Page 43 of The Slipper Scandal
He looked over his shoulder and stopped when he saw her approaching.
His aunt placed her hand on his arm. "I am pleased to see this side of you. This passion. It suits you better than your usual reserve."
"I am not passionate, Aunt," he protested.
"No?" She smiled knowingly. "I do not believe I have heard you speak so long on any subject save perhaps the improvements at Pemberley."
Lord Matlock laughed outright. "She has you there."
Darcy felt heat rise to his face yet again, but before he could respond, his aunt continued.
"The salon is Friday at two. Be here with your betrothed and the Abernathys at one. Do not be late."
"We shall be punctual," he promised, bowing once more before taking his leave.
As they walked through the corridor, his uncle spoke quietly. “You are different these past months, Darcy. Has it anything to do with your great-uncle?”
Darcy sighed. “I suppose it does. As you know, he was the last Darcy male.”
“The last except for you. Are you feeling the burden of carrying on the family name?”
He shrugged. “I suppose that is part of it.” He paused. “But more than that, I see how my great-uncle lived his life. He was entirely alone at the end, surrounded by significant wealth, yet what good did any of it do him? He had no one to share his joys with, no one to comfort him in his sorrows.”
He was silent for a moment, and his uncle simply waited. “All that money,” he said at last. “All that careful preservation of the Darcy legacy, and what was it for? So he could hand his fortune to me, a man he did not even wish to know?"
His uncle nodded encouragingly.
"I find myself wondering," Darcy said, his voice growing more earnest, "what is the point of preserving a name if there is no happiness attached to it? What good is a fortune if it brings no joy to oneself or others? My great-uncle was so concerned with maintaining his position, with accumulating wealth, thathe forgot to take pleasure in living. I do not wish to follow that path."
"And what path would you choose instead?"
"One where the Darcy name means something more than just wealth and power. Where it represents benevolence, philanthropy. I would rather be the Darcy who brought happiness to those around him than the one who merely hoarded gold for the next generation to inherit."
His uncle smiled, a rare, genuine expression. "Your great-uncle would have called such talk foolish."
"Perhaps," Darcy replied. "But in the end his wisdom purchased him only loneliness."
“And is part of this foolishness your insistence on marrying Miss Bennet?”
“No,” Darcy said stoutly. “Offering for her is perhaps the wisest thing I have ever done.”
Lord Matlock clapped a hand on Darcy's shoulder. "Take heart, my boy. This match may not be what any of us expected, but if the lady has even half the spirit you say she does, your aunt will like her. And she is at least a close friend of the Abernathys, who are generally well regarded. You could do far worse."
"Thank you, Uncle," Darcy replied, touched by the simple acceptance.
"Besides," Lord Matlock added with a wink, "it will do the ton good to have their expectations upset now and then. Keeps everyone on their toes."
"A public service, then?" Darcy asked wryly.
"Precisely!" His uncle laughed, then leaned towards Darcy conspiratorially. "Now, tell me honestly. Is she as pretty as Helena suspects?”
His voice softened. "Yes.”
"Ah." Lord Matlock nodded knowingly. "That bad, is it?"
Darcy lifted his head. "I did not say—"
“I recognize the symptoms, having experienced them myself some thirty years ago,” the earl said with a crooked smile that reminded Darcy of Fitzwilliam. “It is not something a man forgets."
