Chapter 24 has just been posted. Enjoy!

"The attentive reader must remember she was a woman of mean understanding and little information. "...

Priceless!

Sorry, I meant chapter 14, of course!

"He might just as well have been a rich one!"

Oh if she only knew!!!

Okay...now you've got me wondering, does that 'dead right' allude to Mrs. Bennet doing what she threatened, or is it that Darcy is rich? I must say that I cannot wait to read more... Thanks!

Sara

Mrs. B's histrionics were so amusing...love her! I look forward to the trip to Kent. Will Darcy be there and will he know who he is? I can't wait to find out more. Thanks for the fun chapter.

Mrs. Bennet, what a hoot! But where is (Darcy), eh William?

My nerves are all aflutter. What will Mr. Bennet and Lizzy find in Kent? Does Mr. Collins--the real Mr. Collins--have any idea what happened while he was out of it? He would probably be thrilled to know what illustrious personage had momentarily taken over his identity.

And speaking of said personage, where is he? Could Lady Catherine have possibly have figured out the mistaken identity switch and have locked away her nephew? Is a certain handsome "parson" wondering why his "employer" suddenly seems hot for him to marry her daughter Anne? Please don't let that happen unless you mean to follow it up with a quick FCA. Please FTN!!!

No E & D at Rosings. *sigh* Nevertheless, great chapter. One of the craziest, most annoying, callous Mrs. Bennets ever -- and that is saying something.

More please_

Stevie

Thank you all. I am trying to make Mrs Bennet as delightfully silly as Miss Austen's character was. But sometimes I may over do it.She has every mother's job. Marry their daughters, and marry them as well as possibly
I'm working on some little variations on the next chapter. But a dear friend of mine is moving away to start a new life in the country and I am busy with a farewel party for her and her dear Husband. Once they are gone(in about a week unfortunately) I shall be able to give the chapter the last touch and post it. Meantime, you will have ANS to enjoy.

This is really fun. I can't wait to hear what happens next.

Chapter 15 is up, my dears. Enjoy!

Love Mrs Bennet scheming for the higher rank husband. And Lady C's haughty works of matchmacking. Hope we find out where is William with Col. Fitz's coming. Fun story!!!!!

So, what has happened to Darcy? Was he not on his way to Kent, thinking, of course, that he was the toad, eh, I mean, the Parson Collins?

But instead the Bennets find the real Parson, but he doesn't seem to know about the mistaken identity. Nor does the Lady Cat. But both are pushing a match with a Bennet girl--doesn't really matter which one, lucky them.

"Regardless of what their feelings might be, both of them knew that one of them would be obligated, by honour, by pressure, by self sacrifice, to marry the disagreeable cousin, unless a better suitor happened on them just in time to rescue them from the unwanted union. But chances were that no such man would ever appear."

Ah, but the Colonel is on his way to the parsonage. I wonder if he has gotten over his hang-up about marrying a poor woman?

I am totally in the dark here and dying to know what's happening? The last chapter raised more questions than it answered, lol. But, of course, I loved it!!

What was Mr. B thinking leaving his two daughters there with his wife. He should have known better.

Where's the Darce. Will he be coming w/Col Fitz. I hope he shows up soon. I can't wait for him to regain his memory of him and Elizabeth in the river. That will be quite an awakening.

This chapter was so short. Please post again soon Malena.

teb

I can't believe Mr B would abandon his daughters to the care of their mother. I really dislike this man.

The Col has come without Darcy? Where has William/Darcy got off too? How cruel to leave us here. I can see Mrs B tell Collins Jane is soon to be engaged and heat put on poor Lizzy. Where is she to go, no father to step in.

More please soon.
Geri

Is Mr. Bennet mad? Leaving Lizzy and Jane to the tender mercies of their mother AND the Collins-Catherine duo. And you know how Jane says yes to anything.

Even with the Colonel riding up, I fear--no good can come of this. Cue ominous music.

. . .and where is Darcy?

Lacy is so right...nothing good can come of this!
I can't wait for the colonel to shed some light on the diappearance of William.

Marlena I hope all is well?
Will we be getting another chapter soon?

Yes, thanks for asking. My lovely beta celebrates Jewish passover so she will be kind of busy for at least a week with family and friends. So I guess I will be able to update in a week.

Chapter 16 is up, my dears. Enjoy!

Oh No, The Colonel gave Darcy/William a bad rap again.I feel a Hunsford coming.

Not to sound like a broken record--but where is Darcy?

Wasn't he heading to Rosings? We expected he would have arrived prior to the Bennets. Has he yet learned who he really is, namely, not William Collins the parson but Fitzwilliam Darcy, Master of Pemberley--and the hoped for husband of Lady Catherine's daughter.

And why hasn't the Colonel figured out anything yet? All the pieces are before him. I am perplexed and of course, intrigued beyond all measure to see the mystery solved. Will it be a simple answer like Darcy got delayed on the road or something? And his cousin is a bit dense and just doesn't get it? It looks as if you are generally following canon at this point, so if that is true, you are only one third of the way through this story.

Well, I'm enjoying it so more is better. Thanks until your next post!

We still don't know anything about William

I'm glad Collins didn't push for a marriage because spineless Mr B hit the road and Mrs B would bave pushed it.

So it is apparant that the Col still doesn't know what happen to Darcy? Why hasn't he showed up at Rosings yet? Please end my suffering and post again soon.

My thought exactly! I am on the edge of my seat. You have set him up for spectacular failure and I can't wait to see it. If he recognizes Elizabeth it won't matter thanks to Colonel Big Mouth. Thanks for the lovely chapter. Mrs. B was at her best and I enjoyed it all immensely!!

I imagine the Colonel exaggerated quite a bit regarding Darcy’s part in separating Jane & Bingley since Darcy stayed with the Bennets and not Bingley during his visit. And now with the Colonels big mouth, Elizabeth has a horrible opinion of Darcy! I’m assuming that Darcy has now regained his memory, so please get him to Hertfordshire or Elizabeth to Derbyshire before any marriage proposals are offered!


Come Back Soon!

Kindly go back to chapter 1 to find out whereabouts was Darcy at the beginning of our tale.

Anyway, thank you and all the other ladies for commenting. I am very happy you are following the story.
For those that find it too difficult to bear angst...We are getting closer to Hunsford and Pemberley is approaching...so I guess Darcy's reappearance cannot be too far away, can it?

Here it is, my dears, chapter 17. Enjoy!

Oops, broken link. Click here for Malena's new chapter.

Malena, among the many joys of your post today: "Yet, I daresay there is no greater lie than the blunt truth."

I think we can expect that Wickham for all his apparent charm and forthrightness, has the mother of all con games up his sleeve? Right next to the snake oil he always keeps on hand there, of course,

Clever plot twist--I doubt anyone saw that coming--and it is brilliant. And even if Wickham uses this as a way to convert himself into a truly honest man instead of as a way of sticking it to Darcy in some exceptionally fiendish manner--well, either way, you are brilliant.

I am all befuddled.
Good Lord, what is Wickham up to? I hope if it is decieving that he stumbles over himself.
Did the Colonel get a chance to talk to Darce before he went to Kent?
Is Georgie with the Colonel's family still?
When is Darce and Lizzy going to meet up again? Soon I hope.
Please don't let the Bennet ladies get stuck with the toad.
I want more!, More!, MORE!

Wow! Wickham is really slick! I was falling for his story even though I know his past

This is making me apprehensive! Poor Darcy! So many things are going on that he is unfortunately unaware of.

Wow! I didn't expect that!! Excellent!!!

I love this new twist on Wickham's role. Nicely done!

Thank you, my darling friends. I have great expectations on Wickham's intervention. I wonder where the muse will take me now. I have the last chapters finished but the ones in the middle are at the mercy of those twisted fairies of inspiration.

As to you , yes you, cowgirl... you must know that any typos in my writing will be worth reading as long that their existence had allowed you the time for grabbing your muse by the toes and finish up that wedding night once and for all. Expectation is killing me

Thank you for another mind-befuddling chapter, Malena. Not only am I perplexed about Wickham's true intentions, but worried silly that he will hurt Darcy somehow on the way to Pemberley. Furthermore, if he truly wanted to help, why not take Darcy back to London which is infinitely closer to Meryton? Now I have a splitting headache (but still can't wait for the next chapter).

I love this story. It has the charm of Tristram Shandy, Don Quixote and The Prince and the Pauper all rolled into one. Since it's a comedy, not a tragedy, I know all will be well -- and Wickham even might be rehabilitated!

Carry on! I await your next chapter with eager anticipation.

Enjoy chapter 18 of this amazingly clever, well-written and fascinating story.

Oh no, nothing at Pemberly has triggerd William's memory and that rascal Wickham has too much control over him. Please send someone to the rescue.

I just hope Wickham doesn't tell Darce that he is engaged to his cousin Anne. Darce would believe him and probably want to get married to her out of propiety and family honor. Ugh!
I still can't believe Wickham is good. Why doesn't Darce go to his study and look at previously written letters. It would give him some clue of where he stood with his family at least. I guess if you had amnesia that might not be something you would think about.
I'm very glad he wrote that letter to Lizzy. It was very endearing.
teb

Malena
You are a tricky one I thought maybe with Wicky confession to Darcy that maybe he want to start a new.

But it is clear he has a new plot and keep Darcy away from his family is key. However Christmas is growing near Miss Darcy will return what will happen then. Or see as she is in Ramsgate did that not happen.

Oh I've got to go back and read the beginnin I thougt that is what kept Darcy from traveling with Bingley.

Great story I look forward to more.
Geri

I don't trust Wickham and it seems neither does anyone except Darcy. I can't wait to see how you fix that! Loved Dsrcy reverting to his Longbourne behavior and feeding the animals. Thanks for the very sweet chapter!

I too wonder what Wickham is up to. Its a good thing Darcy is to good at heart to not follow what he believes is right. But why wait so long to go back for elizabeth? Is he waiting to regain his memory?

Chapter 19 is up, my dears. Enjoy Mr Darcy's humanity and Mrs Gardiner's wisdoms on the male species.

Cara Malena, you're just so amazing.

Wickham is the fox in the henhouse. Such compassion Darcy has retained in his demeanor but his memory is coming back. Can Lizzy's trip come soon? Please

She will, Irene...But first there's someone else on the way to Pemberley...and he/she is quite annoyed by all this befuddlement...

Okay, Malena, I think I was slow to get the point, but now I think I have it. You have painted a Darcy who was arrogant and above his company but whose time spent with the Bennets thinking he was someone else has changed him forever. So when Wickham tries to get him to act as if he is too good to get his hands dirty, that's just not the way Darcy feels anymore.

I am stumbling a bit, I think, because we JAFF lovers sometimes assume that Darcy is such a good master that he would also be kind and attentive to his tenants, even without the experience of thinking he had been a parson. But I think I see the point you are making.

Is Mr. Reynolds upset because Darcy wants to wear old clothes and interact so closely with the tenants, or is he upset with Wickham? And what is Wickham's deal? I can see he is trying to manipulate and control Darcy--almost as if he is trying to remake Darcy in his own image. *shudder* and horrors!!

But why? What does Wickham hope to achieve? Okay, you would probably say, keep reading to see, .

Darcy seems to be getting tired of Wickham. Why doesn't someone--Mr. Reynolds or his wife, maybe--just tell Darcy he hates Wickham and always has?

I'm looking forward to Elizabeth meeting the man she thinks is perfect and finding out he is also the man she hates.

Ok. I will try to answer all your doubts one by one...
1) To my mind, being a good master has nothing to do with going personally to attend his tenants' affairs. I am sure no rich master attended such things with their own presence on the spot. They have stewards to do that.Quoting from Mrs Gardiner "these rich men are never at home...".Indeed, after reading many classic books on R England, a man of the station of Mr Darcy would be no Heathclif if you know what I mean. There is a funny annecdote that some member of the aristocracy is said to have asked Mrs Sympson(the American lady that married the Prince of Wales after a scandalous divorce)if her husband used to go hunting or fishing or what. Mrs Sympson answered that her husband did none of such things. The Lady asked very astonished how did she put up with a man all day long at home, at what Mrs Sympson answered very dryly that her husband had a 'job', something a lady of her ladyship station would have never imagined. So, to make a long story short, gentlemen, rich gentlemen, did nothing in those days, and would have found being thus occupied simply outrageous and beneath them. I strongy believe that if Mr Darcy would have lived in our days, he would have been a rich snob, probably like the rider authoress BelenP so accurately portraits in "Obstacles to Overcome"


2 I strongly believe manservants as well as maids did not use to interact with their masters, especially in those days. Please, watch "The Remains of the Day" to get a picture of my idea. Of course, they will gossip downstairs but will never, ever say a word to their masters.

3 Wickham wants money of course. What else? Perhaps he hopes to get that living he lost back or even marry Georgiana.

4 Ditto. Plus, the servants have not been told that Mr Darcy's memory is not well. They have an idea, but have not been officially informed.

Well. I have enjoyed myself with all this clarification. Thank you for commenting and asking the questions, I love the interaction and please, forgive the typos.

Malena, you said some other person was on their way to Pemberley and they weren't happy with Darcy. I'm gonna guess its Lady C since he didn't make his trip to Kent. Love the chapter and looking forward to the next.

teb

Thank you for your response and your wonderful story--and for sharing your talent with us.

Maria and Teb,
Maybe it is LC,maybe not...Hopefully we will get to know it before long. It all depends on the availability of my dear beta...Thank you both for commenting. It is just as important as posting for it feeds my ego and spurs my muse