Preference & Neglect: A Darcy & Lizzy Pride & Prejudice Variation in Sanditon

Darcy and Elizabeth's fake courtship is so believable that all of Sanditon is wondering...will they or won't they?

On the heels of an unusual sort of heartbreak, Elizabeth Bennet finds contentment in her new life - assisting her uncle, Sir Edward Gardiner, at his luxurious new hotel in Sanditon. Elizabeth is looking forward to an eventful summer with her friends, but her plans turn into schemes when she decides to come to the aid of a new visitor in her idyllic seaside Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Though the gentleman insulted her on the one occasion they met, nearly two years prior, Elizabeth is charmed by his lovable sister Georgiana Darcy and his mischievous cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, and moved by the pitiful circumstances of his arrival. As a friendship forms between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, her compassion for his own recent heartbreak and a healthy dose of contempt for his estranged fiancée tempt her into helping him in a ruse engineered by his impudent cousin. Together, Elizabeth repels an unwanted suitor and Mr. Darcy endeavors to rekindle a romance with the woman who has forsaken him for a rakish and frivolous fortune hunter.

While Elizabeth refuses to repeat the heartbreaking mistakes of her past, and Mr. Darcy desperately clings to what once was, his friends and her own all wait with amusement and anticipation for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s feigned courtship to grow into something genuine. In the meantime, Lady Catherine has her own decided opinions to shout at Darcy, Charlotte - now Lady Parker - is intent on solving a minor mystery, Georgiana hides a dark secret while Richard seeks an heiress to woo, and Austen heroines Emma Knightley and Marianne Dashwood arrive in Sanditon to play their own roles in a romance that captivates all of Sanditon with one will they or won’t they?


A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation with Colonel Fitzwilliam, Georgianna Darcy, Uncle Gardiner, and Charlotte Lucas. Although the story takes place at Sanditon, readers need not be familiar with the story, or any of the characters to follow the narrative.