The Council of Cobwebs: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Revolutions, of all kinds, begin somewhere no one is watching. And cobwebs accumulate where no one looks. So, occasionally, does wisdom.

As you all know, the proposal speech Mr. Darcy had prepared was the clearest possible guide to falling down a staircase.

What if he had given it to the wrong woman first?

Or was it, indeed, the wrong woman?

Pride is not always where you expect to find it. Nor is prejudice. Neither, for that matter, is courage. And the most decisive changes are not always the ones that announce themselves aloud.

The Council of Cobwebs is a Pride and Prejudice variation set in Regency Britain, among the same people and houses Jane Austen gave us, seen from rather closer quarters, and at rather more inconvenient moments. It does not begin where you might expect, and it ends somewhere rather better than anyone deserves.Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, ten thousand a year, master of himself in nearly every respect but one, and not yet aware of the particular failing in question.Miss Elizabeth Bennet, possessed of fine eyes and a discernment that has, on at least one memorable occasion, let her down quite considerably.Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, whose charm is genuine, whose intentions are good, and whose judgement is occasionally something less than either, particularly when left to his own direction.Miss Anne de Bourgh of Rosings Park, who has a great deal more to say for herself than anyone has yet thought to ask, and who has been quietly observing, calculating, and waiting for this particular moment for years.Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who has always been perfectly certain of her authority, her consequence, and her arrangements—until the day she discovers that none of them may be so secure as she had supposed.Mr. George Wickham features also, though he exits the story with rather less than he arrived with. The details are perhaps best discovered than described.This is a story about cobwebs. About rooms left unused, conversations left unheard, and decisions made in quiet corners which alter everything that follows. About the kind of revolutions that do not announce themselves until they are already accomplished, and which, once complete, cannot easily be undone.

It is a story of councils held where no one thinks to look, of judgments formed before they are spoken, and of influence exercised without display.Of a Darcy who must be corrected before he can be accepted.An Elizabeth who must be humbled before she can see clearly.A colonel whose best intentions require some supervision.And a young woman at the edge of the story who proves, at last, to have been at its centre all along.
For readers of Jane Austen fan fiction looking for an Austen-adjacent Pride and Prejudice retelling that preserves the wit, the irony, and the social observation of the original, while exploring what might have happened if Anne de Bourgh had been given both a voice and a will of her own.

For readers who want their happily ever after earned rather than merely arrived at.A Jane Austen Fan Fiction (JAFF)Pride and Prejudice variationApprox. 45,000 wordsHappily ever after guaranteedRegency romanceLow angstWitty and humorous Afternoon or bedtime readEnjoy!