An Imprudent Engagement

SYNOPSIS

It is well known that in the story of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Colonel Fitzwilliam admired Elizabeth Bennet when he met her at Rosings Park. However, his relative poverty prevented him from doing anything to advance their acquaintance into anything more than a casual friendship, and instead it was his cousin, Mr Darcy, who proposed that Easter time.

But what if Colonel Fitzwilliam had proposed to Elizabeth Bennet first, before his cousin got the opportunity? And what if she had accepted him, short as their acquaintance had been?

‘An Imprudent Engagement’ tells the story of this ‘what if’ scenario; of what could have happened if Colonel Fitzwilliam had thrown caution to the wind, and declared his admiration to Elizabeth. As a consequence, Mr Darcy is obliged to remain silent about his own feelings, and instead is forced to face the unwelcome truth that the woman he loves actually thinks very poorly of him.

‘I knew I’d said the wrong thing even as soon as my answer had slipped out between my lips. But his question had caught me off my guard, and he had looked so hopeful and so sincere, and so utterly boyish in his enthusiasm that somehow, quite foolishly, I felt I couldn’t disappoint him. Before I knew what I was really doing, I had gasped out a stunned ‘yes’ to his plea, and it was only in the following seconds that I suddenly realised what I had done – and my stomach lurched in abrupt panic.’

Despite Elizabeth’s unthinking acceptance of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s suit, it is not long before she is overcome with doubts over her choice. Although the match is a good one when viewed from every possible light, Elizabeth is still weighed down by her reservations. She knows she does not love the Colonel, and above all else, she wants to marry for love.

And just as quickly, the newly-engaged couple is beset by opposition from the Colonel’s family. Strangely, it is Mr Darcy, and not her fiancé, who comes to Elizabeth’s defense time and time again – and over the following months, she is forced to recognize that she has woefully misjudged his character.

All too late, Elizabeth finally understands all the mistakes that she has made – just as she finally understands her true desires. But after giving her promise to marry the Colonel, how can she possibly break his heart and admit how she feels about his cousin?

E. Bradshaw is a British writer, based in Derbyshire, England. Therefore, this book is written with English spellings. This book is a long read, of a length of approximately 192,000 words.

Reviews

A complicated love story

This story is about a love triangle between Elizabeth, C. Fitzwilliam and Darcy. There have been a few others, however this time it is told from Elizabeth’s point of view for almost the entire book, then it switches to Darcy’s point of view. Mr. Bennet is still not a great father but he really tries to make sure Elizabeth is happy with her engagement and tells her it would be okay to call it off. I liked that about him in this book. Elizabeth struggles with regret and the threat of scandal keeping her true feelings to herself, changing her from the lively young woman to a shell of her former self. The story follows the timeline of P & P, Elizabeth is at Rosings when she meets and becomes engaged to C. Fitzwilliam so when Lydia elopes not only does Darcy hunt for the couple, his cousin does also. Lord and Lady Matlock are horrible to Elizabeth due to her inferior status and put pressure on C. Fitzwilliam so much so he changes into a man no one recognizes. The ending ties up all the loose ends nicely and makes for a believable end.

- Lady Jl

If Angst is your preference, Enjoy! Enjoy!

Not to say that this is only a one note story ...It's filled with romance, banter, familial strife and a good dose of history as well. But if you prefer your Darcy to suffer excessively, you can put the first 50-60% of this well written triangle at Level 9 on the Amy Angst meter. I found an error of two in the plot, but they were minor and not detrimental to the overall story. Recommended to a specific audience. BYOB.

- Sheryl Gordon

I liked it!

Yes it was wordy as someone commented, but it made the story complete. It was nice to read a well written P&P Variation after so long. It seems lately the other writers are in so much of a hurry to get their story out, that half the story is missing. I liked the negative feedback from Richard's parents in regards to Elizabeth's station in life. I think that is how most aristocrats, especially in 1800 England would act. Yes, we all love the stories where our beloved couple is loved and adored by the Matlocks, but I believe this writer nailed it how it would really be. Sometimes I like to be reminded how things might have really been in 1800. Even Jane Austin would agree P&P was a world of fantasy. Would Darcy of really married Elizabeth, we will never know, because we all can't imagine them married to anyone else, even when they do marry others. They always come back to each other. I really enjoyed this book.

- Charles R

Thoroughly enjoyed

A lot of angst but nice how it is resolved. Nice how Lady Catherine is always of use. I really liked how Darcy was portrayed in this book.

- Ayesha

I enjoyed the book!

I felt the characters were well developed and it clearly gave us a version wherein Colonel Fitzwilliam acted on his attraction to Elizabeth. I loved Elizabeth's father in this version, and it was very gratifying to see that he would put her happiness ahead of a potential scandal. And if you weren't already half in love with Darcy, this variation ought to do it.

- Jean Stillman