A Wife for Mr. Darcy

betraying your Devereaux ancestors by marrying someone who is so far beneath your station in life.”
    “Those are not the words I would have used, but, yes, that is the question. There are damn few of us left. Only a handful of families are more than half Norman, but I am also the grandson of an earl. How would such a marriage affect Georgiana’s prospects?”
    “You want my advice? Well, here is what I have to say: ‘bol-locks.’ Bollocks to the whole bloody nonsense. My commanding officer is the youngest son of a duke, and he could not find his own arse with a map. But because of who his father is, I must take orders from him even though he might possibly get my men killed. And look at my brother, Antony, Lord Fitzwilliam, who has not been in his wife’s bed in a decade despite the lack of an heir. Both are pedigreed. The only problem is, they can’t stand each other.
    “Will, you know better than I do that the world is changing. We have rich merchants with chests full of coin, and dukes and earls with little money, and because of this, great changes are happening right under our noses. Sons and grandsons of earls are marrying the daughters of merchants, and that is the way of the future. You are uncomfortable with a possible alliance with a family not of your rank because you are in the vanguard. But be brave. Your children, no matter who the mother, will have to face even greater changes.”
    “Before I met Charles Bingley,” Darcy said, “I had reservations about what you just described or what Sir John Montford calls ‘the upward migration of the servile class which threatens England as much as the French.’ However, that is not my main concern. What about Miss Montford?”
    “I gather you feel committed to her because you spent so much time in her company during the season, and because of that, there are expectations?”
    Richard walked over to the window and looked out into the street. He had no good news for his cousin, as he had heard Sir John Montford speaking of Darcy at White’s, the conservative Tory men’s club, of which he was a member. As an officer in the King’s army, it would not do to tweak the nose of his monarch, as Darcy did every time he dined at Brook’s, the liberal Whig’s men’s club.
    “What did Sir John say?” Darcy asked.
    “‘Darcy. Damn good sort,’” Richard said, lowering his voice in imitation of Sir John. “‘Terrible politics, but a capital fellow. He will make someone a fine husband,’ and then he winked at his company.”
    “Oh, God,” Darcy groaned. “Well, there you have it. Unless something totally unforeseen takes place, you will shortly be wishing me joy,” and he handed his cousin an empty glass.

    After a somber dinner at Brook’s, the two returned to the townhouse. For fear of being overheard, nothing had been said at the club, but over a glass of port, Richard asked his cousin the one question that had remained unanswered. Was Miss Elizabeth in love with him ?
    “I don’t know,” and after puzzling over it in his mind, he repeated that he did not know if she felt as he did. “You know how it is during the season. You start a flirtation, and it begins a progression. If all goes well, it will end up at the altar. I never had that with Elizabeth. Oh, there was a flirtation, but without the prospect of marriage looming in the background, it was very different. We actually had real conversations because of the lack of tension.
    “Elizabeth is intelligent, charming, and perceptive. It is a pleasure to be in her company and not to be subjected to the mundane conversation that is the diet of the London salons. Richard, I cannot live on puffed-up pastries. I need meat on my plate,” and looking at his cousin, he concluded, “Elizabeth challenges me. She is my equal in all things but rank.”
    “Will, I can see you are troubled, but from all you have said, I do not think you have injured Miss Elizabeth. She sounds as if she is a sensible woman who recognizes that her position is inferior to yours, making marriage unlikely.”
    “I hope you are right, Richard, because it would be a dark day for me if I believed she thought I had been trifling with her affections.”
    But after his cousin had retired, Darcy went over everything that had happened between Elizabeth and him. He wondered if, in his need to be near Elizabeth, he had hurt her, and if that were the case, he would hurt her no more.

While Lizzy was packing for her holiday to