Jann Rowland
Available on 
Size: 6.00 x 9.00 in
Pages: 304
After leaving his friend Charles Bingley in Hertfordshire, Fitzwilliam Darcy intends to see to business in London while gaining some much-needed distance from the enchanting Elizabeth Bennet. Little does he know that his peace will soon be disturbed. To his surprise, his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, descends upon him in a fury, demanding that he agree to marry her daughter. She neglects to tell him, however, that she has just parted ways with Elizabeth in Hertfordshire, the "unsatisfactory" result of the meeting being Elizabeth's refusal to promise never to marry him. Amid what he fears is a whirlwind of rumors, Darcy is forced to move forward in his quest to secure Elizabeth's hand with no assurances of her regard. Unfortunately, neither Caroline Bingley nor Elizabeth's childhood friend Samuel Lucas intend to make it easy for him.
Picking up after chapter 56 of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, this charming tale of love and determination explores what would have happened if Fitzwilliam Darcy had no indication other than his own observation, that Elizabeth Bennet’s opinion of him had changed. His fortitude and constancy once more put to the test in the face of blatant interference, her mother’s dislike, and her father’s ambivalence, Darcy is required to “act on faith” to secure the woman of his dreams.
Cover Artists:
Genres:
“So it is true then.”
Startled, Darcy stared back at his aunt. “I beg your pardon?”
“This rumor I have heard about you and that . . . that . . . little minx from Hertfordshire.”
Although surprised, Darcy was able to keep his head. If Aunt Catherine had heard a rumor connecting him to someone other than Anne, it was of little wonder she had descended upon him in such a fury, determined to “make him see reason.” And most peculiarly, the only person she could know from Hertfordshire other than her parson’s wife was Elizabeth Bennet. He wondered at the possibility of such a report existing, and he could not account for anyone coming to such a conclusion based on what their dealings before the people of the neighborhood had been. However, in order to determine his best response to her charge, he needed to know exactly of what the rumor consisted.
“I beg your pardon, madam, but I have not the faintest idea of what you speak.”
READ MORE“I hardly believe that,” said Lady Catherine, her voice rising in response. “There can be no other explanation on the matter.”
“Perhaps if you would share this rumor to which you refer, I can either confirm or deny it.”
Her responding glare was filled with disdain, but his aunt nonetheless responded. “Two days ago, I received an alarming report which contained, among other things, Miss Jane Bennet’s most advantageous engagement to your friend Bingley and the rumor of your imminent engagement to her younger sister, Miss Elizabeth. Although I deemed it a report openly circulated by those Bennets in an attempt to entrap you, I instantly set off with the express purpose of contradicting this nefarious scheme.”
Darcy was struck dumb. How such a report could have come to be was beyond his present capacity to understand—his dealings with Elizabeth in Hertfordshire had always been characterized by such rancor that he was certain she would not have been secretive in her disapproval of him to those of the neighborhood. His recent visit there had resulted in no more than the briefest and most desultory of conversations—certainly not enough to incite speculation. As uneasy as he was pertaining to the source of the rumor, he could not help be curious. Who had seen through him?
“And who was the source of this rumor?” asked Darcy.
“I really have not the faintest idea,” replied Lady Catherine. “I do not know the particulars, only that such a rumor was in existence through my clergyman, Mr. Collins. If you recall, Mrs. Collins is from the neighborhood—I can only presume they received the news through a letter from Mrs. Collins’s family in Hertfordshire.”
“Yet you did not substantiate this rumor yourself?”
She shrugged. “Why should I need to? The mere whisper of such a thing on the lips of my clergyman was all the confirmation I required. After all, you know that where there is smoke, there is fire. Your standing in society could be adversely affected by such a report if you do not take a stand immediately.”
“If you will quote pithy sayings, then let me say that the existence of one engagement often breeds rumors of another. Did you not perhaps think this could be nothing more than idle speculation regarding one sister due to the engagement of another?”
“Why should I take it to be so?” demanded Lady Catherine. “I am well aware of people of their type; they are grasping, artful people, looking only to improve their connections and increase their fortune. Should I not have acted such to protect you from such inferior connections?”
By now, Darcy’s disdain for this meddling woman had reached unprecedented heights. “I assure you, madam, I am very capable of looking out for my own future as well as my connections. Somehow, though, I do not think you have fully grasped the implications of what you have accomplished with your ill-judged mission today. You have set out from Rosings to confront me on the basis of a mere rumor! You have undertaken this journey and insulted me and my adherence to duty on an unsubstantiated piece of gossip, one which you felt could not contain any truth whatsoever. Considering our longstanding disagreement regarding my exact relationship with Anne, I wonder at your blindness to the implications of such an application. You do realize that if word of this interview were ever to reach the ton, rather than prevent such a thing—as is I presume your purpose here today—it might blow this mere rumor into the proportions of scandal, where I might be forced to make Miss Elizabeth an offer if only to save our reputations. How could you have failed to consider that?”
Throughout his declaration, his aunt had turned a shade of red due to his manner of speaking to her, which quickly turned an unbecoming shade of white once the implications of his diatribe had become clear to her. Yet she quickly gathered herself and continued her assault, causing him to reflect that whatever else she was, she was certainly not slow of wit or bereft of courage.
“Do not be a fool, Darcy. You and I are alone in this room and no one else knows of my presence. If your servants are as well trained as they were when my sister was mistress of this house, no word of our meeting shall reach the ears of others.”
“The servants, dear Aunt Catherine, are as well trained and loyal as ever. And yet you are here, where you usually disdain to be, in favor of the comforts of Rosings, and it is not outside the realm of possibility that someone may have seen you as you exited the carriage and entered my home, or may have noticed the de Bourgh family crest on your coach as it passed through the city. From there, it is not a great leap to guess the nature of our conversation, given your repeated tendency to wax poetic on the subject of my so-called engagement to your daughter. When coupled with our conversation here today, which has lasted already for longer than a mere social call, what do you think the effects of this rumor should be if it were to make its way to London? Miss Bennet could very well be seen to be engaged to me to cause such an action from you, and her reputation ruined if no engagement were forthcoming.”
“And what is it to me? What should it be to you if her reputation should be ruined? It is her own doing and that of her family. If she should become embroiled in a scandal, who should feel the effects of it but herself? She should not think to quit the sphere in which she was born in the first place—if she should reach for the heights and fall in the process, what should it be to you?”
“First of all, I am not convinced this rumor has originated with Miss Elizabeth or any of her family,” retorted Darcy. “I was in Hertfordshire not a week ago, and I can assure you there were no whisperings of an engagement between us at the time.”
“Then they have begun to spread them since you came away to town!”
“That I cannot believe! I am acquainted with Miss Elizabeth’s character, and I fancy I know her well enough to understand she would never spread rumors of such a gross falsehood, especially when they concern her most intimately. The other thing you should consider is I am by no means the sort of man who does not take his obligations seriously. If such a report did exist, and Miss Elizabeth’s reputation was to suffer as a result, I would have no choice but to do the honorable thing and marry her.”
COLLAPSE