A Fair Prospect: Disappointed Hopes — Cassandra Grafton

(Please note: this is one story told across three volumes and there is, therefore, no conclusion to the storylines in the first two volumes. This story is rated PG)

In Disappointed Hopes (Vol I), Fitzwilliam Darcy returns to London a devastated and humbled man following his rejection by Elizabeth Bennet. The lady, meanwhile, is battling the unprecedented feelings stirred by having endured an innocent but intimate encounter with the gentleman in the aftermath of his proposal.

Soon on her way to Town herself for an unanticipated stay, she is comforted by the presence of an old family friend, one Nicholas Harington â€" the son of a wealthy family whose position in society rivals that of the Darcys of Pemberley.

Circumstance soon throws Darcy back into the company of Elizabeth, much to their mutual consternation, and also introduces him to Harington who has emerged as a potential suitor for Elizabeth's hand, a union that is viewed as a fair prospect by all â€" except, perhaps, Darcy himself.