Matrimony is the last thing on Elizabeth Bennet’s mind when she arrives at Netherfield Park to tend to her ill sister. When proud Mr. Darcy acts rashly to thwart a compromise and tells her that the entire household believes they are engaged, she dismisses him outright and refuses his offer of marriage. But more surprises await her at Longbourn. Mr. Collins is ready with an offer of marriage, and it is not only her mother who thinks it a fine match.

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy is ill-equipped for the undertaking ahead of him. He is to woo Miss Elizabeth Bennet while disguising his purpose—for they are secretly betrothed! The marriage contract, signed 15 years ago, was conceived during the Bennets’ summer interlude at Pemberley.

Elizabeth Bennet made her sister a promise on her deathbed: to love and care for her son, young Charles Bingley, like her very own child. And so she did, for four years, until the boy's guardian, Fitzwilliam Darcy showed up in Meryton, insisting on removing the boy from his aunt, his life, and everything he knew, to be raised at Pemberley. 

Love is not the simple thing that novels and poetry speak of. It is by turns subtle and overwhelming. It may slip silently into your heart, or strike like a bolt of lightning.

Viscount Saye, eldest cousin of Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, is startled one wintry day by the news that his beloved, Lillian Goddard, is to become engaged to another. Unwilling to lose her, he quickly plans a party at his ancestral estate to woo her away from her suitor. Twenty ladies and gentlemen respond to his invitation, eager for a fortnight of revelry in Saye’s inimitable style.

In the spring of 1812, Elizabeth and Lydia are the only Bennet daughters still unmarried after the death of their father. Elizabeth's health and spirits worsen as she moves among relations as an unwanted, dependent sister. She returns to Mary and Mr. Collins at Longbourn to learn that the neighborhood gossip centers on the reclusive Mr. Darcy. Darcy and his sister live an isolated life in a small rented lodge near Netherfield after the events at Ramsgate. As Georgiana's health is failing, Darcy has his own regrets to bear.

When Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Miss Elizabeth Bennet, his heart is almost immediately engaged. Seeing the pretty lady before him, a lady of no consequence or fortune, he believes he should not form an attachment to her, unsuitable as such a woman is to be his wife. What he cannot see, however, is the truth. That the simple country girl harbors a secret. Before she meets Darcy, Elizabeth has spent two years hiding from the men who killed her beloved first husband.

Fitzwilliam Darcy has had enough—enough of the ton and their speculations, enough of matchmaking mamas and their eager daughters, and enough of his family’s expectations that he will eventually marry his cousin Anne. Craving solitude and peace after discovering his sister with George Wickham in Ramsgate, he accepts an invitation to visit Netherfield Park from his friend Charles Bingley and travels to Hertfordshire, where he hopes Georgiana will recover from her disappointment in relative privacy. 

When Fitzwilliam Darcy makes an impetuous offer of marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, he is convinced they have as good a chance as any for a harmonious life together. That is, until an overheard conversation changes everything, and Darcy realizes he is now joined in perpetuity to a woman who loathes the very sight of him. Elizabeth Bennet's expectations for matrimonial accord were never very high, having accepted Mr. Darcy's proposal in a fit of pique, not love. Still, she is determined to make the best of her situation. But life at Pemberley is not at all what she imagined.

In this romance anthology, 15 Austenesque authors assemble to sketch Darcy's character through a series of reimaginings, set in the Regency through contemporary times - from faithful narratives to the fanciful. In The Darcy Monologues, the man himself reveals his intimate thoughts, his passionate dreams, and his journey to love - all told with a previously concealed wit and enduring charm. 

“Mr Darcy, I am eager to hear your explanation for the fact that quite a few people believe we are engaged.” It starts with a bit of well-meant advice. Colonel Fitzwilliam suggests to his cousin Darcy that, before he proposes to Elizabeth Bennet in Kent, perhaps he ought to discuss his plans with their families first. What neither man could have predicted however was that Lord Matlock would write the news to his sister, or that Viscount Saye would overhear and tell his friends, or that his friends might slip a little and let their friends know as well.

Fitzwilliam Darcy had planned to leave Netherfield Park and all thoughts of the enchanting Miss Elizabeth Bennet behind him - until one night when he saw smoke rising from Longbourn and realized she was in peril. Elizabeth Bennet found Mr. Darcy arrogant and insufferable right up until he became her hero, pulling her and her sister from the fire that devastated their home and could have claimed both of their lives. 

When secrets are revealed and a family agenda works against him, can Fitzwilliam Darcy recover his damaged spirits and find happiness? Following his disastrous proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy returns to London from Kent, broken-hearted and dejected. One bright spot penetrates his sea of despair: His sister, Georgiana, has finally recovered her spirits from the grievous events at Ramsgate the previous summer. She has forged a new friendship with Miss Hester Drake, a lady who appears to be an ideal friend.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is desperate. Finally confronted with a woman who ignites all his hopes, he agonizes over the cruel trick of fate which placed her in a situation beneath his notice. The morning after the Netherfield ball, he resolves to put as much distance between himself and her as possible.

As humiliating as an ill-bred set down was from an impertinent country miss, the veracity of Elizabeth Bennet’s arguments and the humiliation at his own lack of understanding started to sink in. After years of entrenched isolation, others would take notice if he appeared more civil. How was he to take his place in society without raising expectations? He reaches out to the one person he can trust, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who joins the party at Netherfield.