Beginning:
December 25, 1817, PemberleyFriday 56:
It is Christmas night, and I have been looking forward to this moment all day. My mind has been racing, and my fingers have been itching to pick up my pen and write.
He concurs with the story and recalls that Hannah, who was delirious at the time, pleading with him to assist in "getting rid of it for Mrs. Darcy."
"It is settled between us already, that we are to be the happiest couple in the world," said Elizabeth Bennet at the conclusion of Pride & Prejudice--but was it true?
Charlie Haywood is a London-based private investigator who has made his own fortune--on his own terms. Charming, cynical, and promiscuous, he never expected to be attracted to Evie Pemberton, an independent-minded artist living with the aftermath of tragedy. But when he is hired to investigate her claims to a one hundred fifty-year-old trust belonging to the eminent Darcy family, he is captivated.
Together they become entwined in a Regency tale of love, loss, and mystery tracing back to the grand estate of Pemberley, home to Evie's nineteenth century ancestors, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy. As if travelling back in time, another story unfolds within theirs. All was not as it seemed in the private lives of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, but how can they ever uncover the whole truth?
How could they know that in 1817 Elizabeth Darcy began a secret journal? What started as an account of a blissful life came to reflect a growing unease. Was the Darcy marriage perfect, or was there betrayal and deception at its heart?
Can Evie and Charlie unearth the truth in the letters of Fitzwilliam Darcy or within the walls of present-day Pemberley? What are the elusive "Elizabeth papers," and why did Elizabeth herself want them destroyed?
The Elizabeth Papers is a tale of romance and intrigue, spanning the Regency and modern eras, reminding us how the passions of the past may inspire those in the present.
