The Deception

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Elizabeth travels with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, to Derbyshire. Reassured that the family is away from home, she agrees to visit Pemberley, but encounters Mr. Darcy. He is elated to have a second chance with her, as he has reason to hope that her feelings for him have changed.

But an unkind fate intervenes when Jane’s letters, containing the news of Lydia’s elopement, arrive when Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley are visiting. Unable to contain her despair, Elizabeth tells her visitors of Lydia’s misstep.

Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley leave at once, and so are unaware of the arrival of a third message, telling Elizabeth that her mother has passed away.

The Gardiners and Elizabeth travel south immediately, to reunite Elizabeth with her grieving family. Mr. Bingley returns to Netherfield, hoping to be of service to Jane, while Mr. Darcy goes to London to find Lydia. But, alas, Lydia is not so easily found; realising that Mr. Wickham will never marry her, she has set off on her own to try to find her relatives, the Gardiners. Sadly, she is unfamiliar with London and becomes hopelessly lost on the busy and unforgiving streets of London.

As a result of Mrs. Bennet’s demise, only the immediate family – and the estimable Mrs. Hill – are aware of Lydia’s terrible indiscretion. The family is desperate to keep it a secret as long as possible, in the hopes of securing a marriage for Jane and Elizabeth before the family is ruined forever. Can the Bennet family work together to create and maintain such a deception? And how long will it be before the truth is uncovered?