The Other Bennet Sister

by Janice Hadlow

A daffodil seems quite ordinary when planted between lilies. But looked at without them, it has its own kind of beauty.”

‘Not handsome enough to tempt me’—as though we women have no other occupation than to lay ourselves out to be agreeable to him!”

“They say marriage is a lottery and none of us knows if we’ve drawn a winning ticket until it’s too late.”

It’s hard to persuade anyone, especially a man, that your regard is worth having if you have none for yourself.”

whilst she would never be treated harshly at Pemberley, there were other ways of being made to understand you were not required.

Rational observation, not the unreliable promptings of emotion, should be her guide.

“Then I should say he tells us it is only through self-knowledge that genuine happiness is to be had. Only when we know ourselves—when we have examined and understood our strengths and weaknesses, when we have been honest enough to admit what we really desire from life—only then do we have any chance at all of attaining it.”