Humility and Tolerance

A sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Seven years after Elizabeth Bennett married Fitzwilliam Darcy, they are still deeply in love, with two small children. But now that Darcy's aged housekeeper has died and Elizabeth must take up her duties, it's more than one woman, even one as capable as Elizabeth, can manage. Her sister Kitty has outgrown her impetuous youth and matured into a sensible young woman, whose greatest desire is to stay far away from the confines and challenges of her parents' home. Darcy's sister Georgiana, with the love and attention of Elizabeth, has become a confident, independent woman who is nevertheless ripe for romance. Charlotte Collins, newly widowed, is searching for a way out from under the domineering and condescending eye of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Elizabeth sees a way to restore order to Pemberley and ease the troubles of her friends: she offers Kitty a job as housekeeper of the estate, and Charlotte a job as governess of her adored children. With these four women under one roof, the unexpected is inevitable. Both Kitty and Georgiana meet and begin falling in love with honorable, interesting men, neither of whom are gentlemen and therefore would not be considered eligible matches for them. Charlotte has the opposite problem: the attentions of an unwanted suitor, when all she desires is a quiet life and a chance to recover from her marriage to a man she never loved. With the secret romances developing, a ball at which Elizabeth's mother finally gets her just deserts, her father's apathetic but amiable presence, the always-welcome serenity and tender humor of Jane and Bingley, and Elizabeth working tirelessly as matchmaker for the three younger women — what could possibly go wrong? This charming, gentle romance will delight all lovers of Jane Austen's masterpiece who have ever wondered, "What happened next?"