evening, Lydia crept into the nursery to join Elizabeth as she was putting Melissa to bed. Phoebe, Beatrice and Martha were already asleep, so Elizabeth motioned to her sister to stay quiet. Once Melissa was snugly tucked in, the young women left and went to sit on the floor by the fire in Elizabeth's chamber.
"Tell me how surprised you were, this morning, Lizzy!" cried Lydia.
Elizabeth hushed her. "The 'great secret' remains, so shush."
"La, the only others upstairs are Mary and Sarah."
There was a knock at the door and, opening it, Mary peeped in. "Pappa intimated that I should talk with you both, so can I join you?"
"Yes, Mary. Come in and close the door." Elizabeth replied.
As Mary settled herself beside her sisters, Elizabeth continued. "While you were in Meryton, this morning, Liddy was proving just how clever she has become."
"She always was clever," said Mary.
"Cleverer, then — for she has determined all of the 'great secret' excepting the name of Beatrice's father."
"Heavens!" said Mary, in surprise. "How have you done that, Liddy?"
"It started when Lizzy first brought Melissa here as her ward. Melissa looks so much like Lizzy, she has to be our niece."
"Oh, woe is me! Do you believe that Jane or Kitty have noticed?"
"No, not at all!" Lydia scoffed. "Jane is so good that she believes all that she is told, and Kitty's simply naive."
Elizabeth said, "Tell Mary what you told us this morning."
"Was that you and William?" asked Mary.
Lydia laughed. "It is as well that the 'great secret' need not be a secret much longer as, given the first opportunity, you call Mr. Darcy by his Christian name!"
"You are quite correct," sighed Mary. "Tell us what you know and I shall tell you about Beatrice's father."
"Ha, ha," snorted Lydia. "Seeing that dreamy look in your eyes, I had better tell you the shorter version."
As she explained about the 'Fitzwilliam Family Feuds', Lydia drew a family tree with her finger on the floor.
"See, here is Lord Matlock and his wife, two sons and a daughter. The sons are unmarried and might yet be ordered to Meryton to choose one of the remaining Bennet sisters!" Lydia said with glee. "There are rumours that the daughter is being courted. His wife's mother owns the estate at Tenston where you two have been spending time and returning with daughters."
"It is to be left to the second son, Major— " said Elizabeth.
"Mmm, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam; he has a recent promotion," Lydia agreed.
"Lizzy had met him before, but I met him, very briefly, when Gina was with us," added Mary.
"I shall deal with Gina shortly. Next we have Lady Catherine, the widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh of Rosings Park in Kent. She has one child, a daughter called Anne. Lady Catherine is adamant that her daughter marries Mr. Darcy. She claims that this is to unite the great estates of Rosings and Pemberley, but it is because she wishes to assume control of Pemberley as it is a much, much richer estate."
"How would she do so, as William is its master?" asked Elizabeth. "You started to tell us this morning, before we were interrupted."
"I shall deal with that shortly; allow me to finish the family tree."
Elizabeth acquiesced.
"Next, comes Bishop Richard Fitzwilliam, who, I think, performed both of your weddings and the subsequent christenings."
Elizabeth and Mary nodded.
"He did," said Mary. "Go on."
"He and his wife have two sons, one of whom is married with two children." Lydia paused and her gaze became unfocussed. "The elder is married, but the younger is not, or is believed so. Huh, the younger is Beatrice's father!"
"James," agreed Mary, with a broad smile.
"I know where his parish is — shall I tell you where?" asked Lydia, relishing the opportunity to tease as well as to show off.
"As do I," Mary replied with a smirk.
"How do you know?" demanded Elizabeth.
"James told me," replied Mary.
"But we were not to be told because of the 'great' — oh I do so wish that gentlewomen were permitted to curse — 'secret'," cried Elizabeth in frustration.
"The 'accursed great secret?'"
"Or, the 'great accursed secret?'"
"Hmph, it shall be the 'accurséd great accurséd secret'," Elizabeth decreed.
"Now that it has vowels, we can use the acronym 'AGAS' for it," said Lydia.
"I am 'aghast' that you thought of that, Liddy!" Mary said, nudging her youngest sister.
The others laughed. "'Aghast' it is," said Elizabeth. "Continue with your drawing, Liddy."
"Finally, we have Lady Anne who married Mr. George Darcy, whose untimely death prompted the wedding of his son to Lizzy. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy— "
"'William'. He is 'William' not 'Fitzwilliam'," said Elizabeth.
"I cannot call him 'William'! He is not yet acknowledged as my brother and you know, only too well, how hard it is to keep all of these false names correct." Lydia squeezed Elizabeth's hand. "Allow me to finish and we shall be one step closer to being less aghast."
"You are correct," Elizabeth said. "Go on."
"Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is the master of Pemberley, a very wealthy man. His estate brings in over five times as much as Longbourn, and he and his father made many wise investments. He is a very wealthy man. I know that you do not care about this wealth, Lizzy, but others do. The two people who seem most keen to relieve him of this wealth are Lady Catherine and his father's godson."
"Mr. Wickham."
"Yes, which brings us to the final member of the Fitzwilliam family — Miss Gina Prout," Lydia continued.
"Why did he kidnap Gina? Did he mean to marry her or to hold her to ransom?" Elizabeth asked.
"Ah, this is where our conspirators argued — as much as they could argue in encrypted messages. The one styling herself as 'Lynx' — I shall leave you to puzzle out which one that is — insisted that Gina be held until Mr. Darcy is wed to her daughter, whereas 'Godson' seemed intent upon taking Gina to Gretna Green to be wed over the anvil.
"You, my brave sisters, thwarted their plans."
"Lizzy and William's valet, Stevens, were the brave ones, not I," protested Mary.
"Stevens? Is he related to Sarah?" Lydia asked.
"Oh, is that something that you do not yet know, Liddy?" crowed Elizabeth.
"Her husband," said Mary, at the same time.
"Mary! We might have held the winning card for a few minutes!"
"Woe is me! I apologise, Lizzy, but I am eager to hear more of this feud," Mary replied with only a little repentance.
A knock on the door silenced them. Jane and Kitty joined them on the floor in front of the fire and the sisters talked of other things.
Longbourn
Mr. Bennet
Looking at his watch, Mr. Bennet saw that it was nearing the time that he expected Darcy to call upon him. As the visits, ostensibly to play chess, were almost daily, the Bennet household were accustomed to his presence. Sometimes, Mr. Bingley or Mr. Hurst accompanied him and the men often accepted his invitation to stay for an informal, family meal.
Hearing hooves, Mr. Bennet locked away his papers and joined his daughters in the parlour. The girls — all of his girls and Martha — were there enjoying a morning together.
Mrs. Hill announced Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Melissa immediately stood and stumbled over to Darcy, with Martha on her heels.
"Dadda!"
Rather impressed, Mr. Bennet watched as Darcy picked up both little girls and gave them silly, sloppy kisses. They shrieked with laughter, pulling his hair and cravat.
"I say, Darcy, you have won over these young ladies!" remarked Mr. Bingley.
"Mr. Darcy is well acquainted with my father's ward and her friend," Elizabeth said. "Allow me to introduce you."
Taking Melissa from Darcy, she said, "Mr. Bingley, this is Miss Melissa Adam and her friend and crib-mate, Miss Martha Stevens."
Clever, suggesting that they shared the same wet nurse, thought Mr. Bennet
"Melissa and Martha, this is Mr. Bingley. Can you say 'Bingley'?"
As Mr. Bingley bowed, Martha reached out to him, saying, "Bibby," and burst into giggles. "Bibby!" she squealed. Then she cried, "Beebee!" and pointed at Phoebe. Melissa joined in her laughter, crying, "Beetee!" and pointing at Beatrice.
"Yes, you are both very funny!" said Elizabeth, kissing each on the head.
Laughing too, Mr. Bingley took Martha and said to Darcy, "When she called you 'Dadda', I was taken aback, but I see now that she is saying 'Darcy'!"
"Indeed."
Mr. Bennet disguised a laugh as a cough. Then, seeing the visitors settle on the floor to play with the toddlers, he said, "No chess, today, I suppose."
"When I have built sufficient towers for Miss Martha to knock over, I shall be glad to join you, sir," said Darcy.
After half an hour of tower-building, Lydia suggested: "Perhaps, Jane and Kitty would take Melissa and Martha on a walk to tire them before their nap. Mr. Bingley; would you like to join them?"
"Yes, yes, what a good suggestion, Miss Lydia. Let us go!"
After the walkers left, bundled in hats and coats, scarves and gloves, the conspirators retired to Mr. Bennet's book-room.
"Well, done Lydia," said Mary as they prepared to sit around the fire.
"Mary," Lydia chided her sister. "You are quite correct to sit between the Darcys when they are in company, but, as it is only us, I think that you can permit them to sit together."
"Oh, woe is me, I am sorry, Lizzy, William. I am becoming accustomed to being your chaperone!"
"Indeed," said Darcy. "I think that you perform the role well, Mary, though too well at times."
They all laughed as Mary swapped places with Elizabeth.
Mr. Bennet said, "We shall not have long to talk as it is too cold for the children to be outside for long. Lydia, would you quickly tell what we have learned this week?"
Again, pleased to be the centre of their attention, Lydia began.
"The militia are due to arrive in the next few days, and it appears that 'Godson' will be amongst them. Kitty and I shall be watching them march into Meryton. Lizzy, as you have seen him, you ought to come with us to point him out." Seeing Darcy about to speak, she forestalled him, adding, "He knows you, Mr. Darcy, so you cannot be there."
"'Godson' will quickly discover that you are our acquaintance, but let us not make it too easy for him," said Mr. Bennet. "Would Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley go to watch the militia marching into a small market town?"
"No, he would not," answered Lydia, sternly.
"Might Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley be allowed to know of the remainder of your plan?" Darcy asked, slightly put out.
"Yes, he might," she answered. "Ever-so-clever Miss Lydia Bennet of Longbourn— "
"Lydia, watch your pride!" admonished her father, as her sisters laughed.
" —will become silly and flirtatious Miss Lydia, and will find out as much as she can about the soldiers."
Mary gasped. "Is that not dangerous?"
"Oh, I shall not be singling out 'Godson', but shall be getting acquainted with his friends."
"Wickham, does not have friends," snorted Darcy, "He surrounds himself with people of whom to take advantage."
"Indeed, as you would say, Darcy," said Mr. Bennet. "But it is easier for us to think of them as his friends for the moment."
"Pappa and I have decided that it is important that 'Godson' sees me as awfully silly and unimportant; he might let his guard down."
"I am not happy with this," interjected Elizabeth. "We know that the man is dangerous — he kidnapped Gina! I do not want my sisters put at risk. Pappa, you cannot think that this is a good plan!"
"All will be well, Lizzy. Lydia will never be alone with any of the soldiers; Mrs Annesley, Mary or Jane will be with her."
"But not me? Why not me?" demanded Elizabeth.
"That is the next part of our plan," said Lydia. She spoke directly to Mr. Darcy, "It is clear to everyone who sees you and Lizzy together, that you admire her."
"Indeed." Mr. Darcy smiled at his wife.
"Oh, yes," agreed Mary. "I overheard Mr. Hurst remarking on it when we were at Lucas Lodge, last week."
Blushing, Elizabeth hung her head and smiled with pleasure. "Charlotte told me that you look at me a great deal and has suggested that you are partial to me."
"Indeed." Darcy brought her hand to his lips.
Lydia interrupted their affection to say, "If Charlotte and Mr. Hurst have noticed, then 'Godson' will too, and we shall use that to our advantage."
"Of what are you thinking, Liddy?" asked Mary.
"We shall have to wait to see how 'Godson' behaves, but he might think to find an ally in Lizzy if he believes that she does not return Mr. Darcy's admiration."
Though the Darcys did not appear pleased with this plan, further discussion was halted by the return of the walkers.
Please don't copy 😏
In which the author replies to some comments
• 'Dadda' rather than 'Pappa' is a plot device
• the 'in which' bits of blurb at the beginning of each chapter started as a means for me to keep track of what was happening — I've tidied them up for you so am glad that they help
• the secrecy: again, I'll say that this is a 'what if', speculative fiction — not an historical account — and that that secrecy is part of the plot
Some comments seem to be pre-empting the plot such as Jane and Bingley, Caroline's behaviour, residence and so on: just wait! Having said that, I'm struggling with the final resolution before the HEA, so if you'd like to help, please PM me.