The Inner Thoughts and Wishes of Mr. Darcy (JaOctGoHoNo)

The Inner Thoughts and Wishes of Mr. Darcy (JaOctGoHoNo)

Blurb: Fitzwilliam Darcy is newly married and wishes that his mother was alive to meet his new wife.

Fitzwilliam Darcy had two wishes. One, that his mother was still alive so that she could meet his wife of four months. He also wondered what she would have thought about the “job” he had done in raising Georgianna. Hopefully she would be proud of her only son and his choice of a wife and of the efforts he expended in bringing up Georgianna. His second wish was to marry someone who had the same qualities and character that he had admired in his own mother. He had no qualms about his current life as he was quite happy and satisfied with his choice of a wife and the unexpected excitement and soothing tranquility that she brought to him, his sister and even to Pemberley at large.

However, things were going to change as soon as the post arrived. Darcy received a letter from George Wickham, of all people. Wickham was his brother-in-law as he was married to Lydia Bennet, Darcy’s wife’s sister. Wickham and Darcy had a turbulent past, but for the last few months things had been going well between them, mostly because Wickham had been transferred to Newcastle and was out of the area.

Darcy opened the letter from George Wickham and read: “Will, do not be alarmed at receiving this letter. I am NOT requesting funds or imposing on you in any manner. I received a letter from Switzerland. It was addressed to my father, but since he has passed away it was forwarded to me. It mostly concerns your family, so I am enclosing it in this envelope for you.”

Darcy stared at the letter from Switzerland. He could not imagine what it contained. Upon reading it, he was shocked. Utterly and completely. The letter was from a Dr. Weiss who was working at a sanatorium in Bern. The Doctor relayed that Fitzwilliam’s father, Peter Darcy, had sent his mother, Lady Anne Darcy, to the sanatorium after she had had suffered a mental breakdown sixteen years ago. Currently the funds needed for her upkeep were depleted so Dr. Weiss was shipping Lady Anne back to England. She was sailing on the ship, The Flying Squirrel, which was also carrying a shipment of chestnuts and was due in London in just three days.

Fitzwilliam was aghast at this news. How could it be? He had seen with his own eyes his mother’s casket lowered into the ground. He decided to question Mrs. Reynolds as she had been the housekeeper at the time of Lady Anne’s burial.

After showing Mrs. Reynolds the letter from Dr. Weiss, Mrs. Reynolds told Fitzwilliam the following: Shortly after Georgianna was born and Fitzwilliam was at boarding school, Lady Anne suffered an episode where she tried to drown baby Georgianna. Mrs. Reynolds happened to be looking for Lady Anne and came upon the incident and was able to snatch Georgianna up and save her life. Lady Anne crumpled into a ball and was inconsolable. She could not stop sobbing. She had a crazy look in her eyes and was ranting about not being able to finish the job at hand. Mr. Darcy senior took his steward, Mr. James Wickham, into his confidence. Only three people knew of the incident, Mr. Peter Darcy, Mr. James Wickham, and Mrs. Reynolds. Together they reasoned that he should send Lady Anne away, to protect his children and the Darcy name. Mr. Peter Darcy decided to tell everyone that Lady Anne had died so that Georgianna and Fitzwilliam would not be tainted by association of having an insane, unstable, murderous parent. As Georgianna was so young and Fitzwilliam was away at school at the time of the incident no one was the wiser that she was not dead. At the time, Mr. Wickham whisked Lady Anne off immediately to Switzerland and Mr. Darcy insisted on a closed casket burial. Payments to the sanatorium in Bern Switzerland were paid for by Mr. Darcy senior during his lifetime. Before he died, he gave a large sum of money to Mr. James Wickham to continue to pay for Lady Anne’s treatment. When Mr. Wickham was in declining health, he sent a substantial amount of money to the sanatorium for the upkeep of Lady Anne. But evidently now the money had run out and the sanatorium was returning her to England and to the Darcy family.

Fitzwilliam had three days to get to London to retrieve his mother who up until this moment he had thought was dead. Fitzwilliam Darcy decided not to reveal what was in the letter to his sister and his wife lest things did not go well. He hurriedly left Pemberley to attend to urgent business that was really the retrieval of his mother. He was ecstatic at the thought of having his precious mother with him again. Yet he was also apprehensive. The mother that he had remembered could not have tried to drown Georgianna. He really was confused. Upon Lady Anne’s supposed demise, he had elevated her goodness to a near perfection status. His memory of his mother did not square with the weak, unstable person that Mrs. Reynolds described.


After picking his mother up from the ship, The Flying Squirrel, and procuring a barrel of chestnuts for consumption at Pemberley, they stayed at the Darcy townhouse in London for two days. Mr. Darcy told the staff that his mother was a distant aunt who would be accompanying him to Pemberley. They then rode in the comfortable Darcy carriage to Pemberley.

Fitzwilliam was disillusioned with his mother as she was super critical. When he told her that he had recently married she did not approve of his choice of a wife. Some of her comments were, “What? Just a gentleman’s daughter, not from a prestigious family that could have advanced your connections? You should have married a duchess or a least a Lady. You would have been better off marrying your cousin Anne!”

After meeting with Georgianna at Pemberley his mother was critical of the job he did in his upbringing of Georgianna. These comments included, “She is such a wallflower, so quiet and shy! How will she garner the favor of a peer of the realm? You should have sent her away to further her education at a seminary! You should have spent more time preparing her for her coming out!”

When Lady Anne finally met the new Mrs. Darcy, she was incensed! Darcy had married a common person, an unknown Bennet, no less. While his wife was pretty and graceful, she had nothing; no wealth, status, or titles to recommend herself. Plus, this upstart was wearing Lady Anne’s jewelry and had moved into the mistress’ rooms at Pemberley. This was not to be borne! This woman was polluting the very halls of Pemberley. Lady Anne opined, “Fitzwilliam you are a great disappointment to us all!” These words echoed in his head. He did not know what to do.

Darcy was so discouraged that he hung his head and balled his fists. He told his mother that he was quite happy with his life and choices. However, he needed to escape so he left the room and went into his study and locked the door. He sat down at his desk and held his head in his hands and sobbed. What had he done? He was attracted to his wife mostly because she reminded him of his dear departed mother. His wife was beautiful, caring, and had a calming effect on him. These were the important things that he had remembered about Lady Anne. But now he thought that maybe he had just made these things up in his own mind about his mother. He was at a loss of how to proceed.

As he sat at his desk, he heard a tap at the door. When he opened it, he found his beautiful, caring wife on the other side. She came in and comforted him by encircling him with her arms. His wife, Jane Darcy, was all that was beautiful, caring, and sincere. No, she was nothing like Lady Anne.

Two weeks later, Darcy was walking out on the grounds of Pemberley. He was contemplating, “having read somewhere, in some strange book, that when the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers." As he continued thinking he realized that it was certainly true about wishing that his mother was alive; having her here certainly felt like a punishment. However, his other wish to marry someone like his mother, thankfully, had not been answered! He then spied Jane off in the distance with what looked like a bucket of water. He noticed she also held a piece of grayish material in her hands. As he got closer, he looked in shock and was horrified as he began to comprehend that Jane was indeed drowning a kitten.