"I had only known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry!" What if Darcy took Elizabeth at her word? What if after brief reflection, he decided, in his anguish at being refused, to resign himself to his loss, to do his duty to his family and marry Anne De Bourgh? What if, in her trip to Derbyshire, and after learning Darcy's letter by heart, Elizabeth comes to understand the state of her feelings, but it is too late? In Brighton Wickham seduces Lydia and she runs away with him unchecked. Disgrace falls upon the Bennet family and further tragedy strikes. After time compromises must be made, and life must go on. The stories of all the Bennet sisters go forward in different ways. Elizabeth settles for motherhood and mundane respectability. Darcy's life at Pemberley also goes forward but hearts still call to one another out there in the world. The 'year of no summer' throws up challenges for both families. Loss and heartache, dread reality, longing and resignation, it seems, must prevail. Can our beloved couple find their way back together? This version explores fully and explicitly, the adult, sometimes oppressive nature of the various relationships of our characters, and the behind-the-scenes realities of life in the early nineteenth century. A happy ending is, at last, of course, guaranteed!