Meet the Extras! Original Characters in 'Just Between Us'

It’s almost release day, and I’m looking forward to my dear readers meeting all the original characters that play a role in Darcy and Lizzy’s love story, ‘Just Between Us.’ Of course, several familiar faces have big supporting roles - Jane, Lydia, Charlotte, Kitty, the colonel, Mr. Bingley, and Mr. Collins are all integral to the story, and have romances of their own. And all the usual suspects are present to ramp up their villainy - Lady Catherine, Wickham, and Caroline are all particularly problematic in the Pride & Prejudice retelling. 

 

However, I also introduce several original characters, as well as showing some characters such as Darcy’s parents and uncle, who are only mentioned in the book. And today I would like to introduce some of these minor characters - one of them plays a pretty major role in the book, and the others all make multiple appearances. 

 

Captain Oliver "Olly Lucas" - This absolute scene-stealer is president of the Lizzy Bennet fan club, a more determined matchmaker than Mrs. Bennet, and (by the standards of the time) a menace to society. Possibly the best character in the book. 

 

Marcus Darcy - Elder twin to Fitzwilliam and kind of a younger version of Mr. Bennet. 

 

Captain John Drake - In his lover era. 

 

Lady Anne Darcy - Alive and experiencing the vapors more elegantly than Mrs. Bennet. 

 

Lady Amelia Fitzwilliam - Sister to the colonel and thorn in Darcy’s side, horrid enough to enjoy the support of Lady Catherine and Caroline. 

 

The Earl of Matlock - Also in his lover era, and clearly where the colonel gets his antics from.

 

Madame Piedmont - Her job is French.

 

Lady Isabel Russell - Darcy’s romantic and outdoorsy aunt. A family icon.

 

Lord Ambrose Russell - Younger son of a Duke and well-connected in the navy, down for lavish picnics and abetting fraud. 

 

In the excerpt I’m sharing today, we get a glimpse of Darcy and his elder brother, and their dynamic with their mother, as in this variation both of Darcy’s parents are very much alive. While the elder Darcy is ailing at remains at Pemberley with Georgiana and Wickham (the vicar of Kympton, yikes!) Lady Anne has accompanied her sons and nephew to Netherfield….

***

The Darcys were habitually early risers, though the rest of their party kept Town hours; hence the first week at Netherfield had seen Lady Anne take her morning repast with only her sons for company. Darcy knew his mother preferred it that way, as he did himself. 

On this morning, in particular, Darcy was glad to have an opportunity to speak to his brother without the Bingleys or Hursts present. Miss Bingley’s behavior the previous evening at dinner had given him considerable concern, and he could see it written on his mother’s countenance as well. He was still considering how to open the topic when Lady Anne spared him the uncomfortable task by addressing the subject directly. 

“My dear Marcus,” she said. “I must speak my peace. I have abstained in the week we have been at Netherfield in the hope that my fears were unfounded, but after last evening I can no longer dismiss my own misgivings. I believe Miss Bingley has set her cap at you.”

Marcus lowered his newspaper and asked drily, “What gave it away? Her sudden fascination with little Lou, whom she did not once make an effort to see when last she was at Pemberley? Or perhaps it is that her neckline has gotten lower and lower each passing evening?”

Lady Anne held up a hand before he could elaborate any further. “I have no intention of disparaging our hostess; I have nothing against her personally. I knew her mother, and both of the Bingley sisters were taught that it is their duty to make as fine a match as they possibly can. She is only doing what she believes she ought to attempt.”

“It is what she may yet attempt that we ought to worry about,” Darcy muttered; he had kept his own door locked every night since he had arrived, and had been met with sardonic laughter when he had suggested Marcus do the same. 

Lady Anne gave Darcy a silencing look before she continued. “I only wish to offer a little counsel, if you will permit your Mamma her say. You married once for duty, Marcus, gratifying the dearest wish of my sister and I. The family will not influence you again in the specific choice of your next wife, but I will only say that you must choose wisely. Your next bride will be the woman to raise your daughter, as well as - I hope - your heir. She will be the woman little Lou models herself after, the woman who will bring her into society. Fortune matters less than it would have, had Fitzwilliam not agreed to invest in Rosings and bring it back into prosperity. But connections still matter, and comportment even more so.”

Marcus nodded. “We are her grandest connections; any others the Bingleys have in the first circle have only been forged through their acquaintance with us. I agree that in this respect she offers nothing I do not already have. But I cannot think her manners are so very bad. She is eager to please - is that not some reason to at least consider her a possibility?”

“If her treatment of yourself alone was to be the measure of her worth, I would agree with you,” Lady Anne replied. “But have you not observed her behavior toward her neighbors?”

Darcy nodded his head emphatically. “She was quite uncivil toward Olly’s sister when they called yesterday, and she has had nothing but criticism for all the Bennet ladies.”

“The Bennet ladies do not all endeavor to be above reproach,” Marcus snorted. 

“That does not excuse the commentary Miss Bingley treated us to at dinner last evening,” Lady Anne said, giving her eldest son a sharp look.

Marcus grimaced. “Why ever not? Their motives are the same - to put themselves forward with us lucky gentlemen.”

Darcy could not remain silent. Though he privately agreed that the behavior of Mrs. Bennet, her youngest daughters, and even on occasion her husband was not what it ought to be, he had spoken with Elizabeth enough in the last week to understand what drove the Bennets’ indelicacy.

“Longbourn is entailed - the heir is our aunt Catherine’s parson. The very same imbecile whom you, Marcus, have advised to come to Meryton to select a bride from amongst his cousins.”

“Oh? That ought to be good,” Marcus laughed, rubbing his hands together with glee. “Though it was not my notion, but our aunt’s. He irritated Lady Amelia during her visit, and Aunt Catherine found she could not countenance that any estate in the kingdom, even one so wholly unconnected to herself, should leave a household of ladies as disobliged as she now finds herself.”

Darcy knew his aunt was far from suffering; she had not even removed to the dower house yet. But that was a problem for the spring. At present, he was determined to defend Elizabeth’s relations as best he could while still privately disliking their indecorous conduct. 

“Mrs. Bennet has five daughters whose futures she must attend to. She does not put them forward by disparaging others; that is Miss Bingley’s paltry tactic. The Bennet girls have been nothing but kind to everyone, though their sentiments have been expressed with too much exuberance in some instances. Olly has given me to understand that Netherfield has long sat vacant, and with so many new acquaintance now amongst them, it is natural that they should be enthusiastic in welcoming new neighbors, even cherishing some hopes in that regard. It would also be natural if Miss Bingley were to do what any new mistress of an estate ought to do, and treat her new neighbors with gracious warmth. She has chosen instead to elevate herself by disdaining those who are, if nothing else, of superior birth.”

Last Anne regarded his long speech with astonishment before patting his arm and saying, “Well done, Fitzwilliam. The Misses Bennet deserve more respect than Miss Bingley has paid them, and it has not shown her own character in a favorable light. That is all I will say, though I hope you would consider the matter more, Marcus, lest you find yourself in an untenable situation. She may take your silence as agreement, and your flippancy as encouragement. To attach yourself to such a creature would give your poor father an apoplexy. You know he does not care for her.”

Now it was Darcy’s turn to give his mother a comforting pat. “Have you considered that her aspirations may be redirected toward Richard? For him, fortune is far more important than any other consideration, and his character may, in time, improve hers.”

His brother rolled his eyes. “Have you taken an interest in matchmaking, Fitzwilliam?”

Darcy’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I speak of your preservation, that is all.”

“I will mention it to him,” Lady Anne said curtly. “That is all I will do; I have nothing else to say about Miss Bingley, as I do not like to be so unkind, even for the sake of protecting my own.” And now, she turned her shrewd but affectionate gaze toward Darcy, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 

“Surely you cannot have any concerns for me,” he said weakly. 

“I shall always have concerns for my children,” Lady Anne said. “You need not distress yourself, Fitzwilliam, for I do think well of your Miss Elizabeth. However, I must observe that her mother expects her to make a match with Captain Lucas. Would you poach from your dearest friend?”

It was all Darcy could do not to let out an ironic laugh at the notion. He knew of his friend’s true interests, and though it had taken Darcy some time to reconcile himself to the predilections of the man who had saved his life more than once, Darcy’s loyalty would never be swayed. “Olly looks upon her as a sister, a feeling which she has told you herself is entirely mutual.”

Marcus grinned. “I hear your friend Captain Lucas intends to play matchmaker for the two of you, and all the rest of us besides.”

Lady Anne looked mortified; Darcy hastened to defend his friend. “He has been too long at sea, scheming on how to make mischief for his neighbors, but I am sure it is harmless fun.”

“I find it all most amusing,” Marcus drawled, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head and his elbows wide and relaxed. “I have no intention of being taken in by anybody; my stay at Netherfield is a matter of business, to prepare Will and Bingley for the arduous tasks ahead of them. But I should like to see them both struck with Cupid’s arrow. My friend a lovesick puppy and my stoic brother composing sonnets ere long - how excessively diverting.”

“I worry for poor Mr. Bingley - and for Miss Bennet,” Lady Anne sighed. 

“She would be a fine match for him,” Marcus said. “She may not have a great fortune, but he need not care for that. Her reserve will temper his ebullience, and she is certainly pretty enough to keep his interest.”

“Is she, though? I mean no offense to your friend, but I had the impression that he falls in love easily and often,” Lady Anne replied carefully. “I worry that he may disappoint her, and where would that leave you in her sister’s good graces, Fitzwilliam?”

Marcus rolled his eyes and made a droll face. “Miss Elizabeth may love her sister, but what woman in the world would allow sisterly affection to cost her such a fortunate alliance?”

Darcy ignored his brother and considered his mother’s words; the notion had some merit. Charles Bingley had professed undying ardor for at least a dozen pretty blondes in the years the Darcys had known him. Bingley’s sisters would likely prove an obstacle to the match, and Darcy could not be sure his friend would overcome it. If Jane Bennet cherished hopes that may yet be disappointed, would Elizabeth begrudge him, or his friend?

“I will speak to Bingley and ascertain his intentions,” Darcy said, wondering if there was any way he might delicately warn Elizabeth to put Miss Bennet on her guard. “I do not wish to interfere to the detriment of whatever may happen naturally between them.”

“Your friend Captain Lucas will undoubtedly have that honor,” Marcus quipped. 

“So long as he does not direct his mischief at me,” Darcy retorted.

“Your Miss Elizabeth has promised to pay him back in kind, and so I daresay you shall be quite safe,” Lady Anne said with a smile. “I would not have you think I disapprove. But I have never seen you in love before, or even interested in a particular lady. I am pleased, but cautiously so.”

“It has been but a week,” Darcy said, more to convince himself than his mother. “But I enjoy her company; I like her. I had thought that you do as well.”

“I do like her, Fitzwilliam. But I love you, and it is your heart that I would not seem wounded by your first attachment. She is perfectly charming, and I do not believe she has misrepresented herself, but I have moved in a wide circle of society for thirty years now, and I have been duped before by such pictures of perfection. As you say, it has only been a week.”

“I think her a fine match for our dour fellow,” Marcus cried. “She can make him laugh, by God! With such a wife at his side, Will’s burden at Rosings would be halved, for she would win the instant adoration of all the tenant families, and she may be the one woman capable of putting Lady Catherine in her place, which is the dower house - or better still, Bedlam.”

At this, Marcus rubbed at his temples; their aunt had given him a great deal of trouble in her resistance to relinquishing the reins of power at Rosings. He added, “And with such a grand husband, her mother might be made to see the wisdom of giving her younger daughters a bit more education and polishing before sending them out into society.”

“True,” Lady Anne agreed. “If it is as you say, and Mrs. Bennet fears the entail, surely having one or two of the eldest well settled will mitigate her haste in putting the younger ones forward, and instead offer them the opportunity to improve before they move amongst their betters.”

“She ought to lock the youngest three up for a year at least,” Marcus said before raising his newspaper up again and pretending to resume his perusal of it, muttering, “The youngest perhaps forever.”

“Catherine will not like any lady who supplants her as mistress as Rosings; better to at least not give her such ammunition as their behavior would be,” Lady Anne agreed.

Darcy smiled indulgently at his mother, who had already married him off to the fetching and fascinating Elizabeth Bennet. His ever-prevalent logical side knew that it was far too early in their acquaintance to think of such things, and yet some part of him found the possibility a surprisingly pleasant one. “And have you selected a date for our nuptials, Mother?”

***

Thanks for stopping by the blog tour, I will be sharing more excerpts throughout this month, and you can always enter to win a free e-book!