Still a Young Man

Pride and patriotism lend fervor to greed and cruelty, and Fitzwilliam Darcy is caught at the centre of a decades-old international feud. Taken far from England, presumed dead by his family, and lost to all he holds dear, only one name remains as his beacon in the darkness: Elizabeth. Georgiana Darcy is now the heartbroken heiress to Pemberley, and Colonel Fitzwilliam her bewildered guardian. Vulnerable and unprepared, Georgiana desperately longs for a friend, while Fitzwilliam seeks to protect her from his own family.

It is 1803, and a treaty has allowed England and France to enjoy a brief moment of peace in the midst of the Napoleonic wars. Darcy is despondent over Elizabeth’s refusal of his proposal at Hunsford, so Colonel Fitzwilliam proposes a trip to Paris as a distraction. At a ball, Darcy unexpectedly encounters Elizabeth, who is visiting Paris with the Gardiners. He sees this as his opportunity to court Elizabeth properly and rectify past mistakes. Before he can make much progress, however, England declares war again, and Darcy must help Elizabeth flee France.

Pemberley’s ancient halls harbour many secrets. Which one will affect Fitzwilliam Darcy and the love of his life? How is Mr. Bennet to enjoy the comforts of a well-stocked library, when his wife’s premature demise had left him with the task of finding suitable matches for their daughters? And what of a misleading encounter on a muddy lane in Hertfordshire, that renders a country-town assembly rather more tolerable than some might have thought?  

Mr. Darcy arrives at Longbourn, intending to correct the mistakes he made during his disastrous proposal in Hunsford. To his horror, he learns Elizabeth Bennet was killed in a ship’s explosion off the coast of France - in an apparent act of sabotage. Deep in despair, he travels in disguise to wartime France to seek out the spy responsible for her death. But a surprise awaits Darcy in the French town of Saint-Malo: Elizabeth is alive! Recovering from a blow to the head, Elizabeth has no memory of her previous life, and a series of mistakes leads her to believe Darcy is her husband.

Rejected by a sister who has allowed her new status as wife to Mr. Bingley to make her proud, Elizabeth Bennet goes to her uncle's estate in Derbyshire, ostensibly to assist her cousin in her introduction to society. In reality, Elizabeth feels there is nothing left for her in the neighborhood of her birth. Her uncle's estate is small, and Elizabeth must work while there, and though she finds her tasks easy to bear. She quickly becomes close to her young cousin and uncle, though her aunt is a hard, demanding woman.

Vanity and Vengeance begins 10 years after Pride and Prejudice ended: Darcy and Elizabeth are happily married, but Georgiana (his beautiful and wealthy younger sister) does not seem interested in marriage; Lady Catherine’s daughter, Anne, has completely given up on her romantic hopes; and, Elizabeth’s sister Jane (happily married to Charles Bingley) has adopted an orphaned child. It is Georgiana’s interest in a poor and unpredictable young man, and the interest she arouses in a wealthy older man, that drives the story forward. 

Shortly after leaving Hertfordshire, Darcy receives word that one of the Bennet sisters is engaged to the obsequious Mr. Collins. Darcy, a rich and powerful landowner, knows Elizabeth is not a suitable match, but having already lost the battle with Cupid, he finds himself rushing back to the countryside. He is relieved to discover it is Mary Bennet who is destined to become Mrs. Collins. But his path to happiness is still far from assured. Darcy may have resolved his internal struggle to accept Elizabeth as she is, but he must now overcome a rival....

How do Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet overcome the consequences of poor decisions made by their fathers when Darcy and Elizabeth were young? In A Father's Sins, Mr. George Darcy, father of an illegitimate child raised by his steward, Mr. Wickham, agreed with his wife, Anne, that the firstborn son of their marriage would be heir to Pemberley. However, Mr. Darcy loved his eldest son, George Wickham, and indulged him by bringing him to Pemberley to live after the death of his wife.

In this amorous, provocative, and at times tumultuous "what-if" story, Mr. Darcy is a wealthy young man of sense and education, with considerable worldly experience - not at all uncommon for Regency-era gentlemen of his social standing. He is his own master. He enjoys his situation and has no particular desire to marry at all. Darcy's world is turned inside out when he renews his acquaintance with Miss Elizabeth Bennet - her own circumstances considerably diminished pursuant to the sudden and tragic death of her father.

One night, to decide his entire life's happiness. Chastened by Charles Bingley following Mr. Bennet's untimely death, Fitzwilliam Darcy determines he will offer marriage to Elizabeth Bennet, but she marries another. Years later, a widowed Elizabeth is mistress of Longbourn, and has vowed she will never marry again. A house party at Netherfield brings them back together, but Darcy will have to win more than her heart if he is to have any chance at making her mistress of Pemberley.

When Elizabeth finds Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy outside Netherfield, alone and at his most vulnerable, she must make a quick decision to bend the rules of propriety to help him or turn her back on someone in need. Her tender heart reaches out to him and his wounded one grabs hold of her well-intentioned support. Discovery changes the course of their lives as Elizabeth is forced to accept a reluctant proposal of marriage from this man whom she has just barely begun to respect.

When the irritating Mr. Collins proposes marriage, Elizabeth Bennet is prepared to refuse him, but then she learns that her father is ill. If Mr. Bennet dies, Collins will inherit Longbourn and her family will have nowhere to go. Elizabeth accepts the proposal, telling herself she can be content as long as her family is secure. If only she weren't dreading the approaching wedding day. Ever since leaving Hertfordshire, Mr. Darcy has been trying to forget his inconvenient attraction to Elizabeth. News of her betrothal forces him to realize how devastating it would be to lose her.

As Charles Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy prepare for the Netherfield Ball, a gentlemen’s challenge develops between them to secure their future happiness...with the two eldest Bennet sisters! But when things do not go as expected for Mr. Darcy, Hertfordshire society is in an uproar over the pursuit of one of their favorite daughters by such a wealthy gentleman. Despite being claimed by Mr. Darcy as his future bride, Elizabeth Bennet has no plans to wed the proud and disdainful Mr. Darcy, no matter what her father says! 

What if the last man in the world she could be prevailed upon to marry...is her husband? In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet tells the proud Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy that she wouldn't marry him if he were the last man in the world. But what if she never said the words? What if circumstances conspired to make her accept Darcy the first time he proposes?

When his horse throws a shoe, Fitzwilliam Darcy misses rescuing his sister, Georgiana Darcy, from the clutches of George Wickham by only one day. Now on the hunt to find them both, the gossip beginning to swirl in London forces him to abdicate the search to his cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, while he plays the wayward gentleman in Hertfordshire with his friend Charles Bingley. After a collision with his future, Darcy struggles to satisfy his attraction to a pair of fine eyes and keep his family's scandal hidden.