Duke

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

De: Eselle Teays

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy dramatically changes his attitude toward Elizabeth between his leaving Netherfield Park and encountering her again at Rosings, culminating in his proposal of marriage. In this variation, the author has created circumstances that might induce such a seismic change. Ironically, these circumstances also make their eventual happily ever after virtually impossible. Mr. Darcy, out of family obligations to save Rosings for the family and a misguided plan to gain Elizabeth’s hand for himself, has married his deathly ill cousin, Anne de Bourgh, in a marriage of convenience. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Thomas Bennet of Longbourn inherits a dukedom, elevating the family to the pinnacle of society, and his daughters to be among the richest heiresses pursued by every eligible man of the haute ton. Mr. Darcy, though rich and proud, is not eligible not only because he is already married but also because he antagonized Elizabeth by his haughtiness and disdain for others while in Hertfordshire. Could these two beloved Austen characters, considered destined for each other by fans since their creation two centuries ago, breach this enormous chasm to be together in the end without trespassing on the morals of the Regency period? How will Mr. Darcy be redeemed for his wrong-headed decisions?
As in her previous three stories, the author intertwines the lives of real historical figures such as Lady Caroline Lamb, the sixth Duke of Devonshire, and even the Prince Regent with those of the beloved cast of Pride and Prejudice. The backdrop of the Bennet/Darcy saga moves from the unvaried but comfortable environs of the Meryton backwater to the glamor and the peculiar social mores of the highest circles of Regency England. How will the new ducal family adjust to these enormous changes?
The author sincerely hopes that these Pride and Prejudice characters, even though they are in a drastically altered setting, are faithfully depicted as in canon.