Marble fireplace surrounds were very popular in the Victorian era. I've seen them in many colors of marble, black, grays, greens, white, blush, so any color you like would be fine. I've got some pictures of fireplaces in Victorian rooms in the link below. There are also a few in the album FIREPLACES and 1876.
Fireplaces were no longer a neccesity by that era, the stove was in wide use because it was much more efficient and cheaper to use, some homes even had central heating.It's true that fireplaces were dangerous too. I recall a book by Louisa May Alcott, in which one of the young heroines desperately wanted to get rid of the ordinary old stove in her bedroom and open up the fireplace again. Her brothers laughed at her, but her papa agreed to fix the old fireplace up again. Next thing she knew a sharp breeze came in through the window, billowing out her curtains which immediately caught on fire. The stove was put back in.

Here is a link that might be useful: webshots, Victorian rooms album

I missed out on a house built about 1880 when I was looking (long story, but there was another offer I wasn't told about, otherwise I'd have bid right there)...anyway, this house had four fireplaces, and the owners were the children of the original buyers.
All four fireplaces had wooden mantels, but the surrounding area of the firebox was covered in tiles about 1" by 3". All the tiles were a mottled medium green color, which I also remember from my grandmother's house.
In my neighborhood (a historic district), almost all the fireplaces have tile rather than marble...I don't know if this is a Columbus quirk or what, but it seems to me from reading that marble may have been used in more expensive houses and earlier in the century, say about 1860.
Upshot is, marble depends on how fancy your house was originally and it's age--the latter part of the nineteenth century had tile surrounds with wooden mantels, while earlier houses commonly had slate mantels with iron surrounds between that and the firebox--like those in a friend's house, and my sister's old rental, built in 1815.

One popular style was faux marble. Slate was often used and painted to look like marble. I'd be very careful about materials and colors. Victorians were into dark colors. I'd get some interior design books from the era or maybe do some online research.

Rose
author, The Houses That Sears Built

Here is a link that might be useful: info on Victorian fireplace mantels

Of, course, if you want a real fireplace, you also have to think about the chimney. If you presently just have a gas stove it's likely to be direct vented, which is way different from what's needed with a fireplace or even a woodstove. Perhaps you could do a gas stove with a fireplace surround (of whatever material). In my area in northern NY, faux-painted slate was very much the done thing in Victorian houses. Only really wealthy families had real marble, and then only in the dressiest of rooms. IF you have an old house parts warehouse near you, you might find just the thing and pretty cheap, too. Good luck.

Molly~

This is the fireplace in my parents 1903 American Victorian.

It's a coal fireplace, and believe it or not, is a cast iron prefab! The wood is all American Chestnut.

Unfortunately, it's inoperable, and my parents have no intention of getting it back into working condition. I, on the other hand, will do so if I ever own the house.