TheWork of a Moment

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When Elizabeth Bennet slips into a darkened corridor at Netherfield Park, seeking nothing more than fresh air, she stumbles upon a scene she was never meant to witness: Mr Bingley in close conference with a pretty red-haired housemaid. Their hushed exchange and promise to return later, as well as their fervent hope that the truth remain hidden, can mean only one thing in Elizabeth’s mind: the genial gentleman courting her beloved Jane is a libertine.

Determined to spare her tender-hearted sister irrevocable heartbreak, Elizabeth sets about quietly separating Jane from the man she is certain will ruin her. She tells herself she leaves nothing behind at Netherfield, certainly not the silent, dark-eyed attentions of his proud and disagreeable friend, which had unsettled her more than she cared to admit. When Caroline Bingley’s letters arrive boasting that her brother is all but engaged to Georgiana Darcy, the rightness of Elizabeth’s interference seems beyond question.

Months later, Elizabeth meets a very different Mr Darcy. A man whose composure cracks at the sight of her and who offers her an unexpected proposal. In the bruising aftermath comes a reluctant confession. Miss Bingley’s letters have rippled farther afield and Elizabeth has spent half a year misreading the only one whose good opinion she truly wishes to keep.

Together and apart, Darcy and Elizabeth must answer slanders, navigate two formidable aunts and two impossible Bingleys, and discover if a love forged in misunderstanding and tempered by months of silent longing can claim its hard-won happily ever after.​