My dears, I'm thrilled to announce the posting of the first three chapters of Jan H's classic "The Engagement". Enjoy!

Yay! I love this story. I'm so glad that it will be posted here as well.

Ai ai ai! The most intelligent sister became the most gullible!

It's been a long long while since i first read this story, so it's good to refresh my memory .

Thank you, Sammy and Gio!

I wrote this story in 2003, so I think whoever wanted to read it already has. And you're right, Gio, Lizzy is quite gullible at first. If I can remember correctly, I based it on the first impressions I had upon reading P&P long ago when I was a kid. I thought Wickham was the good guy and Darcy terrible until proven wrong, of course.

Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are up, my dears. Enjoy!

Chapters 7, 8 and 9 have just been posted. Enjoy!

Thanks Jan for posting this story here. I too have read it before but fortunately I can't remember what happens so it is like a new story to me. This is one time when I feel Elizabeth is really gullible. It's really adding to the suspense of what is going to happen with Wickham and we know something always happens with him. Thanks for the regular posts. Cindy

Thank you, Cindy! I'm glad you can't remember the plot. Now I don't feel so bad when I can't keep up with WIPS. I have great admiration for those of you who can. I'm forced to wait until a story is completed because I can't keep the plots straight between posts. I just love what menopause is doing to my brain, or at least that's my excuse.

-Jan

Just wanted to say I have read this story before and I just love it Jan your writing is superb. Thank you and I love your new story Sins of our Fathers also.

Thanks for another chapter, Jan. I still can't remember how the story goes so I'm quit excited. I know what you mean about the brain and menopause. That's my excuse for the night sweats, too. Post soon!!!! Cindy

Finally Lizzy has come to her senses! I have been trying REALLY hard to recall what happened after this last chapter but in vain. So please may we have MORE

Thanks, Julia, Cindy and Gio, for your kind comments. And yes, Gio, Lizzy has finally come to her senses. Can't believe it took 10 chapters, can you?

-Jan

Pleeeeeease Jan, if the story is complete, can you not post it chapter by chapter? The suspense is killing me. I would like to finish it.... now! (Good grief, I sound like Lydia!)

Good story, interesting twist to the all too familiar plot-line...

Pleeeeeease Jan, if the story is complete, can you not post it chapter by chapter?

We are, dear, we are! Here's chapter 11. Enjoy!

I meant, post the story in its entirety, not chapter by chapter, tormenting us, your devoted readers, leaving us salivating for more...arghhhh!

I'm okay, really (sigh).

Dear Jan !
I'm thoroughly enjoying your new work !
You have a really unique style. I've anticipating it since finishing "An Arranged Marriage" and your new "The engagement" proved so faithful to my expectations.
I especially love your Darcy.
Regular posting just adds to the content of reading it !!!!
THANK YOU !!!
Margo

Thank you, Lydia - I mean Karentea - and Margo! You are such kind readers. I truly appreciate your comments.

-Jan

Uh Oh! I think a storm is brewing for ball night!!

Jan, it's been a whole week since your last installment. Could we have more please??

Chapter 12 has just been posted. Enjoy!

oh Jan, the last paragraph was so touching, esp "...Darcy realized he watched her go through an unexpected mist of tears."..i had some mist in mine too!

Thank you, Gio! And Kara, don't miss the ball. It's a doozy.

-Jan

Chapter 13 is up, my dears. Enjoy!

Wickham is such an *******! Am very proud of Lizzy, to stand up for herself. It's better to hv a tainted reputation than to marry that cad, it would be a lifetime of regrets and suffering! Way to go girl! But poor Darcy, the pain!

Dearest Jan
I knew that " The Engagement" was going to be one more of the fabulous works of yours.....
It escaped my comprehension though, that each time i thought that i've read the very peak of it, right on next chapter there would be an even more incredulously heart- grasping episode....
Should i send you my compliments..????
Not enough i'm afraid....
So here i remain trying to wait patiently for the next chapter to come.....

Thank you, Gio and Margo! This part of the story is rather turbulent.

You know, when I began writing this, I intended to redeem Wickham, but he just would not cooperate. I think he comes from a bad seed.

-Jan

i truly enjoyed reading the 13 chapters.
i can't wait to see what happens next.
please post soon.

WOW I'm loving this! what a cliffhanger to end on, though - are you finishing it soon???

Please please please update. You have such an extraordinary understanding of the characters and a wonderful way with words. I have enjoyed reading your other stories, but I haven't read this one until today. I continually come back to them when I'm feeling down. If this grad student is going to get back to work, resume normal sleeping habits, and regain peace of mind, it will be in part with your help.

Chapter 14 is up, my dears. Enjoy!

Oh the anguish both are going through! I love the part where you described Darcy's pain, his conversation with his cousin (thank you Colonel!), and how he eventually realised that his love for Lizzy further outweighs all his initial hesitations. And Charlotte! What a great friend she is!
This is a very touching chapter, thanks Jan!

Excellent chapter as always, Jan !
Oh, since i can hardly wait for the new chapters to come, i read it all in once, against my better judgement of being patient and slowly enjoying it until no 15's arrival.
I thoroughly enjoyed the way Charlotte treated Mr Collins. Oh, he was deserving that, long ago !!!
Welldone Charlotte !

Please, what is considered a regular interval? If a story is complete, why wait a full loooooooong week to post the next chapter(s)?

Gee, you think I am impatient?

Gee, you think I am impatient?

Indeed I do, love! Mrs Darcy has another life, you know, but she's doing her very best to please y'all.

Chapter 15 is up. Enjoy!

Another wonderful chapter. So pleased that they have cleared the air at last.
I wonder what the uproar is all about.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
Many Thanks
Jo

As much as i've thoroughly enjoyed many of other fan fictions in this site, i have to admit that Jan's works have a special place in my heart. Actually, i'm in love with them.
There was some time when we've been patiently waiting for her work to come out and now we are blessed with three of them running simultaneously. This is a reason to rejoice, yet i fear, that afterwards we are going to have a much more longer waiting. Wouldn't it be better perchance, to have Jan's work one in a time so that we would be able to savour it longer ????? Not complaining, or trying to persuate - Just a thought....!
Margo
A very devoted and anxious reader.....

Wedding bells in the air!! Very romantic ! Great moments - Darcy's tactic to divert Collins away, his resolution not to question Lizzy's past with Wickham and every little scene betw the lovers are so finely done. You really brought Darcy alive and for once, Jan, I really wish I am Elizabeth

Now, what has Lydia done to bring such an uproar??!!

Wouldn't it be better perchance, to have Jan's work one in a time so that we would be able to savour it longer ?????

I'm sorry, Margo, but that's not possible at this point. But why don't you just read one at a time, instead of Mrs Darcy posting one at a time. The stories will be patiently awaiting you.

Dearest, loveliest Renee !
It's like putting a kid in a candy store -or worst, a toy store- and instruct him to choose one thing only...!
Your suggestion is a wise one, yet patience and self - reservation are not my highlights i'm afraid...!
I know, i should practice more, yet "Whe so much beauty is in front of you...." and in a wonderful triplet of Darcys....i can't actually resist...I'm only human.....

I love the barefoot Lizzy! This story is so sweet, sometimes sad, but always tender and lovely!

Thank you, everyone, for all your comments! Although I don't reply to every one of them, I read them and truly appreciate every word you write.

The Engagement happens to be my favorite of the five stories I've written.

-Jan

I finally made it to the last chapter in the story, and am enjoying it very much. I like how Lizzie keeps misplacing her shoes, how the Colonel raked down Darcy when it looked like he might drop her over the Brighton ball scandal, the introspective scenes with Darcy and of course the most recent chapter where he *finally* admits to her how he feels. It made me all melty inside, and that's one of the signs of an excellent fanfic.

Here's hoping the next chapter is posted soon!

Hi, impatient me again. It has been over 10 days since the last posting...
Oh where oh where is chapter 16, oh where oh where could it be...?

Here you go, ladies and gents, chapter 16 and the epilogue are up. Enjoy!

Brava, Jan! That was a wonderful story and the epilogue was so sweet and yet humorous. Re-reading this story was a real treat. Thanks for posting it here.

A wonderful last chapter. I also liked the epilogue very much.

Well done!

Oh thank you thank you thank you! wonderful ending. I will have to read the whole thing again without interruptions.

Thank you to all who read this story for the first time and to those of you who read it again, and for your generous, kind comments.

The Engagement is the last story I wrote in third person. I've written three stories since then in first person and now find it hard to think in third person. There are advantages to both. I find third person more versatile because one can portray scenes that do not happen within the main character's presence. However, writing in first person affords an intimacy between author and reader that I like very much. One of these days, I'm going to make myself write something else in third person just to see if I still can.

-Jan

Rather late here since i only just finished reading today but nonetheless, i love love this story! The epilogue was beautifully done, who will not want such a Darcy in her life . Be it 1st or 3rd person, as long as you keep writing Jan, I am eternally grateful !

Dear Jan,

I absolutelly loved your story, and couldn't stop reading it.

Poor Lizzy, to get entangled with Wickham that way, and with no one to advise her! I wanted to tell her "NOOO, don't accept him, he's a rascal!"; yet I hadn't imagined he would be *such* a rascal. And Mr. Darcy too, how much he suffered thinking her lost forever, married to someone else. I wonder when Elizabeth began to love him - for though she only realized that near the end, I suspect that deep inside she cared for him since very early in the story.

Thank you so much for this beautiful tale of love, misunderstanding and suffering - and a wonderful ending to compensate all their pains.

Sofia.

Oh, Sofia, I just saw your message. Forgive me for not replying sooner, but I was in a bad place at that time and not spending any time on the web.

Thank you for your kind words, and I'm so glad you liked "The Engagement." There's probably more of me in that story than in any other that I've written, as I actually married Wickham the first time and stayed married many years before I realized he would never change. Thank God my Mr. Darcy came along later and taught me what true love was all about.

-Jan