After Elizabeth Bennet refuses Mr. Darcy’s offer of marriage, it takes a heavy toll on him. He withdraws to London and disappears near the docks, away from family, friends, and acquaintances. When he is mistaken for an escaped pirate, he is thrust into an adventure he would never have imagined. Will this be what he needs to forget the one woman he had come to love?
When her aunt and uncle have … uncle have to cancel their plans to tour the Lake District, Elizabeth Bennet has the opportunity to sail to the Isles of Scilly with her father. After a pleasant visit, the voyage home brings storms, a shipwreck, and pirates! When she is rescued by gallant Captain Smith, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. What will she do when she discovers he is the very man whose offer of marriage she refused just a few months earlier?
more
Dressed as a pirate, spoke like a pirate, but was he really a pirate?
Rating: PG17: due to violence, adult themes, sensual moments with ODC. Source: Google Play purchase:
SPOILER ALERT: *** This review may contain spoilers ***
Mr. Darcy needed time to regain his equilibrium and lick his wounds as he tried to forget and recover from Elizabeth Bennet’s harsh refusal of his marriage proposal. He drank himself into a stupor, neglected his appearance, and found himself wondering the docks of London. Unfortunately, several men mistook him for the notorious pirate Lockerly and promptly nabbed and handcuffed him. Seeking the reward, they hauled him to the Thames River Police where he was thrown into a cell and informed he would promptly hang like the rest of his crew. That had a sobering effect on our poor hero.
Agents with the Thames River Police finally believed that Darcy was not Lockerly [as Darcy didn’t have a scar across his shoulder]. However, they needed Darcy to help them catch the pirate. When Darcy agreed, they went to a safe house where Darcy tried to overcome years of gentlemanly behavior, speech, and comportment. In its place, he had to learn how to walk, dress, speak and behave as a less educated, low-class pirate. This was hilarious. Darcy was aghast at the clothing he would have to wear. He stood and shook his head as he looked at his shirt with its billowing sleeves and ruffles down the front. It appeared that Lockerly was a bit of a dandy. The agents then took him to Lockerly’s captured ship the Devil’s Seamaiden. That too was a ploy to draw the pirate out of hiding, as he would want to recover his ship.
In the meantime, Elizabeth and her father were making plans for [how did Aunt Gardiner put it], a life-changing adventure. Mr. Bennet’s sister was ill and requested that he come to her. Only Elizabeth was adventurous enough to go with him. Father and daughter enjoyed the nice weather and calm winds in their sea journey together. Aunt Viola lived on the Isles of Scilly and they enjoyed a good visit with her and the family they hadn’t seen in years. When the time came to return home, their cousin David decided to travel back to London with them. He had had his eye on his cousin since she arrived and his attentions were not unwelcomed by the lady. On their return journey they endured… a violent storm, their ship ran aground, the group was set upon by the real pirate Lockerly and several of his men.
For what seemed like forever, I endured the Bennet family dramatics, the sea travel to Aunt Violas, their family visit, the walks around the island, the cousins getting to know each other, and all other banal attempts at their felicity. I wanted more… I wanted action and it was not happening. So I cheered when things finally started to roll.
On the island, we had a handful of pirates, Elizabeth with her pocket full of rocks, a Captain Smith to the rescue, sword fights, and skirmishes galore. Oh My!!! It was delicious. This was the part of the story that gave a nod to all those pirate movies we’ve watched over the years with Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. Ask your grandparents. The only way to move from one ship to the other was to swing on a rope to the other side. Yeah, those hero moments that we so love; it was so cool. Be still my heart.
Of course, Lockerly tried to apprehend them while at sea, and there was a very good reason why. More swashbuckling sword fights and one mayhem after another. Are we done yet? No, the Thames River Police agent arrived at the port and declared they needed one more thing from Darcy. They wanted to catch whoever helped Lockerly escape the last time he was in custody. Once again Darcy agreed to represent the dreaded pirate in order to see if someone would attempt to help him escape.
While all this was going on Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth and David were headed toward Brighton to retrieve the youngest Bennet on their way home. Big surprise when they arrived at Colonel Forster’s house.
This was an absolutely hilarious mess, full of misunderstandings galore, hidden treasures, pirates, violent storms at sea, shipwrecks, outrageous rescues that were just made for a quick read, and a delightful epilogue. Our HEA was romantic, delicious, sensual, and totally Darcy and Elizabeth fan fiction. Yeah, it wasn’t canon, but [as Aunt Gardiner said], it was a life-changing adventure.
Sent into extreme depression after Miss Elizabeth Bennett refuses his proposal, Darcy lets his appearance go, and has taken to drink. It is not hard to see how he is mistakenly arrested as the pirate Captain Lockerly. Things get all sorted in the morning, but with such a resemblance between them the police see an opportunity to lay a trap for the real Captain Lockerly. Having Darcy impersonate him may draw the Captain out of hiding.
Elizabeth was to go on a tour of the lake country with her aunt and uncle, but unfortunately they had to cancel. However, Mr. Bennett’s sister writes that she is ill and would like to see her brother one more time before she dies. She resides on the Isle of Scilly, and Mr. Bennett knows that his wife will never be able to make the journey, he decides to take his most adventurous daughter Elizabeth.
Loved this retelling. It was fun an adventurous. I loved seeing Darcy and Elizabeth interact in a different way. Even though it is not the description of him in the book it was fun picturing Darcy as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Adventure, disguise, pirates, sword fights, hijacked carriages, and masqued balls…! Some books drag a bit in the middle, but not this one! It starts with a lot of set-up (well-done and written in such a way as to make me wonder what on earth was going to happen and how!), and it quickly became a nail-biting page-turner that didn’t let up the pace until the satisfying HEA. I loved this story!