Help me celebrate the release of "A Favorable Impression"- a Pride and Prejudice Variation! Continue reading for some behind-the-scenes details, an EXCLUSIVE excerpt, FREE BONUS MATERIAL and GIVEAWAYS!
What if Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy had met at Pemberley?
Coming home to Pemberley, the last thing Mr. Darcy expected was to find strangers taking a tour! Upon learning that the Gardiners and their nieces have mutual friends among his house party guests, Darcy invites them to stay. Over the course of the week, Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s wit and vivacity make a favorable impression on Darcy, and she is equally impressed with his kindness and generosity.
Mr. Darcy expects that the rest of the Bennet family will be as well-mannered and genteel. But he soon learns they are quite the opposite: loud, vulgar, and rude. To make matters worse, the youngest sister has eloped with Mr. Darcy’s nemesis!
But Darcy is convinced that if he can swallow his pride and ask Elizabeth to marry him, she will certainly accept. He did not count on her also having a sense of pride…
Elizabeth knows her family is imperfect, but being told that she is loved in spite of her reprehensible family is an insult that can not be borne. Such a degrading proposal ruins Elizabeth’s good opinion of Mr. Darcy and convinces her that she was sorely mistaken about his character.
Behind the story
We all know how Pride and Prejudice goes. She gets a bad first impression, learns more things that make her hate him, he proposes, she rejects, she finds out the truth and her opinion starts to change, then she falls in love after seeing him at his house. Well, there's more to it than that, but you get the idea. ;-)
But what if these events happened in a different order? Since Pemberley is where Elizabeth begins to see Darcy's true character and fall in love with him, I decided to start there. In this variation, the Bennets and the Bingleys are already acquainted from Mr. Bingley's leasing Netherfield Park the previous autumn, but Mr. Darcy did not accompany him.
Elizabeth and Jane tour Pemberley with their aunt and uncle, where they meet Mr. Darcy for the first time, and after learning they have mutual friends, he invites them to stay for his house party. This sets the stage, not only for a reunion between Bingley and Jane, but for Elizabeth and Darcy to form favorable first impressions of each other. It's almost like Pride and Prejudice in reverse, in this sense.
Of course, things don't go perfectly from this point. Darcy goes to Hertfordshire for Jane and Bingley's wedding, where he meets the rest of the Bennet family and we get a taste of "meet the parents" type of humor. Add to that Lydia's elopement thrown in, and Darcy has every reason to walk away for good. But we know Darcy, and we know he just can't resist Elizabeth, even if it means proposing to her "against his better judgment" and insulting her whole family in the process. Who in their right mind would accept a proposal like that?
I wanted to make things more interesting in the aftermath of that failed proposal by introducing rival love interests for Darcy and Elizabeth. Caroline Bingley makes a natural rival for Elizabeth since she has been after Darcy from the start; after Elizabeth rejects Darcy he begins to court Caroline in an attempt to get over Elizabeth. For Darcy's rival, rather than pit him against an established character like Colonel Fitzwilliam or Mr. Wickham, I decided that an original character would be more interesting. So, I chose to write about Colonel Fitzwilliam's older brother, a character who we know exists in Pride and Prejudice, but is never directly referenced. Since we know nothing about him, except for the fact that he is the eldest son of an earl and his last name is probably Fitzwilliam, I had a bit of free reign to make him into whatever sort of character I wished. Viscount Fitzwilliam is a charming rake whose appearance strongly resembles Mr. Darcy, but whose motives are anything but pure. I had a lot of fun writing him, and I hope you will find him an interesting character.
One of the major events that takes place in the second half of the novel is a trip to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens during the Vitoria Fête. I love incorporating real-life places and events into my novels when I am able to. You can read the recent article I wrote about Vauxhall and the fête at Always Austen.
Bonus Content
Naturally, when writing a book, there is always some information that needs to be cut for the sake of the story's pacing. But at times, this leaves some unanswered questions. Readers who are curious about what really took place the night of the Vitoria Fête can find out in What Happened at Vauxhall, a FREE story you can download by signing up for my email list at the link provided.
What Happened at Vauxhall does contain spoilers, therefore it is recommended you enjoy A Favorable Impression first.
Excerpt
One of my favorite scenes to write was the fishing expedition at Pemberley. Mr. Gardiner is an avid fisherman, but seldom gets to enjoy his sport, so naturally, he is delighted when Mr. Darcy invites him to fish in his lake. Their whole party decides to join in, giving us a chance to see our beloved characters interact in some entertaining ways. So without further ado, an excerpt from Chapter 3 of A Favorable Impression.
After breakfast, they headed out to the lake. Mr. Darcy’s boats could each accommodate six people. The three married couples all climbed into one skiff. That meant the Darcy, Bingley, and Bennet siblings shared the other. Miss Bingley took one look at the jar of worms from Mr. Darcy’s gardener and nearly fainted.
“I do not think I can do this,” she said. “I will watch.” She crossed her arms over her stomach and sat down.
“Oh, come now, Caroline!” Her brother ribbed. “I will bait your line with the wriggler for you. You only need to put the line out there.”
Mr. Bingley squished a fat, juicy worm onto the hook while his sister looked away. Then he handed the rod to her. “Now, gently throw the line out.”
Miss Bingley timidly held the rod over the water and gave the slightest jerk. The line dropped near the edge of the boat.
Mr. Bingley hid his smile. “That is a good start, but perhaps you need to throw the line a little further from the boat if you want to attract any fish.”
Miss Bingley pulled the line in and began again. This time, however, she was too vigorous. She whipped the line behind her head, and the hook caught the hem of her day dress. When she cast forward, the back of her skirt rose with the line!
Her companions could not help snickering.
“Help me!” Miss Bingley cried. Fortunately for Miss Bingley, her exposure was limited to her ankles and calves. Yet, in her struggle to free herself, she dropped the fishing rod, entangling herself more.
“I do not think you are meant to be the bait, Caroline!” Mr. Bingley chuckled as he untangled his sister and cast the line before handing the rod to her. Red with embarrassment, Miss Bingley sat back on the crossbench.
Elizabeth turned to Mr. Darcy. “I confess, I have never fished before. Would you explain to me how to begin?”
“Certainly, Miss Elizabeth.” He held up the hook on the end of Elizabeth’s line and explained how to put the worm onto it. Without a hint of unease, Elizabeth removed her gloves, took a worm from the jar and skewered it with the hook. Mr. Darcy seemed impressed.
“Now, let us have no more gowns snagged by the line.” Reaching his arms around her, he grasped her fishing rod. She caught a whiff of bergamot and mint, and the heat of his body close to her caused her heart to palpitate.
“Turn your body slightly as you bring the rod to the side,” he directed. His body moved with hers as she turned to her right. “Then aim where you want your lure to go and give a gentle flick of the rod.” His hands following hers, Elizabeth swung the rod forward, releasing the line. The bait sailed out a fair distance from the boat.
“Perfectly executed, Miss Bennet,” Mr. Darcy praised. “You are a natural.”
Elizabeth flushed with pride. “It is because I have an excellent teacher, Mr. Darcy.”
Darcy released his hold on her rod and stepped back over to check on his sister.
“Do you need any help with your line, Georgie?”
“I have it well in hand,” Miss Darcy replied, casting her line out as if she had been fishing since before she could walk. Elizabeth suspected Miss Darcy and her brother often fished together.
Meanwhile, Jane finished baiting her hook and prepared to cast.
“Er, would you like any assistance with that, Miss Bennet?” Mr. Bingley asked. He came beside her awkwardly. He stepped behind her to put his hands on the rod as he had seen Mr. Darcy do for Elizabeth, but Jane sidestepped him.
“Thank you, Mr. Bingley, but after watching my sister, I think I shall do very well.”
“Yes, well, very good.” Mr. Bingley leaned away from her. Jane glanced nervously at Mr. Bingley before executing a perfect side cast into the water, as Elizabeth had done.
Mr. Bingley clapped. “Brava, Miss Bennet!”
Miss Bingley watched them with pursed lips. Just then, her line jerked, and she shrieked.
Her brother exclaimed, “You’ve got a bite, Caroline! Quick, reel it in!”
Miss Bingley pulled up a small, wriggling trout. Seeing it flopping around on the end of the line, she shrieked again. She dropped the fishing rod to the bottom of the boat and stood, putting her hands on her cheeks.
Mr. Bingley grabbed the rod and the flopping fish. He freed the hook from the fish’s mouth and held the perch to his sister. “See? He will not hurt you.”
Suddenly, the fish jumped from Mr. Bingley’s hands, bouncing off of Miss Bingley’s chest, eliciting more screams from her before it landed back in the water. The others howled with laughter.
“I am never going fishing again!” Miss Bingley sat and opened her parasol, blinking back her tears.
Mr. Bingley shook his head. “That one was too small to keep anyways.”
After the excitement, they were quiet. The wind whispered through the trees. Insects buzzed, and a family of ducks quacked as they swam past.
Miss Bingley fanned herself. “It is too hot,” she whined. “I wish we could go back to the house.”
“But we haven’t even caught anything yet,” her brother answered. “We cannot go back until we have caught at least a few more.”
Miss Darcy put her finger to her lips and whispered. “Shh! You will scare away all the fish.”
Elizabeth felt the slightest tug on her line. She waited to see if the fish would bite. Then, the rod bent more. “Oh!”
“I think you have got one!” Mr. Darcy said in a hushed voice.
As she reeled the line in, a perch came to the surface. “My goodness!” Elizabeth cried.
Mr. Darcy scooped up the fish with a net. “An excellent catch, Miss Elizabeth! We can keep that one for supper.” He tossed the perch in a wide metal pail they had brought.
Mr. Bingley nodded. “Good job, Miss Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth’s pride swelled at the praise from the two gentlemen over her sporting efforts.
“I am hungry,” Miss Bingley said.
“We will break soon. In the meantime, you might find shortbread biscuits that Cook packed.” Darcy held out the basket Mrs. Welch gave him that morning.
Miss Bingley gingerly took a biscuit from the basket and offered biscuits to the rest of their party.
“Mmm! These are delicious!” Jane exclaimed, taking the last bite of her shortbread.”
“You have something…” Mr. Bingley motioned to the corner of his face.
Jane wiped where he indicated.
“No, the other side.” Without thinking, Mr. Bingley brushed them off Jane's cheek.
Jane tilted her gaze downward, a blush spreading across her cheeks. “Thank you, Mr. Bingley. Where would I be without you?”
Mr. Bingley's cheeks reddened as well.
Miss Bingley scowled at the display of familiarity. Looking to Miss Darcy, she said, “You haven’t caught anything this past hour. Perhaps Charles ought to assist you with putting a larger bait on the hook.”
Miss Darcy gave her a bemused look, but before she could answer, Jane’s rod bowed.
“Oh my!” Jane exclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention. The fish battled, and Jane nearly lost her grip on the pole.
“I think you have a big one on the line, Miss Bennet!” Mr. Bingley gasped.
Jane struggled to pull in the fish. She cranked the reel, but the pole bent under the weight of the fish.
Mr. Bingley put his arms around Jane and gripped the rod while she reeled in the line with all her strength. A great catfish leapt out of the water, eliciting cries of delight (or disgust, in Miss Bingley’s case) all around.
Mr. Darcy assisted in scooping the massive fish up with the net and taking the hook out of its mouth. Laying the fish on the floor of the boat, he took up a small wooden club from the tackle box.
“What is that for?” Elizabeth asked.
“Every fish needs to meet the priest before they die,” Mr. Bingley quipped.
Seeing the puzzled look on the ladies’ faces, Mr. Darcy explained, “It’s called a ‘fishing priest.’ To give the fish a humane death. This one is too big to put in our bucket, so I must kill it immediately. Now stay back, please.” Raising the priest high, he struck down hard on the fish’s head. Miss Bingley screamed.
“What do you reckon that fish weighs?” Mr. Bingley asked. “It must be over twenty inches long!”
Mr. Darcy held the giant fish up. “Well, Miss Bennet, shall we eat it, or will you mount it on your wall?”
“Eat it!” Jane nodded.
“Good, because I am starved!” Miss Darcy said, causing everyone to laugh again.
Mr. Darcy prepared to head back to shore.
Mr. Bingley took Jane’s hand and shook it in congratulations, holding it longer than necessary. “You make an excellent fisherman.”
Jane, flooded with bashfulness, pulled her hand away, her color deepening.
“It is only beginner’s luck.”
Miss Bingley stood suddenly, causing the boat to rock. Jane lost her balance, and before Mr. Bingley could catch her, she toppled into the water.
Hehe, nothing like a little cliffhanger to whet your appetite, eh?
Giveaways
And now for the prizes!
One US resident will receive one signed paperback copy of A Favorable Impression and a necklace with a quote from Pride and Prejudice. A valid US address is required for these prizes.
Two winners will receive one ebook copy of A Favorable Impression (epub format). Open internationally to all readers. A valid email address is required.
Rules:
1) The contest ends on April 25, 2023 at 12am EST.
2) Winners will be notified by email and will have until April 27, 12am EST to claim their prize or an alternate winner will be chosen.
3) A valid email address is required for all entries. Any invalid email address will automatically be disqualified.
4) One entry per email address is permitted. Multiple entries using the same email address will be disqualified.
5) A valid US address is required for all US residents. Invalid addresses will result in disqualification.
The giveaway is now closed. Please check your email to see if you won!
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