A Marriage of Two Minds

Author's Note: I want to warn readers that there are instances of domestic abuse in this story. I will put warnings at the beginning of the chapters that feature any abuse. Note that there is a guaranteed HEA for Darcy and Elizabeth.

Chapter 1

Not even a full day of the house party had passed, and already Darcy wanted to hide.

He and Bingley had both been invited for a month's retreat at the estate of their friend from Cambridge, Mr. Fredrick Landsdowne, known to his friends as Freddie. Unfortunately, however, Bingley's sisters had also been invited.

Caroline Bingley had made it her mission to capture Darcy as a husband for four years, ever since she had first met him. Darcy despised the woman, not only for her social climbing and acquisitiveness, but because she was a sharp-tongued shrew who delighted in looking down her nose at others. She clearly saw this house party as her chance to secure him, and she had been relentless in her attentions ever since he had arrived.

She was not the only one who made him want to hide, however. The daughters of some of the other guests saw him as a great matrimonial prize, and were circling like sharks. He was beginning to regret accepting the invitation.

In desperation to avoid Miss Bingley, who was looking about the room for him, he approached a young man he had known from university, albeit not very well. Viscount Carlisle had been two years ahead of him, and Darcy had not seen him for some years; but he knew Caroline would not dare interrupt a conversation between him and a man to whom she had not been introduced.

"Carlisle! It is a pleasure to see you!" Darcy said, stopping in front of the viscount.

Lord Carlisle was a handsome man of thirty, with golden blond hair and blue eyes. He was dressed gorgeously in the latest fashion. A dandy, Darcy mused.

The viscount looked about lazily and his eyes landed on Darcy. "Darcy! Nice to see you," he said, and the two shook hands.

"How do you know Landsdowne?" asked Darcy.

"My country estate is only about fifteen miles away," he said. "Landsdowne is a neighbour."

Just then Darcy noticed a woman standing next to Carlisle. She was also dressed exquisitely in a deep red dress the colour of wine, wearing a ruby necklace studded with diamonds. Darcy thought it was a little excessive for tea time, but looking at her next to Carlisle, he thought that their styles of fashion matched.

"Ah, may I introduce my wife, Lady Carlisle?" drawled the viscount.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, madam," said Darcy with a bow. Lady Carlisle curtsied with a smile. The smile was not simpering, nor seductive (as he had observed from many married women). It was a genuine smile, and Darcy was pleased to see it.

"This is Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth," said Lord Carlisle. "I knew him from Cambridge. He has an estate in – where is it, old man?"

"Derbyshire," replied Darcy. "I have never visited Gloucestershire before. You shall have to show me all the great sites before we leave here," Darcy said, including both of them in his request.

"Hmmm…" said Carlisle in a bored voice, but Elizabeth said, "It is a lovely place, Mr. Darcy. I have as yet not seen much of it, but I always wished to travel outside of my home in Hertfordshire."

Darcy wondered why she had not seen much of it yet. "You are newly married?" he guessed.

"Yes, a little over six months," said Carlisle. He took his wife's hand to place a kiss on it, and Darcy noticed a slight look of revulsion on Elizabeth's face that quickly disappeared. Interesting. Had Lady Carlisle married the viscount for his money? She was certainly dressed for the part.

As Darcy and Carlisle fell into desultory conversation, he found that the viscount was either ignoring his wife or neglecting to include her in the conversation. She stood beside her husband and listened politely, and if Darcy asked her a question, Carlisle usually answered in her place before she could. She seemed not to notice his officiousness, but kept a smile on her face. Darcy had not known much about the viscount, but found that he could not like the way the man treated his wife.

Soon they were called in to tea, and Darcy found some time alone with his host, Mr. Landsdowne. "Do you know Lord Carlisle well, Freddie?" he asked.

"Not at all," replied Landsdowne. "He is a neighbour, so I felt obliged to invite him. My father knew his father, but he never had anything good to say about the previous viscount. It is possible the son is cut from the same cloth. Why do you ask?"

"No particular reason," said Darcy, as he watched Lord and Lady Carlisle sit together, and the viscount completely ignore his wife. "He married recently?"

"Yes, it was quite a surprise to the ton. She is the daughter of a minor landowner in Hertfordshire. No one knows much about her, except that she had almost no dowry and has ties to trade."

"A strange choice for such a man," Darcy mused, again wondering if the woman was a fortune-hunter. If so, she seemed to regret her choice from the barely-noticeable reactions to her husband that he had observed. Then again, perhaps the gorgeous dresses made it all worth it to her.

All the same, he could not help admiring her fine brown eyes, as well as her figure, which was light and pleasing. Usually he did not allow himself to admire married women, but he had to admit that this one intrigued him. Perhaps she could deflect some of the attention from the unmarried ladies. He would have to get to know her better.


Darcy made a start on it that very night, when he found himself seated next to Lady Carlisle at dinner. Her smile was much more sincere as she greeted him without her husband nearby.

"Hello again, Mr. Darcy," she said.

"Greetings, madam," he replied with a smile.

"It is interesting for me to meet someone from Derbyshire," she said after a few minutes of polite small talk. "My aunt lived in a town called Lambton for several years, and she tells me Derbyshire is the most beautiful county in the world."

"Why, Lambton is but five miles from Pemberley!" he exclaimed.

"Pemberley is your estate?" she asked.

"Indeed it is," he replied.

"What a happy coincidence," she said with a bright smile. "I am sure that my aunt must be familiar with your estate; perhaps she even visited it at some point."

"Well, she was certainly correct when she said Derbyshire was the best of counties. I have to agree with her that it is the most beautiful place in the world."

"I have always wanted to see the Lakes," said Lady Carlisle. "My aunt and uncle were going to take a holiday to see them this summer, and I was to go with them, but, well –"

"But you were married?" Darcy guessed.

"Quite," said Elizabeth in a tone of finality.

Darcy dared not question her further. She had not known she was going to marry the viscount? She had already planned a holiday before she married him? There was some sort of puzzle here.

"I have heard that you hail from Hertfordshire," he asked instead.

Elizabeth brightened. "I do. My father has an estate called Longbourn."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I do; four sisters. I am the second-eldest."

"I supposed your eldest sister will inherit once your father passes?" inquired Darcy.

"Alas, no," she sighed. "There is an entail on the estate so that only a male may inherit. That is a distant cousin of my father's, whom I have never met."

"That must be a concerning situation for the ladies of the family."

"Not so anymore," she said with a weak smile. "My husband has been so generous as to provide for them in the case of my father's untimely death."

Darcy thought that perhaps now he understood. Lady Carlisle had received an offer of marriage, a brilliant match for someone in her circumstances, and had accepted for the sake of her family. He did not know whether to admire her or pity her.

"But you, sir – I would love to hear of your estate and of the beauties of Derbyshire," she continued.

Darcy accepted the change in topic and obliged her, keeping her well entertained through the rest of dinner with descriptions of the Derbyshire countryside.