The Elizabeth Papers (19 page)

Q&A with the Author

Q: Why would Fitzwilliam Darcy be so worried for future generations of Darcy women if his own daughters were so well taken care of?

I think Fitzwilliam looks at the example of Lydia and worries about the fate of a woman who doesn’t have a protector in a world in which women had no resources of their own. He knows that his own daughters are wealthy women and that they have married men whom he trusts. He is not worrying about them but future generations. His frame of reference is one in which women have very limited rights and may easily lose the benefit of their family’s wealth over time. Darcy is relentlessly honourable. His fans would call him a patrician (amongst other things…); his detractors might say he is something of a control freak. I think both of those elements are present in the Fitzwilliam in this story. He is trying to protect future generations of women in a patriarchal world. At the same time, rather than giving resources directly, he is doing so by way of trust in order that his male descendants can retain a level of supervision. His gamble is that they shall remain steadfast to his purpose, which, of course, they do.

Q: Why do you think Charlie, a worldly man, is so flustered by Evie?

I think that Evie speaks to a need for honesty and integrity in Charlie’s life. He is successful, but success is not enough for him in ways that he cannot acknowledge until he meets her. She manages to challenge and engage him directly and on her own terms. It works the other way around as well. Evie is quite a naive girl, but although she has a few weak-kneed moments, she is not especially flustered by Charlie. She is more composed than a lot of other women would be in her position. She does not appear to be too interested in him, and that is what he finds surprisingly alluring.

Q: Why did you choose Elizabeth and Darcy’s story from Elizabeth’s point of view, and yet Charlie and Evie’s story from both?

Those who have read
Suddenly Mrs. Darcy
know that I love writing in the first person. Although it has its disadvantages and pitfalls, it affords a closeness between the reader and the subject that really pulls me in. In this particular case, the experiences that Elizabeth has in
The Elizabeth Papers
are so intense and personal that I judged it right to speak them from her point of view. Also, writing as Elizabeth herself fits the plot of
The
Elizabeth Papers
because, for the story to work, she has to leave some evidence of her secret behind to be discovered later. Between
Suddenly Mrs. Darcy
and
The Elizabeth Papers
, I am conscious that, although I have included some of his personal correspondence, I have neglected Mr. Darcy, and so maybe there is an idea for a future novel somewhere in there…

As to Charlie and Evie, I felt their story was more effectively told in a traditional third person narrative. They are equal partners in that they each develop as people and in relation to each other—so I tried to treat them even-handedly.

Q: Why does Elizabeth not tell her beloved husband of her fears about not giving him a son?

There are secrets and unspoken fears in the closest and most loving relationships. One of the problems here is that Elizabeth perceives the “problem” of her not producing a son as an open secret, which everybody knows but does not speak of. English history is full of the aching problem of the absent male heir, as Anne Boleyn could testify! There would have been a great deal of pressure on Elizabeth to produce an heir to Pemberley, and Fitzwilliam himself acknowledges this in chapter 1. At first, she takes the view that the issue will resolve itself and, therefore, she does not need to say anything. Jane Austen tells us that Elizabeth is not given to melancholy nor do I think her prone to unnecessary self-analysis. As time goes on, however, she becomes troubled—and then desperate. She thinks of her own Bennet family where a lack of a son has had enormous ramifications. She is torn between the fear that it is her fault and her outrage at being blamed (as she perceives it) for something plainly beyond her control. This, together with pride and her innate English reserve, leads to a policy of non-communication with her husband.

Q: How do you think the rumour about Victoria came about—and stayed around—but never was pursued until the present day?

My idea is that there must have been significant suspicion at the time amongst family and friends and amongst the staff at Pemberley. For Elizabeth to have travelled with Darcy to Ireland, not known to be expecting, and to have returned five months later with a baby would have appeared odd. At least one member of staff knows that they departed with Lydia and returned without her, and maybe he was not as discreet as he intended to be. Elizabeth tells us that she feared Mrs. Reynolds and Kitty suspected her. Rumours likely started—as most rumours do—when independent parties start joining up the dots. So, behind the scenes of the story, I imagine James the footman keeps the secret about Lydia for many years until he lets on to a maid whom he is sweet on. She is called to Mrs. Reynolds’s office about something and, for some reason, imparts what she knows. That strikes a note in Mrs. Reynolds’s mind because, of course, she has always had her questions about Victoria. Mrs. Reynolds and the maid are overheard speaking by another servant, and the matter becomes a well-known trope below stairs. Many years later, it is imparted to the ladies’ maid of a member of the family, and so it spreads wider and deeper. Over time, the suspicion that Victoria is not Elizabeth’s child becomes the suspicion that she is not Fitzwilliam’s child. I think it most unlikely that, in Elizabeth’s lifetime or during the lifetime of her children, anyone would question her fidelity. But as time moves on and memories cloud, the more salacious explanation appears to be the most satisfactory, and somewhere along the line, it takes hold. Or something like…

Q: This is two stories woven to tell one. How did the change in eras affect how you thought of writing each story?

The Regency chapters alternate with the modern chapters, with Fitzwilliam’s letters dotted around. I forced myself to write the chapters in the order that they appear now rather than to write one story, then the other, and then interlace them. I wanted the discipline of relating the stories to each other, but there were times when I was so mentally enmeshed in each story that, in my heart, I just wanted to focus on one and not the other. The fact that the two halves of the narrative are in completely different periods, one of which is my own time and place, had a huge impact on how I thought about them. When I was writing about the Regency, I made a conscious effort to push my mind back to that period, and I found writing the modern story somewhat more relaxed. I try to think about the variances in dress and comforts such as heat and electricity and how this would have made the world “feel” different—I hope that those differences are reflected in the two halves of the story. Since this was my first attempt at writing a contemporary love story, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed slipping in things that are exclusively of our own time like email and text messages.

Q: I held my breath the entire time Charlie and Evie were searching Pemberley. Why do you think Evie did not explain the circumstances to the Darcys after their discovery? And what made you give Evie a change of heart, especially after all the trouble and stress they put themselves through?

It would be Evie’s natural inclination to tell the truth, but she is wrong-footed by the plot. They make their discovery at night when the Darcys have gone to bed. Evie then discovered a truth that she was unprepared for, and she found herself unexpectedly emotionally moved by Elizabeth’s words. She is emboldened by the discovery to act on her feelings for Charlie, and so that is her initial response to it. The decision not to remove the papers from Pemberley is another consequence of her reaction to reading them. Evie respects Elizabeth too much to effectively steal her story from its hiding place within her home.
Why does Evie not suggest that they take the story to the Darcys and explain?
The answer to this also lies in her response to Elizabeth’s words. Evie feels that the most respectful treatment of Elizabeth’s diary is to put it back where it had been hidden for nearly two centuries rather than invite further prying eyes (albeit they are family eyes).

Q: Do you think there would be grounds for a real lawsuit if this were a true story? Do you think Cressida would have a chance to change the trust?

Although it is possible to set up trusts of this sort in English law, it is a challenge to keep them going over long periods of time, and in chapter 24, I have had to do some explaining that the lawyers amongst you may appreciate. The reality is that, to some extent because of the period of time, the trust is something of a flight of fancy. However, it is certainly true that, if a class of beneficiaries were to be the descendants of “person x” and somebody had evidence that a person involved was not so descended, they would have a case to challenge that person receiving anything from the trust. The key would be finding the evidence, which in the circumstances would be remarkably, probably prohibitively, difficult. In other words, the advice that Cressida says her solicitors have given her is bang on: you’ve got a case, but you’ll never prove it!

Q: The group portrait
Mrs. Darcy and Her Daughters
plays a major role in this story. What is the inspiration behind it?

The group painting of Elizabeth and her daughters that features in the story is the product of my imagination and not based on any particular work of art. However, it is inspired by the fashion for domestic group portraits in late eighteenth and nineteenth century European houses. These paintings were used to celebrate the particular family’s wealth and power but also to memorialise family relationships. Often—because of the cost involved—the whole family would be included. In this case, I deliberately had Fitzwilliam subverting the genre by making it a female-only painting.

In terms of the artist, Mr. Clerkenman is also fictional. However, in imagining his work, I think of the nineteenth-century painters John Prescott Knight, Richard Rothwell, and the Royal portraitist Sir George Hayter. The style of the painting I imagine to be soft and not excessively formal, a sort of pre-cursor to the work, some decades later, of John Singer Sergeant.

The image on the front cover is taken from
Mother with Her Young Daughter
by Belgian artist, Gustave Leonard de Jonghe. It was painted in 1865, and readers will no doubt note that the fashions are slightly late for the period of this story. Despite this, something about the softness and intimacy of it really touched me. However, it is not intended to be a detail from
Mrs. Darcy and Her Daughters
. In my mind, I think of it as being Elizabeth and Victoria relaxing between sittings rather than in their formal poses.

Q: You have chosen to end the modern story in an unusual way with Charlie and Evie being glimpsed in the street, laughing, by a third party. There is no explanation and no real “happily ever after” as in typical romance stories. What is your reader to make of this?

Well, I think it is just the beginning for Charlie and Evie. The reader can assume that they are together, and they are happy in that particular moment. You will have to judge for yourself whether they are well suited to one another, but I think they are. What happens next belongs to another story.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Michele and all of the Meryton Press family for taking me in and being lovely.

To the inestimable Christina: speed editor, scene tweaker, character masseur, error corrector, US/UK diplomatic language envoy, head-hopping trouble shooter, big picture observer, social media co-ordinator, confidence builder, idea believer, friend; thank you.

Ellen, where would my grammar be without you? The Chicago Manual of Style also has a lot to answer for. :-) Your corrections were all improvements, and your comments always make me smile; thank you.

Zuki, for another beautiful cover, fusing so cleverly the historical and the modern, and for all the colouring against the clock. It’s lovely; thank you.

Jakki, for organising another blog tour and for doing so much behind the scenes to promote this and other stories. Thank you for the many bloggers who have supported and encouraged me.

Thank you to my fantastic beta readers, Chanda and Beau, who gave up time to read this story pre-edit.

Adam and Sophie, for their support and medical advice, and to Liz, for her obstetrics expertise. All errors and omissions are mine, of course.

Thank you to my brilliant, nurturing, observant Mum.

To my children, who are the bees’ knees.

Thank you to my husband Marc, who is an unfailing enthusiast, believer in unlikely plans, and general all-round top person.

Lastly, thank you to all the readers and reviewers of
Suddenly Mrs. Darcy
and anyone who reads this book. I love to hear from you, so please message me. I am on twitter @JenettaJames, and my Facebook page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/jenettajameswriter/

Author Biography

Jenetta James is a mother, lawyer, writer, and taker-on of too much. She grew up in Cambridge and read history at Oxford University where she was a scholar and president of the Oxford University History Society. After graduating, she took to the law and now practises full-time as a barrister. Over the years, she has lived in France, Hungary, and Trinidad as well as her native England. Jenetta currently lives in London with her husband and children where she enjoys reading, laughing, and playing with Lego. She is the author of
Suddenly Mrs. Darcy
, which was published by Meryton Press in April 2015.
The Elizabeth Papers
is her second novel.