Disguise of every sort may be his abhorrence …
Disguise of every sort may be his abhorrence, but Darcy does get disguised in my book.
The first JAFF (Jane Austen fan-fiction) I wrote in 2008 had a scene with a hung-over Darcy. Well, since it was a gender-reversal story based on Pride and Prejudice, the character was actually named William Bennet; but that’s beside the point.
The point is that a brief scene in Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge features our beloved title character … drunk … or, as they say in Regency slang:
… a trifle disguised, ape-drunk, with malt above water, bosky, eaten Hull cheese, jug bitten, properly shot in the neck, in his cups, dipping rather deep, disguised, drunk as a wheelbarrow, foxed, half-sprung, making indentures, on the cut, tap-hackled, top heavy …
Now, some Austen fans may protest such treatment of the proud, prim, and proper Mr. Darcy. Yet making indentures was a big part of life for young (and not so young) Regency gentlemen who had too much time on their hands. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, or playthings, or playground, or tools, or work, or whatever.
Anyway, in my opinion, there’s just something comical (and perhaps also a bit endearing) about the very staid, straight, and stodgy Mr. Darcy getting jug bitten and loosening up a bit.
As I said, it’s just a brief scene; but I admit it usually makes me smile even though I’ve read through it umpteen times by now. It apparently entertained readers when the original version was posted on-line. Here are a couple of their comments:
“In the 12 years that I have read JAFF, I have read some very entertaining stories; but, my dear, this has the #1 all-time … best hilarious drunk Darcy …” (Marg)
“Okay, that was like the best drunk Darcy EVER!!!” (KarenA)
So, I hope you’ll enjoy the scene in which Ellis Fleming visits White’s and encounters an inarticulate and trifle-disguised Darcy drinking and dipping deeply.
Cheers!
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