Darcy is at his wits end.As guardian to his younger sister, he wants her to become a properly accomplished woman–she is coming out soon, after all. But Georgiana steadfastly refuses despite the encouragement of Elizabeth Bennet, long time Darcy family friend. Darcy invites a few guests to Pemberley in the hopes of encouraging Georgiana’s improvement with a taste of society.Unexpected additions … taste of society.
Unexpected additions to the party prove dangerously distracting, leaving the Darcy family on the brink of disaster. Elizabeth holds the key to their restoration, but she has fled Pemberley, unable to tolerate another day in the Darcys’ company.
Will Darcy relinquish his pride and prejudice to seek out a woman below his notice before his family is irreparably ruined?
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“She’s an old soul with young eyes, a vintage heart, and a beautiful mind.” –Nicole Lyons
Rating: PG-13: a few scenes were a bit steamy and suggestive, but otherwise, clean. I read the first few chapters of this as a WIP on the author’s website. I also preordered it as soon as it was available.
Maria Grace, our dear wonderful author, has created a whole ‘nother universe for this story. It was odd seeing Mr. Bennet written as the vicar at Pemberley. Mrs. Bennet was deceased and this story picked up at the end of the mourning period for her. Mrs. Bennet was portrayed as sweet, kind and generous of spirit. What?? Well, not so kind. Jane and Lydia were her favorites and Elizabeth was not. At least that rang true from canon. Elizabeth was glad she was no longer required to wear black.
Mr. Bennet was wise, arthritic and used a cane to help him get around. Elizabeth had been friends with and to the people at Pemberley for the last ten years. She was very useful to Lady Anne Darcy before her death and she helped read to the elder Mr. Darcy before his death. She had also become friends with the younger Darcy and Georgiana.
“A strong woman builds her own world. She is one who is wise enough to know that it will attract the man she will gladly share it with.” –Ellen J. Barrier, How to Trust God When All Other Resources Have Failed
This Elizabeth was wise and quite useful to Darcy as he wrangled with a younger sister and her youthful outbursts and behavior. She was having difficulty and he simply could not find solutions for solving her problems. Elizabeth, of course, knew the root of her issues and tried to help where she could. Darcy was forever seeking her advice on this or that. On several of their debates, you could really see the gulf between their opinions as well as the difference between their stations. Many times, he, more so than she, would huff and storm off in a snit due to those differences of opinion. She and Darcy could argue the sky was a certain shade of blue. It was hilarious watching them stand their ground on their differences. And yet, he would seek her opinion before anyone else on something he felt was important. He trusted and respected her and occasionally even thought she was wise. Well, sometimes.
Darcy and Georgiana hosted a house party and EVERYTHING that could go wrong did. Our antagonists were present. Fitzwilliam arrived with cousin Anne de Bourgh, who was such a snit. Thank goodness, Lady Catherine stayed home. Charles Bingley arrived with sister Caroline, who was a jealousy harpy. Fitzwilliam had also invited two friends, Viscount Garland and his sister Blanche.
“On the left side of a strong woman, stands a strong man; he is strengthened by her character.” –Ellen J. Barrier
On several of the excursions and party plans, the Bennet family were also invited. Elizabeth was everything useful and encouraged Georgiana who participated even though she was not officially out yet. Mr. Bennet had to wrangle Lydia on occasion and that was good to see him take her on due to her behavior. In fact, I’ve never seen him handle her so well in any FAFF story. I really enjoyed that part.
There were many secrets in this story. So much so, I felt like I was in the dark half the time. It was a while before we realized Georgiana’s secret. Teachers will pick up on it immediately. Back in the day, students didn’t have the help they do now for difficulties with learning. For a Darcy to have problems of this nature, was considered a slap on the family name. This was a big part of the problems between the elder Darcy and his son. That story was told through snippets and I thought I’d never find out what happened. The elder Darcy’s illness made the younger Darcy adverse to the local surgeon approaching him in any capacity. The hints were bad enough. I don’t think I could have stood the full story.
Then we have the business with Garland and his sister. What-the-heck? What was it about them that drove me crazy? I could not like them. I tried, really, I tried. He was an obnoxious snob and we learn that he had a prior history with Elizabeth that ended her Season in London. What happened with him caught me completely by surprise. I didn’t see that coming. Our author really pulled a good one and I still have questions.
Blanche… I couldn’t like her. Was it because her name was Blanche? I found myself with visions of Jane Eyre cruising through my head and her Blanche Ingram antagonist. What was with her? Did she really want Darcy? She was sultry and had him all stirred up in the worst way. What was her deal? Questions, oh, lots of questions. She was everything he should want but was everything he didn’t need. Enough said.
I highly recommend this JAFF [Jane Austen Fan Fiction] as it is completely different. I volunteered to read an ARC and the opinions and views expressed are my own.