Mr. Darcy's Great Escape by Marsha Altman

Author:Marsha Altman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2011-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Brian’s Story, Part 1

No good at being an English gentleman, Brian Maddox decided to be a Hungarian one.

It was late fall of 1807 when he made his way across Austria, far enough south to miss the worst of the early snows and into the hills of Transylvania. His Romanian was passable enough to explain to the border guards of the count’s lands who he was. They did seem a bit surprised to see him, but his future father-in-law greeted him warmly enough.

He knew better than to ask to see Nadezhda directly, despite her being the sole reason for his return. The wedding was coming up soon, and his understanding of court culture was lacking, so foreign to him despite his wide travels. Vlad’s court seemed to truly be in the dark ages, in stark contrast to even his closest neighbors and relatives, who were quicker to adopt the fashionable European culture of the Enlightenment. Brian could barely make conversation with his chief servant.

“She is very beautiful,” said the man. There were an awful lot of reassurances going around. Eventually, mainly from inflection, he was able to discern that he had not been the first suitor to run. He was actually the only one who came back. It bestowed on him an appropriate level of caution. Did she have a tail? Was she a witch? Or was it merely the overbearing count? Brian had to find out and quickly.

The wedding was set for barely more than a month away. The first week he did not see his intended at all and used what little free time he had to perfect his language skills to the local brogue. Hungarian nobility spoke French as was fashionable, with some German and Hungarian, but these were the backwoods of Transylvania, on the very edge of the traditional Hungarian Empire, and the count was a very traditional man. He liked to think of himself as a man of the people despite being quite the opposite, so he spoke Romanian, like the peasants who toiled on his land.

Most of Brian’s evenings were spent in long banquets, where he had more time to practice, or would have if the local spirits didn’t go right to his head despite what he thought was an impressive tolerance. After the first few nights, before he learned to quietly water down his mug, he emerged with a horrible headache and not much appreciation for the sunlight or anyone who would bother him. There were instructions from what was apparently his manservant, Andrei, on how to dress and how to act, if said in a very polite way. He gave up his cravat but held fast on growing a beard, even if he did allow his sideburns to be a bit wider than permissive in proper society. He wouldn’t even give in to the current trend of goatees, preferring a soft, clean face.

Finally, he saw Nadezhda when she was presented to the feast table. She was bejeweled and wearing a complex embroidered gown.

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