Whoever Lives in Love Excerpt

Happy April! Rest assured, despite the date, this post is not an April’s fool joke!

As you may already know from the Quills & Quartos newsletter and/or Facebook posts, I have a new book out soon. Whoever Lives in Love will be released on 21 April, in just under three weeks. It is available for pre-order now (book, ebook, and KU). You will find the blurb and prologue below.

First, a little bit about the origin of the story. I’d like to say I entirely understand it, but I don’t, haha. We all know that Georgiana Darcy almost elopes with George Wickham in Pride & Prejudice, and part of what was behind Whoever Lives in Love was a desire to write a story in which she actually does. Beyond that, I wanted to put Darcy through the experience of his sister marrying his old friend. What would he feel? How would Darcy and Wickham’s past as childhood friends play into the unavoidable conflict that arose after the elopement? Why would Georgiana do it?

Because I love Darcy, I wanted to lessen his suffering. Thus, I gave him Elizabeth’s deep and fierce love. She quickly determines that she will do whatever she possibly can to make the situation the easiest it can be for him.

Without further ado, the blurb followed by the prologue.

Blurb

Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy have an instant attraction to one another when they meet in the summer of 1811 at Netherfield Park. Love blossoms quickly and an autumn wedding is planned for the happily betrothed couple.

Darcy’s younger sister, Georgiana, is spending time with her aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Kent when she suddenly goes missing. Her aunt believes Darcy sent for her to go to Pemberley under the protection of her companion, Mrs Younge. Alas, too late, it is discovered that Georgiana has eloped with George Wickham, having fooled everyone. By the time she returns, she is married to the blackguard and a scandal is poised to erupt.

Can love survive in the midst of a family crisis? Mr Bennet delays the wedding as the newly married Wickham’s come into Hertfordshire and make everyone around them miserable. Darcy offers to release Elizabeth from their engagement, but Elizabeth has a different idea. Will she be able to save them all from ruin?

Prologue

“We are married!” Georgiana cried joyfully. She looked at the man standing next to her, her expression full of unmistakable affection. The man’s—the devil’s—arm was draped across her shoulders, his lips twisted into a self-satisfied smirk.

Darcy gaped at his sister, blood rushing through his body so loudly he only faintly heard what his companions were saying. I must be asleep, having a horrifying dream. But he knew he was not; what he had feared these last days had come true.

He struggled to pull himself back to what was taking place around him. It was October 14, 1811, and he was in the drawing room at Netherfield with his beloved Elizabeth, her elder sister, and Bingley.

And staring at his sister and George Wickham. While Darcy had been at Pemberley, believing she was safely at Rosings with their aunt, Lady Catherine, somehow Wickham had convinced Georgiana—against reason, against all she must know to be right—to leave her family and go to Scotland.

Georgiana regarded him, her smile fading. “Brother? Are you not happy for me?”

“It is a surprise. That is all,” he heard Elizabeth say, and the false pleasure in her tone was evident to him. “Come, sit down, and tell us how this came about. I-I suppose you ought to introduce…”

Her voice faltered, but her meaning was clear enough; Georgiana presented Wickham, and the Miss Bennets greeted him politely. Bingley had met him before, and there was little warmth in his tone as he welcomed the newly-arrived couple to his home.

Darcy continued to listen, desperate to heed Elizabeth’s recent advice to approach his sister and Wickham with extreme caution when—if—they made an appearance.

My fifteen-year-old sister has married the most worthless man in England.

How could anything ever be right in his world again?

That’s it for today! I’ll share a little more from the story later this month. Whoever Lives in Love is available for preorder from Amazon and will be released on 21 April. Thanks for reading! ♥️ 🌼