Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Twenty-Nine

"Are you ready to meet the potential Mr. Darcys?" Keith asked.  A curtain had been brought in and set up in the center of the room, Maisie and Talia on one side, three stools on the other.

"I'm ready."  Maisie took a deep breath and smiled for the camera.  She actually wasn't ready at all.  It was one thing to come to New York and joke around with the Try Guys, it was another to basically appear on a game show.

"Great! Let's meet the three lucky bachelors competing for your affection today.  First up, Darcy #1 is a 32-year old investment banker, so it's likely he's worth more than 10,000 a year! Am I right, Darcy 1?"

A deep, warm voice answered, "Much more than that, Keith."

"You hear that, Maisie?  He's got the rich part down.  Now, for Darcy #2.  He's a 34-year electrical engineer and the legal guardian of his sixteen year old sister. Are you as kind to your sister as the Mr. Darcy?"

#2 hesitated, then replied, "Well, my sister is a teenager in the twenty-first century, so she's probably a bit more of a handful than Georgiana Darcy, even taking into account the whole Wickham elopement thing."

Maisie laughed.  She was impressed the Guys had actually found men who knew the plot and characters of Pride and Prejudice.

"And #3, who is a handsome bugger, as they say in Britain," Keith paused as the camera panned to Ned, Eugene, and Zach all shaking their heads at his terrible British accent.  "He's a 30-year old underwear model.  They'd definitely hang his portrait in the Pemberley library."

"My picture tends to get around," #3 said.  His voice registered higher than the other two, and Maisie didn't like the smugness it exuded.  She tried to keep an open mind, though.

"Last, but not least, #4.  He's a 35-year old teacher and single dad.  I have no Darcy puns for this one."

Eugene interjected, "I don't know that you could call your other comments Darcy puns, either."

Keith glared at his fellow Guy for a moment, then resumed. "#4, give us a quick Darcy intro."

"Um... to be honest, I don't know much about Darcy and I'm really regretting agreeing to do this."

"He's got Darcy's grumpy, off-putting personality!" Ned exclaimed, looking super proud of himself.

Great, Maisie thought.  At least she had three others to choose from.  Besides, whomever she ended up going out with, it was only one date, and then they'd go their separate ways.  She put another smile on her face.  "Nice to meet all of you.  I'll be your Lizzie Bennet for the afternoon."