Family Matters Series

She overheard his heartless requirements for a wife. He mistook her for a servant and insulted her family. Their parting in Ireland was catastrophic. Now Mr Darcy has followed Elizabeth Bennet to Hertfordshire, armed with apologies and a confession: she's the only woman he’s ever loved. But can words heal wounds this deep? Can a man who wounded her pride win her heart?

Elizabeth Bennet has always understood her place in the world: modest, borrowed, and entirely her own. Orphaned as a small child and raised with love at Longbourn, she has never questioned the life she was given. That is, until Mr Bennet finds a letter he had forgotten he kept, and the name Sterling changes everything. Her father is the younger brother of an earl. And his family, the warm, exuberant, altogether overwhelming Romsleys, have spent years grieving a man they loved, never knowing he had a daughter. Now they want to know her.

Banished from longbourn at a young age, Elizabeth Bennet is raised among the Fitzwilliams at the Romsley estate, growing up alongside Fitzwilliam Darcy and his cousins. Entering adulthood, Elizabeth soon finds herself in possession of a secret love for him that even she knows is futile, and she must settle for his friendship.

At the tender age of 12, Elizabeth Bennet vowed to protect her younger sisters from her parents’ neglect, brought on by their increasingly combative marriage. Jane is her partner in this endeavour - until her attention is diverted by the arrival of a handsome new neighbor, Mr Bingley. With him is his friend, Mr. Darcy, who Elizabeth first dismisses as taciturn and rude. But as she gets to know him, other feelings arise - ones destined to end in heartbreak.

In 1789, a terrible crime is committed, plunging one family into grief as another rejoices in the gift of an unexpected son. Two decades later, a chance meeting leads to the discovery of the lost heir of Pemberley and the man who knew himself as Mr, William Lucas is restored to his birthright as Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is drawn to Elizabeth Bennet from the day they met, captivated by her cleverness, her charm, and her good humour. While he initially sees only a friendship between them, his feelings for her soon grow more ardent, even while he tries to persuade himself she would be an unsuitable bride. At length, however, his pride and his prejudices must be laid aside; he knows that to be happy in marriage is more important.

AFTER THEIR UNEXPECTED MEETING AT PEMBERLEY, Elizabeth Bennet believes that she and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy have been afforded a second chance at love. Even with the news of Lydia Bennet's elopement with George Wickham could surely only delay their happily ever after. After his visit to Longbourn in the autumn, Mr. Darcy must go to London but promises to return within a fortnight. Elizabeth does not doubt an engagement will result then once he returns.