Lucy Marin Bücher

I have no notion who I am meant to be. 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. DISCOVERING THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS PAST means leaving behind everyone and everything he has ever known and loved—including his childhood best friend and soon-to-be betrothed, Elizabeth Bennet. Tormented by questions about himself, and his place, Darcy struggles to understand and adapt to his changed identity and his new life. He must contend with a father buried in the shadows of the past and family relationships he does not understand. The truth has come out. Some have gained by it, some have lost by it, and I am in the middle. I cannot possibly make everyone happy. No matter what I do, someone will suffer. No matter what I do, I shall suffer. Somehow, he must find a way to do right by his new and old families, especially if he is to avoid losing Elizabeth forever.

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. SEEING THAT ELIZABETH BENNET has become a pretty young woman, Darcy's mother, Lady Anne and her sister are desperate to separate her from Darcy. Elizabeth returns to Longbourn for the first time in fifteen years where her hopes of finding a loving family are quickly dashed. She is relieved and embarrassed when Darcy and his cousins join her in Hertfordshire, though she is determined to set aside her tender feelings for him. DARCY IS FRANTIC WITH WORRY about Elizabeth while they are apart. No one is more shocked than he is when he realises the true depth of his feelings for her. He sets off to convince her to love him and accept a life as his wife. Will his mother's hostility prove too great an obstacle?

He could not deny that he loved her with the sort of feeling and certainty that novelists and romantics dreamt of-not that he had ever considered himself romantic. AT THE TENDER AGE OF TWELVE, 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 neighbour, 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 because of her promise to remain with her sisters. SOON AFTER ARRIVING at Netherfield, Fitzwilliam Darcy finds himself intrigued by one of the local young ladies. There is something about Elizabeth Bennet's kindliness that draws him to her, and as he learns more about her, his admiration grows. First determined to forget her, he soon wants more than anything to win her heart and her hand in marriage. But will the very thing that draws him to her be the thing that forever keeps them apart?