'So, Mr Darcy, I've heard you have a special treat for me in store!'
Prince George really was trying to make friends, maybe Darcy should make an extra effort and be a little more forthcoming.
'Indeed, Your Highness, I think it is time you experienced true speed.
Manners here hasn't tried it yet, either, though he did join us riding a side-saddle. You see my stable staff all had a go on a lady's saddle and they practically challenged me to do the same. Have you ever tried?'
'I cannot say I have, though I have often wondered how ladies keep their balance, and with those full skirts hanging to one side to make it even more impossible. But true speed? You mean with your team of thoroughbreds?'
'That is exactly what I mean, Your Highness. You, Manners and I will be going as fast as they can. Well, and my driver, of course, to keep it safe.'
Now Prince George looked almost hungry, wasn't he allowed to do dangerous things? Riding behind those thoroughbreds wasn't more dangerous than riding a horse at a gallop. It was probably safer, especially with Bob driving.
'Yes! That sounds like great fun, even in my circle I have heard of your team of thoroughbreds, the envy of every gentleman. You say it isn't dangerous?
But it's very exciting, isn't it?'
'I suppose it is. A colonel of my acquaintance thought it rather too exciting, and he has seen action abroad five times.'
'I cannot wait. I have too little excitement in my life, I should slip my leash
more often.'
Frederick knew why Darcy was taking him along, an extra man would mean an uncomfortable ride for Darcy facing backwards at full speed but he did not want to be alone with Prince George. And rightfully so, the man was so astute no-one should be alone with him, as poor Simon was forced to experience three times a day. They could only hope he would soon leave, but even that was a vain hope: Frederick was convinced he would not return to London until he had found out whatever Frederick and Anne were hiding.
Truly, the danger of Darcy betraying anything was a lot less acute than the danger from Frederick himself, he knew he wanted to protect Simon from further harassment, if needed by asserting Anne was safe in his hands. But Frederick shouldn't even know that Prince George doubted her being in any danger from him, Simon should not be as intimate with his master as to share such knowledge.
Frederick let the prince enter the little carriage first, then followed him in, the two men taking the front-facing seat together, while Darcy was still outside talking to his driver, or rather the tall lad accompanying him on the box seat.
'Mr Darcy seems very connected to his people somehow, don't you think, Manners? I noticed the first time while we were riding through those villages, they were so well kept and yet so personal somehow. As if he knows all people need some art and some beauty in their lives.'
'I'm certain he does, or he would not have taken in Fielding when he was in dire straits. And his housekeeper in London makes the most incredible pieces of art using mere canvas and thread, arguably the best silk thread available and even gold and silver thread, but still. It's true art. And the boy he is talking to now got sent to Pemberley from London as a punishment because he had bullied several of the staff, and now his main victim is teaching him how to handle a team of four. Darcy takes his duties as landowner very seriously indeed.'
'And yet he barely speaks to me. Though I suppose I understand his motives, I do have this reputation. But I think I have found a way to win him, thanks to your lady wife.'
Frederick had no time to comment, for Darcy was done and entered the carriage, seating himself backwards.
'I'm sorry it took so long, but I wanted to make sure the stable hands hadn't dared Bruce to come along. It can be very frightening to go this fast, and on
the box I think it is actually dangerous, one could fall right off. I wanted him to know what he was getting himself into.
Now, gentlemen, are you comfortable? It's going to be a bit of a ride to find a safe place to let the horses go, we don't want to turn any corners or surprise some farmer or forester coming from a lane to the left or right. But Bob knows exactly the right place where to give them their heads, I suspect he does it all the time when exercising them. It keeps them mellow, you see.'
'This Bob of yours is not a particularly large or strong fellow, is he?' Prince George asked.
'He certainly isn't. But apparently it's the will that makes the driver, not the size.'
'I believe you, Mr Darcy. Your lady is rather small and yet she sits that hunter like she was born in the saddle. Considering how thoroughbreds originated from Arab horses in a way hers is a thoroughbred, too.'
'That is certainly true, though of course I didn't just buy her any hunter, this one is fast but relatively mild-tempered.'
'Mr Darcy, my first impression was that you and Mrs Darcy had fallen in love instantly, but your cousin said that wasn't the case at all. She said it was a very romantic story and that I should ask Mrs Darcy about it. But I'd like to hear it from you. Would you please tell me how you met?'
Well, the prince did say Anne had told him something which he'd use to try to break the ice with Darcy, and if anything could do that, this was it.
Darcy looked surprised, but not displeased.
'I suppose I can tell you, yes, though I still don't see what is so romantic about it since I barely escaped being left all alone with my heart broken forever.
I met Miss Elizabeth Bennet when I was staying with a friend in Hertfordshire. He is fond of society, so we started to attend meetings in the nearby village, and my friend fell head over heels in love with the local gentleman's eldest daughter, Elizabeth's sister. She is a true beauty and very calm and mild of character. I hated Hertfordshire, the people were unsophisticated, full of themselves, loud and obnoxious. I didn't see then that they were also welcoming and kind, and together with my friend's sisters I enjoyed finding fault in all of them. Miss Elizabeth Bennet, too, and she overheard me calling her of a barely tolerable appearance, not handsome enough for me to dance with.'
Prince George was totally taken up with this story and he exclaimed, 'You didn't! Oh my, she cannot have taken that well, I'm very sure your lady has a
bit of a temper!'
Darcy nodded ruefully, and continued, 'She took an instant dislike to me, though I didn't know and at that point didn't yet care, and I cannot say my behaviour to her improved even the slightest. Not even when I started to notice her unique character, her intelligence, her wit, the totally different way in which her mind worked. You know she once remarked how poetry was a very effective way to cure a preference for someone? Then when I said I'd always considered it the food of love, she laughed and observed how everything fed a healthy, strong love, but that she was convinced a single well-written sonnet could starve away a thin inclination instantly.
I'm afraid I was long past that cure myself at that point, but still I treated her miserably, I was arrogant, condescending, mostly afraid she'd find out about my preference and claim me. When all this time she seriously disliked me, and clearly showed her dislike with remarks that always bordered on insolence. I thought she was being piquant, trying to catch my attention, trying to get me to show my preference. Which I didn't want to, I wanted her but she was so far beneath me, I seriously thought I could not burden my family with hers. We then left the neighbourhood to separate my friend from her sister, his sisters thought her beneath their brother as well and I agreed. I didn't see Miss Elizabeth Bennet for months. But I thought of her all the more, and I never met another woman who could begin to compare with her.'
Darcy seemed to be reliving that time, and he was so much more human all of a sudden. Prince George also noticed and asked, 'So did you seek her out eventually, if you loved her so much?'
'I didn't. I still thought her beneath me and I wanted to forget her, but I just couldn't. I could ignore my love, I've always had iron control over my feelings and I managed to just live on without her.
&n
bsp; But then I met her again at my aunt's house, where she instantly connected with another of my cousins, an army colonel and a very pleasing, outgoing man. They had such a good time together and I could only watch and sometimes try to talk to her, attempt to converse with her without encouraging her. For I really believed she knew I was in love with her and was flirting with me to get me to acknowledge my feelings, when in fact she hated me by now. Someone had told her a bunch of lies about me, and I think she suspected that I had separated her sister from my friend, which had given her sister quite a lot of grief.
She was never kind to me, but I wasn't to her, either, and I admired her clever
remarks so much I never realised they were intended to hurt me. It just never occurred to me that she might hate me, I was handsome, rich, sought after by other women, I still thought she was merely trying to catch my attention.'
'So you loved your lady for her impertinence, which is a rather singular foundation for a marriage.'
'It is, it is! As I found out when I had finally decided to throw duty and family into the wind and proposed. I expected her to accept gladly, and instead got a polite but resolute refusal. In my shock I let myself say some things I shouldn't have, which she returned a hundredfold with a brutal reflection on my behaviour towards her and also to her sister and the person who had lied to her. I was crushed and left quickly, devastated. But I couldn't let her hate me, so I wrote her a letter to explain about her sister and set those lies straight.
Then I was literally sick with love for a few months, but I also did some serious soul searching. She had been right about my feeling superior in so many ways. I realised I had treated her abominably, and not just her, most people around me, even my friend and my sister. I tried to change, and found support in a lot of places where I hadn't expected it.
When I arrived at Pemberley in summer, on my way to my steward, I turned around to look at some city people come to view the house and saw Miss Elizabeth Bennet among them. You can imagine my feelings on beholding her so unexpectedly, on my own grounds. I managed to greet her politely, then fled to hide my feelings for I knew she despised me. But my housekeeper caught me in my distress and advised me to look her up in my park and be very nice. I did, and Miss Elizabeth had obviously read my letter and believed some or all of it. Since I was still very much in love I tried to show her I'd improved myself, not with talk but by being polite and kind, and I think she disliked me less because of that. Then some complications cropped up but I managed to solve them, and first I enabled my friend to come to an agreement with her sister, whom he still loved. I now met Miss Elizabeth regularly but I couldn't read her at all, I'd been wrong once to my detriment, I couldn't risk getting rejected again, it would have killed me.
I might have spent months in this agony of indecision, if my aunt hadn't visited to tell me she'd seen Miss Elizabeth at her home in Hertfordshire.
Apparently there had been some rumours circulating of how she would soon get married to me. Gossip in the village had caused that because her sister was engaged to my friend. My aunt described exactly how Miss Elizabeth
had refused to promise to not ever marry me, emphasising the latter's determination, hoping to get such a promise from me. But it had the exact opposite effect, I rode to Hertfordshire as soon as possible and proposed a second time, and this time she accepted. She had come to realise I was a better man than she'd thought, and I suppose my steady affection for her had somehow made her kindly inclined towards me.'
Now Frederick felt bound to say something.
'Nonsense, Darcy, she didn't marry you out of pity. She had come to love you because you are worthy of being loved: you are very handsome, and smart and educated, and she'd found out that under that proud exterior you have a very kind and noble soul. Just look at how your staff love you, you care about even the lowest stable boy.'
'I'm with Manners here, Mr Darcy, your little wife obviously admires you, she did not marry you out of pity or to be worshipped. She needs a strong man who can handle her independent spirit and she knows it, she'd never have married a weak or dependent man.'
'That is exactly what her father said when I had to ask him for his permission to wed. Also that he'd never dare refuse me anything I condescended to ask.
He did not approve of his daughter accepting me.'
'So you know where she got her strong mind. And does he still object to his daughter improving herself a hundredfold?'
'No, but only because he'd misjudged me. If I was still the man who fell in in love with his daughter he would be very sorry, it is the obvious love and respect between her and me that has given him faith in his daughter's choice.
Mere riches do not impress him.'
'As they don't impress her. And this aunt who tried to bully your lady away from you, is that Mrs Manners' mother?'
'She is. Lady Catherine de Bourgh.'
'And does she know how important a role she played in finally bringing the two of you together? I suppose it would have happened eventually with your best friend married to her sister, but still...'
'I don't think she does, no. That is actually a bit of a shame, isn't it? I'm very thankful to her for giving me enough hope and courage to try again.'
'Well, maybe you should tell her then. Though I seem to have heard she isn't very popular among you all right now.'
'That has to do with the language she used towards me about Elizabeth, it was very offensive and I do tend to get a little protective over my beloved.
Elizabeth couldn't care less, she measures foolish people by their entertainment value and aunt Catherine rates very low on that scale, she's merely offensive and loud. And also because of what she did to Anne.'
'She told me, I couldn't believe it at first but now I actually worry about my own father. He has regular bloodlettings, and I fear they may be harmful to him. Well, I cannot lecture you on respecting one's parents, I'm not too popular in that quarter myself. But I do think your story was very romantic, Mr Darcy. I thought you had fallen in love at first sight, you're so close and so obviously in love. It's enough to make a fellow jealous, isn't it, Manners?'
Frederick thought of a pair of lean shanks and the most beautiful face in the world gazing at him with love and had no trouble asserting the prince, 'Not particularly, no. I think I've done rather well where love is concerned.'
And there was nothing Prince George could say about that, for Frederick had done very well, even if Anne had been his true partner. Even though the prince knew Anne loved her guard, he could not know Frederick didn't love her with all his heart.
'That makes me even more jealous of both of you. I know I have myself to thank for most of it, but I have not been particularly fortunate in my choice of a wife. Of course it wasn't my choice at all, my father decided whom I should marry, but I really thought I was reasonably accomplished in dealing with the ladies, you know, making myself agreeable to any of the fair sex. I have always considered women superior companions, they are generally morally stronger, have finer manners and more natural appreciation for the arts than men. I know they can be quite ruthless to each other, I have never been blind to their little intrigues, but again, their mutual likes and dislikes are generally uttered in a subtle way, which sometimes provides an entertainment all of its own. I'm sure your lady is an expert in this, Mr Darcy, if she has ever been forced to take a dislike to someone.'
'I just told you I fell hopelessly in love with her over such subtleties, Your Highness, whilst not understanding their true meaning at all.'
Darcy sounded wistful rather than offended.
'True, that is what caused me to think she might be a master of the truly subtle insult. Has she ever taken a dislike to another lady?'
'She was practically forced to, my best friend's sisters did their very best to make Miss Elizabeth Bennet's life miserable whenever she was anywhere close to me. One of them had set her sights on me, you see.'
'I'm sure she rose to the occasion beautifully,' th
e prince said gleefully.
'Well, at first she seemed to reserve her wit for me, mostly. I suppose she truly hated me and merely rather disliked Miss Bingley. And when she'd read my letter and we met again she wasn't as lively as she used to be, even though Miss Bingley was provoking her somewhat less than subtly. Georgie said it was because she was falling for me, but I tend to think it was because her aunt was there, a very sensible, righteous gentlewoman. Then once we were married she did rub it in a little towards Miss Bingley, yes. But only a little.'
'It may have seemed just a little to you, Mr Darcy, but it probably tore her enemy's heart. That is what ladies are supposed to be like. But Caroline now, my wife, when we first met there was nothing subtle about her. She was as coarse as a boatman, she didn't like my looks and didn't hesitate to let me know. I'm sure I was a disappointment since painters always cheat when commissioned to paint a royal, but she wasn't all they said she would be either. From a distance she looked nice enough, though not my type, since I'm convinced people are generally attracted to their physical opposites and Caroline is my cousin so we look quite a bit alike. But from up close... I am a fastidious man, I like to be clean and well groomed, which is why I appreciate your valet's efforts on my behalf so much, Manners. From up close, Caroline did not just smell, she stank. Not just a little sweat of fear, surreptitiously hidden behind a sweet perfume. No, this was a thick blanket of sweat and more offensive bodily fluids mixed with the odour of rotting teeth, it was enough to set even a night soil man or a tanner gagging. She didn't wear a perfume, nor had she taken the trouble to put on clean undergarments. Her dress was beautifully made of precious fabrics, but when the time came for me to do my duty to my father and my country, even a state of near intoxication couldn't keep me from noticing the state of her chemise and petticoats. Her attendant, Lady Jersey, had seen fit to tell me that my new wife had only bathed right after her arrival on British soil, and refused to have herself cleaned after following nature's call. Believe me, it showed.
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