Monica Fairview's Blog, page 31

P&P The Untold Stories: After the Proposal

The bitterness of rejection…

April 9, 1812

(BBC)

Fury choked him. All-consuming fury – at her, of course, but no less at himself for laying himself open to the abject humiliation.

Darcy tugged his gloves on and his countenance twisted into an almighty scowl.

Heavens above! How had he failed himself so utterly, so completely? He, who had always prided himself on his understanding, had been no better than a common addle-pate devoid of both reason and perception. Like the veriest clod, he had clos...

P&P The Untold Stories: Darcy Plans His Proposal

Darcy goes for a ride to clear his head and put together a gentlemanlike proposal…

April 9, 1812

(Photo Joana Starnes)

Darcy tightened the reins, and brought his mount to a halt. To his left, far into the hazy distance, stood the great house, grey and squat, surrounded by manicured parkland.

He could not see the parsonage from here, nor the winding path along which Elizabeth was doubtlessly strolling, even then. Perhaps it was just as well that she was out of sight. Tantalising glimpses of her ...

P&P The Untold Stories: Fitzwilliam Meets Elizabeth in the Woods

Colonel Loudmouth Drops a Dime on Darcy

April 9th, 1812

COLONEL FITZWILLIAM WAS NOT IN THE BEST OF SPIRITS as he left the main house. He loved Darcy like a brother, but there were times when his cousin’s high-handedness drove the colonel to distraction. The reason for today’s irritation? Darcy had hinted that he might extend his visit to Rosings.

Again.

Blast and damnation! cursed the colonel. I have little more than a month left to my leave, and then I must return to Spain. I had hoped to spe...

P&P The Untold Stories: Fitzwilliam & Darcy Visit the Parsonage Again

Fitzwilliam and Darcy Suffer the Attentions of Mr. Collins – Again

March 31st, 1812

“MR. DARCY AND COLONEL FITZWILLIAM,” THE SERVANT ANNOUNCED.

The party ensconced at the Hunsford Parsonage stood about the small parlor. Colonel Fitzwilliam quickly took in the scene: Mr. Collins, tall and stocky, was literally bowing from the waist.

Steady man, the colonel thought. I am not my father, the earl.

Mrs. Collins, plain and pleasant, stood next to her husband, her slight curtsey all that was correct ...

P&P The Untold Stories: Is Mr. Darcy in Love?

There is a great deal of awkwardness at the parsonage when Mr. Darcy visits. I wish he would not call. I have no idea what he means by it – unless he comes here to find fault. –- from Elizabeth’s letter to Jane, April 4, 1812Why did Mr. Darcy come so often to the Parsonage? It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice—a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure ...

Behind the Mask: “You Are Passionate, Jane” – The Story of a Play

Some years ago, I wanted to write a play about Jane Austen, in which she would have a conversation with another famous author. My choice was Lord Byron, for they were both alive and in England, sometimes even in London, at the same time. They never met, but they knew about each other’s existence. Austen didn’t seem to think very highly of Byron, as in a letter she famously wrote “I have read the Corsair, mended my petticoat, and have nothing else to do,” which sounds rather disparaging. We know...

P&P The Untiold Stories: Darcy’s Discussions with Elizabeth about her staying at Rosings in future

Good morning! Easter time in England is lovely with the cherry blossoms in bloom. There was a huge tree outside of my children’s school that would rain petals down on us with the breeze. The children would also throw handfuls of petals up in the air and let them fall down upon them. It was part of the inspiration for this scene.

 

April 3, 1812

Elizabeth tarried as she walked the well-worn path to the grove. What if Mr. Darcy appeared again? She was still bewildered by the perverseness of misch...

P&P The Untold Stories: Lady Catherine’s Easter by Diana Birchall

It’s Easter, and Mr. Darcy has still not proposed to Anne de Bourgh…

March 29, 1812

The wished-for proposal did not come. The green sarsanet, the primrose silk, the floral printed gown with the fichu, were all cunningly constructed so to give Miss de Bourgh’s figure consequence, and accordingly worn with her best French ringlets and hair decorations. None of these things, nor all of them, brought Mr. Darcy to a declaration. To Lady Catherine’s mortification, Darcy was invariably polite, and lis...

P&P The Untold Stories: Easter Sunday at Rosings

Darcy sees Elizabeth at church

March 29, 1812

It had started at church, which had been the usual affair of attempting to disguise the fact that he could not stop stealing glances at Elizabeth combined with utter disdain for Mr. Collins’s foolish sermon.  Easter and rebirth—he had that much right, but the ridiculous ramblings that followed would have been laughable had they not been so dreadfully dull. Darcy had already steeled himself to the knowledge that he would not have the acute, painful ...

His Family Objects: Coming Soon!

Hot on the heels of my modern book, A Pinch of Salt, I have a new Regency novel  coming this May. I’ve been busy! Haha

The book is titled His Family Objects. It is an Elizabeth and Darcy story. Its root is in a small line from Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth and the Gardiners are touring Pemberley, and when showing them the sitting room Darcy has prepared for Georgiana, Mrs Reynolds says, “There is nothing he would not do for her”. I wanted to play with that sense of devotion. We know Darcy is a ...