Heather Lynn Rigaud
Fitzwilliam Darcy,
Dedicated to my mom, Grace,
who would have been so
proud, and to Abigail, without
whom this book never would
have happened.
Author’s Note
This book was originally written just for fun, and because I didn’t plan on publishing it, I used popular songs for the music the characters performed. This gave the story another element to enjoy and led to some fun discussions about how the songs fit into the story.
Fast forward to now, I find myself with the rare and wonderful opportunity to publish my little book. This is very exciting, but it means the songs have to go away to avoid violating copyright law.
I’ve now written new songs, so everything you read here is 100 percent my work. But I wanted to include a list of the original inspirations, so readers can enjoy them, too.
In general, you will find that Jane sounds a lot like Michelle Branch, and Lizzy bears a striking resemblance to Sheryl Crow. Slurry most closely resembles Puddle of Mudd.
Here is the list:
Chapter 1: Jane is singing “Everything” by Michelle Branch.
Chapter 2: Slurry’s song is “Breathe” by Seven Channels.
Chapter 3: Lizzy sings “Steve McQueen” by Sheryl Crow, and Slurry plays “Drift & Die” by Puddle of Mudd on TRL.
Chapter 4: Slurry opens its concert with “Crawling in the Dark” by Hoobastank.
Chapter 6: Lizzy plays “If It Makes You Happy” by Sheryl Crow.
Chapter 8: Jane plays “Everything” by Michelle Branch to Charles.
Chapter 9: Jane dances to Slurry playing “Control” by Puddle of Mudd.
Chapter 10: Lizzy plays “Soak Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow.
Chapter 11: Lizzy’s video was made to “Steve McQueen” by Sheryl Crow.
Chapter 12: Long Borne Suffering and Slurry play “The Game of Love” by Michelle Branch and Carlos Santana.
Chapter 13: Slurry plays “She Hates Me” by Puddle of Mudd.
Chapter 14: LBS plays “Good-bye to You” by Michelle Branch, and Slurry plays “Blurry” by Puddle of Mudd.
Chapter 15: Lizzy plays “I Shall Believe” by Sheryl Crow.
Chapters 16 and 17: Darcy’s classical playing sounds very much like John Williams.
Chapter 19: Richard sings “Somewhere Out There” by Our Lady Peace.
Chapter 20: Lizzy sings “I Shall Believe” again by Sheryl Crow.
Chapter 21: Darcy sings “Hanging by a Moment” by Lifehouse.
Prologue
Narrator: “This week, on
Charles Bingley (smiling happily): “This is better than any dream I have ever had. I have a great life. I get to do something I love, every day, and I’m getting paid to do it. It’s incredible.”
Richard Fitzwilliam (looking rumpled, like he just rolled out of bed): “Will’s gonna tell you it is all about the music, and he’s right, on one level. But you know, everyone has a story, and everyone has a song. It takes something more to be interesting, to be a success. I don’t know what it is, but we seem to have it.”
Fitzwilliam Darcy (staring at the camera): “You have this audience of millions of people and you want to ask me questions about my
Narrator: “The story of Slurry begins with the story of Fitzwilliam Darcy.”
“In 1982, world-famous classical guitarist and artist Anne Fitzwilliam married business mogul Walter Darcy.”
Stephen Fitzwilliam, uncle: “When they got married, everyone believed it would never last. There was a general feeling that this relationship was doomed. They came from different worlds. Walter was very serious, very conservative, very committed to his work, and Anne was this wild free spirit and people said that she would never fit in.”
Narrator: “In March of 1983, the couple had their first child.”
Fitzwilliam Darcy (looking thoughtful): “My parents had a relationship of equals. They believed very firmly in this. It was the foundation of their marriage. This belief was so strong that they named me, a product of their joining, by joining their two names, Fitzwilliam and Darcy.”
Narrator: “Fitzwilliam Darcy had a golden childhood. He was raised in the family’s elegant SoHo apartment and was exposed to a wide range of cultures and people. However, not everything was perfect.”
Richard Fitzwilliam: “My aunt was very focused on her career for as long as I knew her. When Will was born, she continued to tour and record, relying on nannies to care for him. And his father, he was always gone. He was very, very committed to his work. I always felt that Will was very lonely as a child. We would spend summers together, he and me and George, but he was always a very solitary person.”
Narrator: “Things changed for the family in 1993, when the Darcys had their second child, a daughter named Georgiana.”
Stephen Fitzwilliam: “When Georgiana was born it was like a new beginning for the family. She was such a beautiful child, and indeed, she has become a beautiful woman, but back then everyone immediately fell in love with her, and Walter and Anne found a new focus. It was like a second marriage with each other.”
George Wickham: “Will has always been devoted to Georgie; we all are. But you can’t deny that it was when she was born that his folks suddenly became much more interested in being parents. I’m sure that hurt Will deeply.”
Narrator: “With the birth of their daughter, the focus of the Darcy household changed. Anne Fitzwilliam drastically cut her touring schedule, and Walter reduced the time he was away from the family.”
“In an effort to reestablish her relationship with her son, Anne began teaching him classical guitar at the age of ten. Darcy proved to have a natural talent for the instrument and quickly became a prodigy.”
