Anghraine

I reblogged this post and added:

First part of the rough draft—

I.

At least, Lady Georgiana thought, Darcy had the mettle to write to her himself.

The letter came as only a moderate surprise; his mother’s sister, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, had written earlier, warning her of what was to befall them. All their plans for Darcy were overthrown. He had set himself upon marrying the daughter of a very minor gentleman with connections in trade. Nothing like Carrington’s situation, Lady Catherine hastened to assure her; the girl had no fortune, no better connections, nothing to soften the disappointment attending the alliance.

“Disappointment” was not Lady Catherine’s word. But then, she never had more than a passing acquaintance with decorum. Lady Georgiana suspected that Lady Catherine had only just restrained herself from observing that Darcy did not need to bring a monumental fortune into the family through marriage, the way that Lady Georgiana’s great-nephew had done. Even Anne de Bourgh’s fortune would not have done for Carrington; but it would do very well indeed for Darcy.

Or so they had all thought.

True, Lady Georgiana did not quite believe Lady Catherine’s note when she first received it. The woman could be fanciful in odd—very odd—ways, and was not overburdened with understanding. But a letter from Darcy shortly followed his aunt’s.

Lady Georgiana read it several times, though it was brief, for him. Lady Catherine had not invented the whole thing, after all. Perhaps not any of it, for while he mentioned no relations in trade, he mentioned no other connections, either—only that the young lady was daughter to a gentleman living near his friend Bingley’s estate. And Lady Catherine, whatever her faults, had never been prone to falsehood; likely this girl really was the niece of some London merchant.

Lady Georgiana would not term such an alliance a disgrace, as Lady Catherine had; a gentleman’s daughter was a gentleman’s daughter. But certainly, Lady Georgiana's grandson could have done better for himself—very much better, even had he no connections at all. And the Darcys almost always took care to marry with an eye to connections, as his father had done with Lady Anne, and his grandfather with Lady Georgiana herself.

She was Lady Georgiana Carteret, formerly Lady Georgiana Darcy, formerly Lady Georgiana Howard, daughter, sister and, presently, aunt to Dukes of Holdernesse. In her youth, and indeed long after it, her family could not spare the money for dowries worth speaking of. Instead, they arranged for her to marry Alexander Darcy of Pemberley, attracted more by his unencumbered estates than anything else. He died young, and Lady Georgiana married again not long thereafter—but, contrary to what might be expected, she was fonder of her son and two grandchildren by Alexander than the descendants of her marriage of choice.

She placed the two letters side-by-side on her writing table and studied them, unable to avoid observing the far greater courtesy of Darcy’s note. Who were the Fitzwilliams, after all? Rich and influential, to be sure—but nowhere near as ancient or respectable a family as the Howards or Darcys. They would not decide her actions, however much she hoped they would not share Lady Catherine’s insensible fury, for Darcy’s sake.

There must be no public disruption of ties, Lady Georgiana decided, and she felt ill-inclined to a private one. Darcy was her grandson, the only son of her only son, and a grandson who had always treated her with the respect and polite affection she considered her due. She, Lady Georgiana, would see what could be made of this girl; for now, she contented herself with responding to the letters.

To Lady Catherine, she replied with several pages of nothings. It was a fine art she had long since mastered.

To Darcy, she wrote, I wish you joy.