April

I came to the countryside for peace. Instead, I’ve found myself stuck in a village where everyone knows my business, everyone wants to talk to me, and every single event seems to be held in a room that is far too small for the number of people crammed into it. Worse still, I can’t seem to escape Elizabeth Bennet—a woman who somehow manages to unsettle me with just a look. And now, on top of everything, I’ve apparently acquired a sarcastic Scottish ghost who’s determined to meddle in my affairs. Merry Christmas to me.

Is not the very meaning of love that it surpasses every objection against it? Jilted. Never did Mr. Darcy imagine it could happen to him. But it has, and by Elizabeth Bennet, the woman who first hated and rejected him but then came to love him - he believed - and agree to be his wife. Alas, it is a short-lived, ill-fated romance that ends nearly as soon as it has begun. No reason is given. More than a year since he last saw her - a year of anger, confusion, and despair - he receives an invitation from the Bingleys to a house party at Netherfield.

Tragedy has struck the Bennet sisters but they are greatly relieved when the anonymous kindness of a stranger means that they can remain together. In exchange for such charity, a monthly letter is required from each sister. It is a fortunate thing that Miss Elizabeth Bennet rather likes letter-writing, for she relishes the opportunity to relate to this unknown gentleman all her impressions and opinions regarding her changed circumstances.

When Elizabeth finds Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy outside Netherfield, alone and at his most vulnerable, she must make a quick decision to bend the rules of propriety to help him or turn her back on someone in need. Her tender heart reaches out to him and his wounded one grabs hold of her well-intentioned support. Discovery changes the course of their lives as Elizabeth is forced to accept a reluctant proposal of marriage from this man whom she has just barely begun to respect.

In the spring of 1812, Elizabeth and Lydia are the only Bennet daughters still unmarried after the death of their father. Elizabeth's health and spirits worsen as she moves among relations as an unwanted, dependent sister. She returns to Mary and Mr. Collins at Longbourn to learn that the neighborhood gossip centers on the reclusive Mr. Darcy. Darcy and his sister live an isolated life in a small rented lodge near Netherfield after the events at Ramsgate. As Georgiana's health is failing, Darcy has his own regrets to bear.

From living in a tin-roofed shack north of Dar es Salaam to becoming Baroness Park of Monmouth, Daphne Park led a most unusual life - one that consisted of a lifelong love affair with the world of Britain's secret services. In the 1970s, she was appointed to Secret Intelligence Service's most senior operational rank as one of its seven area controllers - an extraordinary achievement for a woman working within this most male-dominated and secretive of organizations.