Mr. Darcy's Daughter by Rebecca Ann Collins

of his aunt, Mrs. Fitzwilliam." She pointed to
the much larger picture of a very handsome woman in a large feather-trimmed
hat.
    Cassy
went in search of her father and, finding him in the saloon with her husband,
asked, "Papa, would you come up to the gallery with me? There is a picture
which interests me greatly, and Mama says you would know the subject."
    Richard
chuckled. "This is the mysterious subject that is causing all this
interest, sir."
    Mr.
Darcy looked surprised. Cassy had not shown much interest in the portraits
before, but he could never refuse his daughter anything.
    Laura
Ann and Lizzie had also joined them and the entire party went upstairs and
proceeded to the gallery, where Elizabeth waited in front of the two portraits.
    "Now,
which is it? And why has it caught your attention?" asked Mr. Darcy.
    "It's
the young gentleman in a green coat, Grandpa," said Laura Ann, skip-ping
to his side.
    "Is
that who it is?" Mr. Darcy seemed astonished, having expected to be asked
about one of the more esoteric paintings in his collection.
    When
everyone answered in the affirmative and Laura Ann added, "He looks
exactly like Darcy's friend, Mr. Carr," her grandfather said, in a very
matter-of-fact voice, "Does he? Well, my dears, I am not entirely
surprised, because that was Robert Carr, my Uncle James Fitzwilliam's stable
boy."
    As
a cry of comprehension went up from one and all, he went on, "There is
quite a story to that picture. It was all before my time, but I had it from Mrs.
Reynolds, who was told it by my mother, when they returned from my uncle's
funeral in Ireland."
    As
everyone gathered around to hear the tale, Mr. Darcy continued. "My aunt,
the lady in the elaborate hat, was Moira Fitzwilliam, and she was a fine
horsewoman. She used to get young Robert, who was very good with horses, we are
told, to ride with her around the estate. It was all quite innocent, but she
was very much younger than my uncle, and though the lad was only fifteen, her
husband became jealous of him.
    "When
she had his portrait painted by the same artist who had been commissioned to do
hers, he was absolutely furious and dismissed the boy and his father, who
worked on the farm as well. Lord knows why, he was only a boy, but that's
jealousy for you. Makes even the sanest men irrational and stupid."
    "And
how did these portraits come to be in your collection, Papa?" Cassy asked,
now that she had seen and accounted for the resemblance between the portrait
and their guest.
    Mr.
Darcy explained, "When my uncle died, my mother, who was his cousin, went
to Ireland to attend the funeral, accompanied by my father. When the will was
read, they discovered that she had been left the collection of family
portraits. Not all of them were particularly good or interesting, so they gave
them away to other members of the family, keeping just a few, these two among
them. It is possible my mother liked them more than my father did. I had quite
forgotten about the stable boy until Cassy enquired today."
    "I'm
surprised Mr. Fitzwilliam kept the one of the lad, if he was so angry about
it," said Elizabeth.
    "I
believe it was found in his wife's private apartments; she had died of
pneumonia, some years before he did," Mr. Darcy explained.
    "She
must have been quite fond of the boy," Richard mused, and Mr. Darcy
pointed out that the Fitzwilliams had no sons.
    "Could
Robert Carr have been Mr. Michael Carr's father?" young Lizzie asked, and Mr.
Darcy replied that it was far more likely that Robert Carr may have been the
grandfather of their guest, if he was under thirty years of age.
    Cassy
believed the gentleman could not be more than thirty and Laura Ann, who
appeared very well informed, declared that he was a few years older than their
brother Darcy; he had told her so, she claimed.
    "It
must mean he is a grandson of Robert Carr; that would certainly account for the
remarkable resemblance," said Richard, but then cautioned his wife and
daughters against making any