Jan Ashton

Mendacity & Mourning Jan Ashton

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a gossip in possession of misheard tales and desiring both a good wife and an eager audience need only descend upon the sitting rooms of a small country town in order to find satisfaction. And with a push from Lady Catherine, Mr Collins sets alight a series of misunderstandings, rumours, and lies that create obstacles to a romance between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. This slightly unhinged romantic comedy follows Darcy as he sets off to find himself a wife and is pulled into the mire of his aunt's machinations and his own fascination with Elizabeth, whom he believes betrothed to another. With Meryton judging him the grieving groom of Anne de Bourgh and a caddish dallier with the hearts of others, Darcy must ferret out the truth behind his cousin's disappearance, protect his sister from the fretful fate of all Fitzwilliam females, and, most importantly, win Elizabeth's heart.