Posted on 2020-05-29
Fitzwilliam Darcy was in a terrible state. Upon returning from Netherfield with Bingley’s sisters and Mr. Hurst, Mr. Darcy was hiding out in his town house in London. Mrs. Reynolds and Georgiana had been summoned from Pemberley to help minister aid to him but to no avail.
At a weigh station, on their return to London, the Netherfield party had stopped to change horses. Mr. Darcy, wanting to stretch his legs, decided to stroll around the station as the horses were being changed out. Mr. Darcy was preoccupied with thinking over his recent discussion with Elizabeth Bennet at the Netherfield ball and inadvertently ignored an old woman begging for assistance. As he walked by her for a second time the old woman jumped out in front of him and cursed him with a hex. She had said that the “secret knowledge” of how someone, who was closest to his heart, perceived him would now be worn on his face for all to see. Darcy dismissed this pronouncement immediately and joined his party for the carriage ride to London.
The very next morning when Fitzwilliam Darcy arose he felt different. Upon looking at his reflection in a mirror he could not believe what he saw. His left eye was extremely droopy and his left cheek was covered with a bumpy red rash. The right side of his face housed four large boils and the tip of his nose displayed a fairly large wart. After consulting several doctors, who could not come up with a cure, Darcy decided to hide from everyone.
Darcy’s loyal valet alerted Mrs. Reynolds, Darcy’s housekeeper at his estate, to their master’s distress. Mrs. Reynolds along with his sister, Georgianna Darcy, soon arrived in London. They had been there for about two months and still nothing had changed.
At about this time Elizabeth Bennet was becoming furious with Mr. Darcy. Her sister, Jane, was staying in London with their aunt and uncle. In London, Jane had visited Mr. Bingley’s sisters and they in turn had returned the call a few weeks later. Jane still had not heard from Mr. Bingley himself and was heartbroken. Miss Bingley had hinted strongly that there soon would be a union between Mr. Bingley and Miss Darcy. Elizabeth had thusly put together in her mind that Mr. Darcy was at the root of this plan, to have Mr. Bingley marry Miss Darcy and the amiable Mr. Bingley was just doing his friend’s bidding. Elizabeth thought that Jane’s unhappiness was a direct result of Mr. Darcy’s machinations.
Elizabeth decided that she would take matters into her own hands. She traveled from her home in Hertfordshire, by post, to London and immediately showed up at Mr. Darcy’s town house. When she knocked at the door the butler told her that Mr. Darcy was not accepting visitors. Elizabeth pleaded and then demanded that she see him. Georgianna happened to be downstairs and heard the commotion. She remembered that Fitzwilliam had written about an Elizabeth Bennet in his letters. She quickly walked up to the butler and asked him to show Miss Bennet in. Both ladies set off to the drawing room.
“Miss Bennet, I am Georgianna Darcy, Mr. Darcy’s sister.” Georgianna started as an introduction. “My brother had mentioned you in some of his letters. It is nice to make your acquaintance.”
“I am pleased to meet you too Miss Darcy. Thank you for letting me in. I am here to see your brother on urgent business. May I see him, please?”
“Miss Bennet, please know that my brother is not currently seeing anyone. However I think it may be beneficial for him to see you. Therefore I must forewarn you that my brother is suffering from a misfortunate disorder that is causing a severe disfigurement in his appearance. I am not sure that you would really want to subject yourself to this type of tenuous situation. It may cause you a great deal of discomfort”, warned a concerned Georgianna.
“Miss Darcy, please know that my courage will always rise to any challenge and that I will be fine in this instance”, Elizabeth declared.
“As you wish, Miss Bennet, please follow me to my brother’s study”, Georgianna replied.
Georgianna and Elizabeth entered Darcy’s study. When Darcy looked up and noticed Miss Bennet, he winced. He knew he looked ugly and disfigured which caused him to be terribly embarrassed in front of her. However not one to be cowed, he straightened up in his seat and looked at Elizabeth.
“Good morning, Miss Elizabeth”, stated Darcy. “How may I be of assistance to you?”
Elizabeth held in the gasp she felt in her throat. Here sat the mighty, prideful and fastidious Mr. Darcy looking, well, rather hideous. Elizabeth replied, “I am here to discuss my sister Jane with you.”
“Miss Jane Bennet?” Darcy replied rather perplexed. “What do you think I have to do with your sister, with Miss Jane Bennet?”
Elizabeth boldly marched on with her accusations. She told of Jane’s fondness and love for Mr. Bingley and of her broken heart at Bingley’s sudden disappearance. Elizabeth then accused Mr. Darcy of being the mastermind behind keeping her precious sister and Mr. Bingley apart so that he could have Mr. Bingley marry Miss Darcy. She laid the blame squarely at his feet for keeping Bingley separated from Jane.
Darcy looked at Elizabeth incredulously. “Whatever gave you these ideas?” He said gravely. “I have not seen Bingley since arriving in town. I have no idea why you would think that Bingley and Georgianna would be betrothed. That is certainly not the case and as far as I can control it, it will never be the case.”
Elizabeth then told Mr. Darcy about the information that Jane had received from Miss Bingley which strongly hinted at a match between Miss Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth looked downcast. She had thought she had the upper hand to smack Darcy down and now she began to figure out that she had no hand at all. Then Mr. Darcy did something that surprised her.
“Miss Elizabeth,” he said breaking her out of her reverie. “Bingley did ask me if I thought Miss Bennet showed him any special feelings. I did tell him that I thought she treated him the same as she treated everyone else. However in light of your recent declarations I can see that I was mistaken. If you will give me your uncle’s address I will write Bingley a note today, informing him of your sister’s presence in London and my mistake in telling him that she did not have a preference for him. Then it will be up to Mr. Bingley to digest this information and decide how to act.”
Elizabeth whispered, “Thank you.” She jotted down her uncle’s address and then slowly left the room. She was then escorted out of the town house by the butler who had Mr. Darcy’s carriage brought around, at Mr. Darcy’s request, to bring her to her uncle’s home in London.
Mrs. Gardiner, Elizabeth’s aunt, and Jane were surprised and excited to see Elizabeth when she arrived at her aunt and uncle’s home. Elizabeth somewhat deceptively explained that her sudden trip to visit them was based on her severely missing her sister and made no mention of her prior visit to the Darcy town house in London.
Two hours after her arrival at her aunt and uncle’s home Mr. Bingley arrived. He let them know that he had no knowledge of Miss Bennet’s presence in London and was very happy to receive a note from Mr. Darcy informing him of this fact.
Mrs. Gardiner and Jane both briefly wondered how Mr. Darcy would be aware of Jane being in London however the general bright and cheery tone of the visit soon took over and most of their attention was fixed on the very amiable Mr. Bingley. The “how” of how he ended up at their door was erased from their thoughts. Mr. Bingley was very attentive to Jane and asked to call again the following day and was given a positive response.
Elizabeth was elated. It seemed Jane was very much improved in her mood. Mr. Bingley and Jane seemed meant for each other. Elizabeth’s heart was full. She determined that she would go to see Mr. Darcy on the morrow to thank him.
The next morning, Elizabeth asked Mrs. Gardiner for the use of the carriage to see her friend, Miss Darcy. Mrs. Gardiner agreed and Elizabeth was off to the Darcy town house. Elizabeth was granted entrance and Georgianna Darcy met up with her in the drawing room. Elizabeth explained that she needed to see Mr. Darcy to thank him. Georgianna ushered Elizabeth into Mr. Darcy’s study and then took her leave, which left Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth alone.
“Miss Elizabeth”, Darcy stated. “I see...” That was all he got out of his mouth before Elizabeth audibly gasped. “Mr. Darcy, your face!” Cried Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been looking at the left side of Fitzwilliam Darcy’s face. Gone was the droopy eye and his dark piercing handsome eye had returned. The rash was gone and his smooth skin with a small dimple was back. Elizabeth continued, “Please excuse my outburst, sir. I am only a bit surprised and very glad that your condition is improving. I actually came here today to thank you for your note to Mr. Bingley and to let you know how sorry I am that I unjustly accused you.”
“Miss Elizabeth, are there any other misunderstandings between us?” Darcy opined. “Can you please tell me if there are other injustices you perceive that I have inflicted upon you or others that you care for?”
Elizabeth then noticed that the right side of Darcy’s face still sported the boils and his nose still had the wart. “I presume you are talking about your injustice delivered to your childhood friend Mr. Wickham?” Elizabeth replied.
“Wickham?!” Darcy belted. He then went on to tell Elizabeth of the total of his relationship with Mr. George Wickham. How George was the son of his father’s steward. How Darcy’s father paid for George’s schooling at Cambridge. How George was a reprobate. How when Mr. Darcy’s father had died that George came to him requesting 3,000 pounds in exchange for the living that Mr. Darcy senior had bequeathed to him in his will. How Wickham had spent the 3,000 pounds in two years then reapplied to Darcy to attain the living. How Darcy justifiably refused. He then explained how Wickham ultimately plotted an elopement with Georgina, who was only 15 at the time, to exact revenge on Darcy and to also gain her dowry of 30,000 pounds.
Elizabeth, who prided herself on sketching people’s characters, was beside herself. How had she gotten things so wrong? Mr. Wickham was not the innocent that he portrayed himself to be and Mr. Darcy was not the villain that she so easily believed him to be. Elizabeth thought that until now she had not really known herself. Filled with remorse, Elizabeth asked Mr. Darcy, “Can you ever forgive me for the horrible assumptions and judgement that I have made concerning your character regarding Mr. Wickham?”
Mr. Darcy replied that he would and immediately the four boils on the right side of his face disappeared.
Elizabeth gasped again and then cried, “Mr. Darcy, your face!”
Fitzwilliam Darcy felt his face and discovered that the boils were gone. However the wart remained. He then addressed Elizabeth Bennet, “Miss Elizabeth, it seems you may have another grievance against me.”
“Well, I er.. well that is you did insult me upon our first meeting.” Elizabeth let the words stumble out. “I am afraid that when you stated that I was tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt you that it wounded my pride and I have been looking for ways to paint you as a prideful, arrogant miscreant ever since.”
Mr. Darcy looked visibly upset. “Miss Elizabeth, please know that I said those words only because I did not wish to dance. Bingley was insisting on it, so I said the first thing off the top of my head to silence him. I heartily regret my words, and I beg you to forgive me.” Darcy pleaded.
Upon some reflection, Elizabeth realized that her dislike of Mr. Darcy was linked to her wounded pride. She was just as guilty of being prideful as she had been accusing Darcy of being. “I do accept your apology, Mr. Darcy, however only if you accept mine for judging you so harshly.” Elizabeth replied.
It did not take long after that apology for the large wart on Darcy’s nose to vanish. Darcy and Elizabeth agreed to start over as friends. To celebrate their new friendship Mr. Darcy invited Elizabeth, Jane, Mr. and Mr. Gardiner, and Mr. Bingley to join Georgianna and himself for dinner on Thursday night. What would come of this new found friendship? Well that just might be another type of “SECRET KNOWLEDGE”.
Secret Knowledge Curses explained:
Left side of face: Droopy eye, with a droopy eye you cannot see clearly = Darcy not seeing the
Jane/Bingley situation clearly
Rash, doing something rash is doing something quick without much thought= Darcy
making a rash (quick) observation of Jane to inform Bingley of his thoughts
Right side of face: 4 boils = things Wickham did that caused Darcy’s blood to boil
#1 Wickham was a reprobate in college
#2 Wickham wasted the 3,000 pounds
#3 Wickham whined about not getting the living after settling for money instead
#4 Wickham attempted to elope with Georgianna
Nose: Wart, a blemish with deep roots =Darcy making a comment about Elizabeth’s appearance that had
deep roots into how she perceived Mr. Darcy
At a weigh station, on their return to London, the Netherfield party had stopped to change horses. Mr. Darcy, wanting to stretch his legs, decided to stroll around the station as the horses were being changed out. Mr. Darcy was preoccupied with thinking over his recent discussion with Elizabeth Bennet at the Netherfield ball and inadvertently ignored an old woman begging for assistance. As he walked by her for a second time the old woman jumped out in front of him and cursed him with a hex. She had said that the “secret knowledge” of how someone, who was closest to his heart, perceived him would now be worn on his face for all to see. Darcy dismissed this pronouncement immediately and joined his party for the carriage ride to London.
The very next morning when Fitzwilliam Darcy arose he felt different. Upon looking at his reflection in a mirror he could not believe what he saw. His left eye was extremely droopy and his left cheek was covered with a bumpy red rash. The right side of his face housed four large boils and the tip of his nose displayed a fairly large wart. After consulting several doctors, who could not come up with a cure, Darcy decided to hide from everyone.
Darcy’s loyal valet alerted Mrs. Reynolds, Darcy’s housekeeper at his estate, to their master’s distress. Mrs. Reynolds along with his sister, Georgianna Darcy, soon arrived in London. They had been there for about two months and still nothing had changed.
At about this time Elizabeth Bennet was becoming furious with Mr. Darcy. Her sister, Jane, was staying in London with their aunt and uncle. In London, Jane had visited Mr. Bingley’s sisters and they in turn had returned the call a few weeks later. Jane still had not heard from Mr. Bingley himself and was heartbroken. Miss Bingley had hinted strongly that there soon would be a union between Mr. Bingley and Miss Darcy. Elizabeth had thusly put together in her mind that Mr. Darcy was at the root of this plan, to have Mr. Bingley marry Miss Darcy and the amiable Mr. Bingley was just doing his friend’s bidding. Elizabeth thought that Jane’s unhappiness was a direct result of Mr. Darcy’s machinations.
Elizabeth decided that she would take matters into her own hands. She traveled from her home in Hertfordshire, by post, to London and immediately showed up at Mr. Darcy’s town house. When she knocked at the door the butler told her that Mr. Darcy was not accepting visitors. Elizabeth pleaded and then demanded that she see him. Georgianna happened to be downstairs and heard the commotion. She remembered that Fitzwilliam had written about an Elizabeth Bennet in his letters. She quickly walked up to the butler and asked him to show Miss Bennet in. Both ladies set off to the drawing room.
“Miss Bennet, I am Georgianna Darcy, Mr. Darcy’s sister.” Georgianna started as an introduction. “My brother had mentioned you in some of his letters. It is nice to make your acquaintance.”
“I am pleased to meet you too Miss Darcy. Thank you for letting me in. I am here to see your brother on urgent business. May I see him, please?”
“Miss Bennet, please know that my brother is not currently seeing anyone. However I think it may be beneficial for him to see you. Therefore I must forewarn you that my brother is suffering from a misfortunate disorder that is causing a severe disfigurement in his appearance. I am not sure that you would really want to subject yourself to this type of tenuous situation. It may cause you a great deal of discomfort”, warned a concerned Georgianna.
“Miss Darcy, please know that my courage will always rise to any challenge and that I will be fine in this instance”, Elizabeth declared.
“As you wish, Miss Bennet, please follow me to my brother’s study”, Georgianna replied.
Georgianna and Elizabeth entered Darcy’s study. When Darcy looked up and noticed Miss Bennet, he winced. He knew he looked ugly and disfigured which caused him to be terribly embarrassed in front of her. However not one to be cowed, he straightened up in his seat and looked at Elizabeth.
“Good morning, Miss Elizabeth”, stated Darcy. “How may I be of assistance to you?”
Elizabeth held in the gasp she felt in her throat. Here sat the mighty, prideful and fastidious Mr. Darcy looking, well, rather hideous. Elizabeth replied, “I am here to discuss my sister Jane with you.”
“Miss Jane Bennet?” Darcy replied rather perplexed. “What do you think I have to do with your sister, with Miss Jane Bennet?”
Elizabeth boldly marched on with her accusations. She told of Jane’s fondness and love for Mr. Bingley and of her broken heart at Bingley’s sudden disappearance. Elizabeth then accused Mr. Darcy of being the mastermind behind keeping her precious sister and Mr. Bingley apart so that he could have Mr. Bingley marry Miss Darcy. She laid the blame squarely at his feet for keeping Bingley separated from Jane.
Darcy looked at Elizabeth incredulously. “Whatever gave you these ideas?” He said gravely. “I have not seen Bingley since arriving in town. I have no idea why you would think that Bingley and Georgianna would be betrothed. That is certainly not the case and as far as I can control it, it will never be the case.”
Elizabeth then told Mr. Darcy about the information that Jane had received from Miss Bingley which strongly hinted at a match between Miss Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth looked downcast. She had thought she had the upper hand to smack Darcy down and now she began to figure out that she had no hand at all. Then Mr. Darcy did something that surprised her.
“Miss Elizabeth,” he said breaking her out of her reverie. “Bingley did ask me if I thought Miss Bennet showed him any special feelings. I did tell him that I thought she treated him the same as she treated everyone else. However in light of your recent declarations I can see that I was mistaken. If you will give me your uncle’s address I will write Bingley a note today, informing him of your sister’s presence in London and my mistake in telling him that she did not have a preference for him. Then it will be up to Mr. Bingley to digest this information and decide how to act.”
Elizabeth whispered, “Thank you.” She jotted down her uncle’s address and then slowly left the room. She was then escorted out of the town house by the butler who had Mr. Darcy’s carriage brought around, at Mr. Darcy’s request, to bring her to her uncle’s home in London.
Mrs. Gardiner, Elizabeth’s aunt, and Jane were surprised and excited to see Elizabeth when she arrived at her aunt and uncle’s home. Elizabeth somewhat deceptively explained that her sudden trip to visit them was based on her severely missing her sister and made no mention of her prior visit to the Darcy town house in London.
Two hours after her arrival at her aunt and uncle’s home Mr. Bingley arrived. He let them know that he had no knowledge of Miss Bennet’s presence in London and was very happy to receive a note from Mr. Darcy informing him of this fact.
Mrs. Gardiner and Jane both briefly wondered how Mr. Darcy would be aware of Jane being in London however the general bright and cheery tone of the visit soon took over and most of their attention was fixed on the very amiable Mr. Bingley. The “how” of how he ended up at their door was erased from their thoughts. Mr. Bingley was very attentive to Jane and asked to call again the following day and was given a positive response.
Elizabeth was elated. It seemed Jane was very much improved in her mood. Mr. Bingley and Jane seemed meant for each other. Elizabeth’s heart was full. She determined that she would go to see Mr. Darcy on the morrow to thank him.
The next morning, Elizabeth asked Mrs. Gardiner for the use of the carriage to see her friend, Miss Darcy. Mrs. Gardiner agreed and Elizabeth was off to the Darcy town house. Elizabeth was granted entrance and Georgianna Darcy met up with her in the drawing room. Elizabeth explained that she needed to see Mr. Darcy to thank him. Georgianna ushered Elizabeth into Mr. Darcy’s study and then took her leave, which left Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth alone.
“Miss Elizabeth”, Darcy stated. “I see...” That was all he got out of his mouth before Elizabeth audibly gasped. “Mr. Darcy, your face!” Cried Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been looking at the left side of Fitzwilliam Darcy’s face. Gone was the droopy eye and his dark piercing handsome eye had returned. The rash was gone and his smooth skin with a small dimple was back. Elizabeth continued, “Please excuse my outburst, sir. I am only a bit surprised and very glad that your condition is improving. I actually came here today to thank you for your note to Mr. Bingley and to let you know how sorry I am that I unjustly accused you.”
“Miss Elizabeth, are there any other misunderstandings between us?” Darcy opined. “Can you please tell me if there are other injustices you perceive that I have inflicted upon you or others that you care for?”
Elizabeth then noticed that the right side of Darcy’s face still sported the boils and his nose still had the wart. “I presume you are talking about your injustice delivered to your childhood friend Mr. Wickham?” Elizabeth replied.
“Wickham?!” Darcy belted. He then went on to tell Elizabeth of the total of his relationship with Mr. George Wickham. How George was the son of his father’s steward. How Darcy’s father paid for George’s schooling at Cambridge. How George was a reprobate. How when Mr. Darcy’s father had died that George came to him requesting 3,000 pounds in exchange for the living that Mr. Darcy senior had bequeathed to him in his will. How Wickham had spent the 3,000 pounds in two years then reapplied to Darcy to attain the living. How Darcy justifiably refused. He then explained how Wickham ultimately plotted an elopement with Georgina, who was only 15 at the time, to exact revenge on Darcy and to also gain her dowry of 30,000 pounds.
Elizabeth, who prided herself on sketching people’s characters, was beside herself. How had she gotten things so wrong? Mr. Wickham was not the innocent that he portrayed himself to be and Mr. Darcy was not the villain that she so easily believed him to be. Elizabeth thought that until now she had not really known herself. Filled with remorse, Elizabeth asked Mr. Darcy, “Can you ever forgive me for the horrible assumptions and judgement that I have made concerning your character regarding Mr. Wickham?”
Mr. Darcy replied that he would and immediately the four boils on the right side of his face disappeared.
Elizabeth gasped again and then cried, “Mr. Darcy, your face!”
Fitzwilliam Darcy felt his face and discovered that the boils were gone. However the wart remained. He then addressed Elizabeth Bennet, “Miss Elizabeth, it seems you may have another grievance against me.”
“Well, I er.. well that is you did insult me upon our first meeting.” Elizabeth let the words stumble out. “I am afraid that when you stated that I was tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt you that it wounded my pride and I have been looking for ways to paint you as a prideful, arrogant miscreant ever since.”
Mr. Darcy looked visibly upset. “Miss Elizabeth, please know that I said those words only because I did not wish to dance. Bingley was insisting on it, so I said the first thing off the top of my head to silence him. I heartily regret my words, and I beg you to forgive me.” Darcy pleaded.
Upon some reflection, Elizabeth realized that her dislike of Mr. Darcy was linked to her wounded pride. She was just as guilty of being prideful as she had been accusing Darcy of being. “I do accept your apology, Mr. Darcy, however only if you accept mine for judging you so harshly.” Elizabeth replied.
It did not take long after that apology for the large wart on Darcy’s nose to vanish. Darcy and Elizabeth agreed to start over as friends. To celebrate their new friendship Mr. Darcy invited Elizabeth, Jane, Mr. and Mr. Gardiner, and Mr. Bingley to join Georgianna and himself for dinner on Thursday night. What would come of this new found friendship? Well that just might be another type of “SECRET KNOWLEDGE”.
Secret Knowledge Curses explained:
Left side of face: Droopy eye, with a droopy eye you cannot see clearly = Darcy not seeing the
Jane/Bingley situation clearly
Rash, doing something rash is doing something quick without much thought= Darcy
making a rash (quick) observation of Jane to inform Bingley of his thoughts
Right side of face: 4 boils = things Wickham did that caused Darcy’s blood to boil
#1 Wickham was a reprobate in college
#2 Wickham wasted the 3,000 pounds
#3 Wickham whined about not getting the living after settling for money instead
#4 Wickham attempted to elope with Georgianna
Nose: Wart, a blemish with deep roots =Darcy making a comment about Elizabeth’s appearance that had
deep roots into how she perceived Mr. Darcy