. . . of most interest to Bennet was Mr. Darcy of Pemberley. When Fitzwilliam Darcy attends the Meryton assembly, he befriends a quiet, intelligent gentleman. In frequent visits to his friend s home, he becomes acquainted with the Bennet family of Longbourn. Yet Mr. Darcy is distracted by a strange feeling of having met some of them before. This is a different Bennet family from the cleverly crafted one in Jane Austen s Pride & Prejudice. This Mr. Bennet is a responsible gentleman who takes an active role in the education and upbringing of all five of his daughters, manages Longbourn to be...

Why would a gentleman ask a lady to conceal their betrothal? Jane Austen writes of secret engagements in more than one of her novels, and in The Secret Betrothal, author Jan Hahn explores the question of what would happen if Austen's most famous heroine from Pride and Prejudice reluctantly agrees to accept such a proposal. When Fitzwilliam Darcy learns that Elizabeth has committed herself to such an arrangement, his hopes of winning her hand are shattered. A circumstances continue to bring the two together-from Hertfordshire to Rosings Park to the seaside town of Brighton-he finds he is...