The Resolute Suitor: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

by Don Miller

  “Let me say one final thing,” said Georgiana. “I am sure you know, Mary, Richard is one of England’s finest men and he and my brother are as close as brothers. Nobody in our family is as close to Will as Richard, except possibly me. You would see a lot of Lizzie if you were to marry Richard.”

  “I thank all of you for your advice, but at this point it is all speculation. We are still in full mourning, so he should not ask to court me and we have no type of understanding. I like him very much and I think he likes me, but I have no reason to believe he wishes to consider me as a possible wife. So please, let us speak no more of this unless something happens in the future that changes the situation.”

  After Elizabeth and Mary were safely delivered to the Gardiner’s house, Darcy, Georgiana, and Kitty returned to Darcy House. As they were riding back, Kitty could not help but ask, “Mr. Darcy, do you think Col. Fitzwilliam would consider Mary? She has changed so much in the last few months I hardly recognize her as my sister. Ever since the fire, I have realized she has seemed far more mature and kind. Lydia and I used to make fun of her and thought she was very strange, but now she is someone I admire. I do not think I could ever do the things she has done with my little cousins and what she has done at Hope Home. I think she deserves someone like Col. Fitzwilliam and I hope he does marry her.”

  “I have always imagined Richard marrying some older, rich lady,” said Georgiana. “But I think he might be happier with someone like Mary. It’s still hard for me to imagine he would choose someone so much younger than him, but I think I would be happy if he wanted to marry her. How about you, Will?”

  “Georgie, my wish for Richard is that he be happy. If he thinks Mary will make him happy and Elizabeth thinks they could be happy together, I would not object. Nine months ago I would have said she was completely unsuitable for him, but as you say Kitty, the Mary we saw tonight is a Mary that I do not know and I must admit, my first impression of this new Mary has been very positive. I suspect in the end, if he decides he wants to marry her, I will be happy for him.”

  Chapter 28: Lunch at the Gardiners

  At 10:45 AM on August 6, 1810 the Col. Richard Fitzwilliam was touched on the shoulders with a sword in the hand of the Prince of Wales, standing in for his father, the king, and Col. Fitzwilliam became Col. Sir Richard Fitzwilliam, a knight of the realm. That evening a party was held at Matlock House to honor his elevation to knighthood. Lord and Lady Matlock had invited just about everyone they knew, including some who were wealthy members of the merchant class, as well as persons they would probably not have invited if Richard had not insisted upon it. These included fellow officers and a few members of the merchant class with whom he had often interacted over his years as an army officer. Invitees were told they could come at any time between 6 PM and 11 PM and there would be food, drinks, and dancing in abundance.

  Richard had anticipated that most of the invitees would not come, but would just send a note giving their congratulations. He was wrong. People were streaming in and out of the house all night, and he was almost overwhelmed with the number of people who wanted to personally congratulate him. He was also surprised by the number of mothers who were there introducing their eligible daughters to him. It seemed he had suddenly become a much more desirable catch for their daughters than he had been before his elevation to knighthood. He spent much of the night comparing the young women he met to Mary and wishing she were there with him. But then he realized he would have had very little time to spend with her, because he was occupied most of the night with meeting and greeting people. By the end of the night, he had danced only once. He thrilled Georgiana by choosing her for the first dance, after receiving Darcy’s approval to do so. Although he was grateful for all the attention and well-wishes he had received, by the end of the night, he was more than ready for it to end and was looking forward to going to the Gardiner’s the following day for lunch with Darcy, Georgiana, and Kitty.

  

  Richard did not sleep well that night. He dreaded going to sleep because of the terrible nightmares he often had and that worry was exacerbated by the fact he had decided last night during the party that none of the young women he had met the evening before or those he had considered in the past compared well with Mary—at least not for him. He was 33 years old, almost 34, and had never even had a serious affair with a woman. He had had affairs with many women, but in no case had he ever considered the woman with whom he was having an affair a possible mate for life. Yet here was Mary, who was only 18 years old and very inexperienced, and for some unexplained reason she seemed perfect for him. He was drawn to her in a manner he had never been drawn to another woman. Could she be the right woman for him? Perhaps more important, could he be the husband she deserved. His nightmares and periods of depression had grown worse. He knew, if for some reason he had to return to the front lines and all the killing again, he might never recover. His parents and Darcy knew about his problems, but they were unaware of the true depth of his problems. Could he impose those problems on someone as young and gentle as Mary? He felt, if there was a woman who could understand him and maybe help him, it was Mary, but the question was, could anyone help him? He was not looking forward to telling her about his problem, but it had to be done before his relationship with her could go any further.

  When he went down to breakfast in the morning, he had slept no more than a couple of hours. He hoped he did not look as haggard as he felt. He would soon know, for when he entered the dining room for breakfast, his father, mother, and sister were all there.

  “Good morning, Sir Richard,” said his sister. “Are you feeling very regal today?”

  “No. I am feeling rather tired. I did not sleep well. My mind was occupied with all the happenings of yesterday.”

  Lady Matlock looked very concerned, but with Alicia in the room, she did not want to ask him if he had one of his bad nightmares. “I hope your sleep was not too troubled, Richard. Were you thinking about last night?”

  “No, to tell the truth, I was thinking about Miss Mary. I cannot explain it, but she is in my thoughts often lately. I have been a bachelor for many, many years and was not sure I would ever marry, and then suddenly I meet this unknown young woman from the country and I am thinking about it. When I am with her, my cares seems to go away, but when I am not, they all seem to get bigger than they really are. She seems to have a knack for saying the right things to me. I was comparing all the young women I met last night to Mary and despite being pretty or wealthy or well-connected, I found them lacking. I very much wished she were there with me last night.”

  “Oh my,” exclaimed Lord Matlock, “I did not know you were so attached to her.”

  “I must admit, I have thinking about asking her for a courtship, but you know there are issues I must discuss with her and I fear what her response will be. To have suddenly found what I want in such an unexpected person when I was not truly looking has me feeling like a twenty year old in my anticipation.

  Alicia looked at him quizzically. “What issues?”

  Richard hesitated, wondering what he should tell her. He decided to give her generalities that would not reveal the depth of his problems. “Just some of the issues of mind and body I have been dealing with the last few years: the potential health problems some of my wounds could cause in the future, and the difficulty I may have in transitioning not only from bachelorhood to married life, but from a combat soldier to a staff officer or even a civilian. I want her to fully understand what she would be getting into.”

  “From my impression of Mary, she will not be deterred by some potential problems. She is, I believe, a very resolute and strong-minded young woman. She is not someone I would have ever thought you would have considered, but as I have gotten to know her, I have become impressed with her. She may be just the kind of woman you need.”

  At that point Capt. Rutherford walked into the dining room. “I assume you are talking about the redoubtable Miss Mary. I do not know if my opinio
n matters to you, Richard, but I have been watching you with her and I think she would be a good choice for you. She is a breath of fresh air. She is one of the humblest young women I think I have ever met; yet underneath it all, I think she has much of her sister Elizabeth’s fire and determination. I look forward to getting to know her better. And from what I heard from her uncle, she will be a first class mother. He could not say enough about how well she has handled his children.”

  “Thank you for your endorsement, Rutherford. Of course it counts. But I have not yet heard from you, mother. What is your opinion?”

  “Richard, I have seen how you have favored her and have come to recognize she may be a good choice for you. She is quite attractive, sensible, intelligent, and has a reasonable dowry. I was certainly impressed with the way she stepped onto the scene at Hope Home and came up with some very insightful ideas on how to improve the home in a very short time. And I understand she has done wonders with the Gardiner’s children. Also, she is Elizabeth’s sister. I imagine, if you marry her, the bond between you and Darcy will become even stronger. I would not try to dissuade you if you chose to court her.”

  Looking at Lord Matlock, Richard asked, “And how about you, father? Do you have any objections?”

  “No. I agree with your mother. The better I know her, the more impressed I am with her. She has my endorsement.”

  “Thank you. Darcy and I going to the Gardiner’s for lunch today, and I want to talk with Mary about an eventual courtship. I know she will not let us begin a courtship until after her full mourning is over, but at least we can talk about it.” He chuckled and continued, “The amazing thing to me is that according to Darcy, if I had met her nine months ago, I would not have even given her a second glance. The death of her parents seems to have caused a major transition in her which even Elizabeth cannot explain. Elizabeth says it was as if Mary looked in the mirror at Netherfield, after the courage and quick thinking she showed during the fire at Longbourn, and said to herself, ‘the young girl I have been is not the woman I want to be,’ and she has worked very hard at being the woman she thinks she should be. To me it is a good example of how God works in mysterious ways.”

  Alicia, who was sitting next to him, reached across and put her hand on top his hand. “I believe you are right, Richard. I am certain your issues will not be issues to her. Perhaps just as Elizabeth seems to have been made for Darcy, she was made for you.”

  Lord Matlock shook his head as he considered how Elizabeth and Mary had come into his family’s life. “Darcy said he had little respect for the parental skills of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, but somehow they seem to have raised some exceptional young women. I can hardly wait to see how Miss Catherine and the younger one, whose name I cannot recall, turn out.”

  “It’s Lydia, dear,” said Lady Matlock, “and apparently she has shown unexpected maturity and courage in the way she dealt with her kidnapping by Wickham. As you say, it will be interesting to watch the progress of the younger ones as they mature.”

  Shortly before noon Richard and Darcy arrived at the house on Gracechurch Street and were met in the foyer by their ladies. Darcy and Elizabeth exchanged a quick kiss, much to the envy of Richard, who wished he could kiss Mary. They were then shown into the parlor, where the Gardiners and their three children were awaiting them.

  Mr. Gardiner arose and greeted them and said, “I hope you do not mind that the children are here, but they all wanted to meet a real hero of England who had actually been knighted.”

  Richard smiled and said, “It will be my pleasure to be introduced to three such handsome looking young persons.”

  As he was introduced to each child, each gave a proper curtsey or bow, whichever was appropriate, and Richard returned each curtsey and bow with a bow of his own. “Miss Gardiner, Mr. Roger, Miss LizaJane, I am happy to meet each of you. I hope we can see more of each other in the future.” After the introductions, the children were allowed to ask a few questions of him about being a knight, including whether he had a horse and armor like a real knight, and then they were taken upstairs by Mary, where they would get their lunch and play under the watchful eye of the nursemaid.

  “Now, while Mary is gone for a little while, Sir Richard, would you mind stepping into my office with me for a short time? As her guardian, I have some questions I need to ask you.”

  Once they were seated, Mr. Gardiner said, “Sir Richard, we are pleased at the interest you have shown in our ward, but I have to ask what your intentions are with her. I love and respect my niece very much, but I would not have guessed a man of your status and fame would be interested in her. She is not of the first circles. She certainly is not rich; she is not socially adept; and she has never shown much interest in the ton. Darcy told me he told you that had you met her nine months ago, she would have been of no interest to you at all, and I fully believe that. Therefore I am sure you can see why I have some concern that your interest may not be……what can I say? Well-founded perhaps.”

  Richard hesitated before he replied, thinking of his conversation with his family that morning. “I fully appreciate and respect your concern, Mr. Gardiner. I am 15 years older than she is and have been a bachelor for a long time. But I assure you I have been looking for an appropriate woman for all of that time. Unlike Darcy I did not really know exactly what I wanted, but I knew what I did not want and all of the women I have met over the past years I placed in that latter category. That I have developed such an attachment to Miss Mary has surprised me as much as it has you. If you are worried that Darcy’s engagement to Elizabeth and Mary’s relationship to her somehow gave me impetus to pursue her, I assure you such was not in my mind when I first met Mary. The meeting was quite coincidental and there was no instant epiphany she was the one, even though I was impressed with her. To tell the truth, my first impression was that she was intelligent, but only passably pretty and somewhat shy. But the more I see of her and talk with her, the more her character grows on me. I find myself looking forward to her company and wishing I was in it when I was not. I have come to realize she is a very level-headed, honest, kind, and humble young woman who is beautiful both inside and out and she is as unique as her sister Elizabeth, but in her own way and in a way entirely suited to what I think I need. But before I ask anything of her, I need to talk to her about my feelings and tell her some things about me she needs to know before she can make any decision about our future relationship. In fact, I hope to be able to talk with her this afternoon after lunch. If she is not deterred by what I tell her, I intend to ask her for either a courtship or her hand at the end of her full mourning period, depending on how well we come to know each other over the coming weeks. I fully suspect the decision as to whether or when I will propose will be totally in her hands.

  “These things about which you need to talk with her. Are they things I should know about? Might they impact my decision as to whether to accept a request from you to court her or marry her?”

  Richard hesitated. “I have asked myself that question, but have decided they are of a personal nature that should be first discussed with Mary. If she thinks I should tell you, then I will. I will assure you, it is nothing related to my ability to support her or something illegal that I have done or something as disastrous as having a mistress or a child out of wedlock.”

  Mr. Gardiner pursed his lips and touched the fingers of his two hands together in front of his face, as he contemplated Richard and what he had just said. Finally he said, “I will accept what you have said. I must admit that you seem very sincere to me, Sir Richard, and the fact that Darcy thinks so highly of you and assures me your character is of the highest caliber convinces me you are sincere in your attentions to Mary.”

  He stood up and smiled as he extended his hand to Richard. “May I say I hope all goes well and another Bennet daughter may have a happy union in the coming months?”

  Returning his smile, Richard said, “Thank you Mr. Gardiner. I hope that also.”

  When they
rejoined the others, Mary had returned and Mrs. Gardiner told them lunch was ready. The conversation at lunch turned to Lydia, from whom Elizabeth had received a letter the day before. Her letter was exuberant, full of descriptions about learning to ride from Martha and the wonderful sites she had seen, discovering all the nooks and crannies of Pemberley, meeting the staff and learning the various tasks they did every day, and most interestingly, discovering one of the staff members played the mandolin and was teaching her how to play it. She admitted she had also ventured into the library, but Elizabeth had been right, it was far too intimidating to try to explore on her own. She was looking forward to everyone returning so she could show them all she had learned and go riding with her family.

  After lunch it was agreed the two young couples would take a walk in the park, giving Richard a chance to talk with Mary under the watchful eyes of Darcy and Elizabeth, who were delighted to act as chaperones. The two couples walked together for a bit, chatting about the beautiful weather and flowers in bloom, but soon Darcy and Elizabeth sent Richard and Mary ahead, happily slowing their pace until Richard and Mary were out of earshot.

  “What did my uncle want with you, Richard?”

  “Just what you would expect. He wanted to know what my intentions were with respect to you since I am so often seeking your company. He seemed happy with what I told him and wished me well.”

  “Needless to say, I am also very interested in your intentions.”

  “Mary, you have been very kind to me. I have shown you preference beyond what a man is supposed to show a woman with whom he has no understanding and you have not said anything, although I know, at times, you have probably thought my behavior inappropriate. I have been told if I had shown such preference to a woman of the ton, her father and mother would have been demanding satisfaction, and that is probably true. Will you accept my apology and understand these feeling I have for you are very new to me?”