A Wife for Mr. Darcy

Darcy townhouse, he was expecting to get into the Darcy carriage. Instead, the Gardiner carriage awaited. Richard, who lived the life of a soldier, had no problem with the simpler conveyance. But it would be a good deal noisier than Will’s well-sprung, thickly padded carriage, and he wished to speak to his cousin about Miss Montford. With Mercer present, he was unsure of how much he should say. It quickly became a moot point because, despite the noise and bumps, Mercer went to sleep almost immediately.
    “Do not worry about him,” Darcy told his cousin. “There are only two things that will wake him up. One is if you say his name, and the other is if the carriage makes any noise that in his many years of experience in driving a coach sounds wrong to him. He will sit straight up as if a cannon has gone off. It is amazing, but he is able to filter out all other sounds.”
    “Like a man who cannot hear a baby crying.”
    “Exactly. I will provide a demonstration of how quickly he reacts when we get near to the inn. In any event, you may speak freely whether he is awake or not. But if you want to talk to me about Miss Montford, I must tell you I have grown weary of the subject. There is nothing more to be said.”
    “Will, I must speak, as I believe your happiness depends upon it, so let us look at the facts. You have paid Miss Montford only enough notice so that people suspect you are about to embark on a courtship. But even the limited amount of time you have spent in the lady’s company is too much for her, which is why she has encouraged you to go to Pemberley.”
    “Are you saying she does not want me to court her?”
    “Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I think you quite overwhelm her. You two are so different. I wonder what you talk about when you are together.”
    “She likes to speak of the weather and ladies’ apparel, and the opera, but after a half hour, there is nothing more to be said. The last time I called on her, I thought I should turn the conversation in a different direction. Make it a little more interesting. I had just spoken with Mr. Gardiner, Elizabeth’s uncle, about how remarkable it is that our tea and coffee come from such distances.”
    “Did she swoon?” Richard asked, and Darcy rolled his eyes. “You spoke of tea and coffee. That is not exactly the language of love.”
    “I know what the language of love is, and it is nauseating. And that was not the only thing discussed. I also admired her hair and her handiwork that is prominently displayed throughout the house. You cannot look anywhere in the drawing room without having some accomplishment in view. It is like visiting a gallery. But her favorite topic is the weather. On each visit, she has commented on the chilly, foggy mornings, which are followed by afternoons with either sunny, partly cloudy, or cloudy skies with a possibility of rain—or not—followed by cooler temperatures and darkness. This is typical weather for London in late November and has been since this town was known as Londonium under the Romans.”
    “Those are things she has been taught to do and say. The more accomplishments a lady has, the more likely she will marry well, and being so new to society, what do you think she is going to talk about? The debates in Parliament? You are used to discussing such things with Mrs. Conway in her salon.”
    Darcy did not respond to Richard’s comment about Mrs. Conway, his friend as well as his lover. Once he had decided to court Miss Montford, he had to stop visiting her as it would have been inappropriate, but the result was that he was starved for intelligent conversation, as well as other things.
    “You speak of accomplished ladies,” Darcy said. “Recently, I have changed my opinion as to what constitutes an accomplished woman. If Miss Montford played only the pianoforte, I would consider her to be accomplished because she plays brilliantly. She need not do anything else, except one thing. She must read books and newspapers. She must know what is going on in the world in which she lives. I spoke to her of the power of ideas. I gave as an example America and their remarkable experiment with a government with no monarch at its head, but she showed no interest.”
    “You spoke to the daughter of a Tory politician about America, a country who overthrew its king. Will, for God’s sakes, that is something to debate at your club, but it is not something you discuss while courting, which makes my point.