Jane Austen Fan Fiction
Fans of Jane Austen's novels hate to see her stories come to an end. Because of that, there is a whole new body of work known as Jane Austen Fan Fiction. Austen enthusiasts write continuations of the stories or create new ones using her characters. I have contributed three "Quickies" to the site, the first paragraphs of which are shown below. I have also written a much longer "work in progress" under the title," "Elizabeth and Darcy: From Longbourn to Pemberley" in the "Stories" section. Here is the link: http://meryton.com/aha/index.php?showtopic=2518. If you are an ardent Jane Austen fan, you will want to visit www.meryton.com.
Mr. Darcy Regrets? http://meryton.com/aha/index.php?showtopic=2297
Mr. Darcy stood by the tall window of the second-floor library of Rosings Park. From this view, he could see the cream-colored stucco of Hunsford Lodge with its rust colored roof and flower-lined walk. This was the only room in the manor house from which the front door of the parsonage could be seen, and Darcy was waiting for Elizabeth Bennet to go through it. After Miss Elizabeth’s refusal of his offer of marriage, Darcy had gone directly to the stables and had told the groom to have his carriage ready at first light. But after a restless night, he had awoken knowing that Elizabeth’s charges could not go unanswered. The whole of the morning had been spent writing his response, and his ink-stained fingers were proof of the urgency with which he set down his words. He was angry with himself for the unfortunate situation he now found himself in. What had possessed him to make an offer to someone whose situation in life was so decidedly beneath his own? As soon as he saw Elizabeth return from her walk, he would know that she had read the letter, and his reputation, at least with regards to Wickham, would be restored. How could it be otherwise? Her charges were not only wrong, but they were unjust . . .
Elizabeth Bennet Regrets? http://meryton.com/aha/index.php?showtopic=2321
Rosings Park had beautiful vistas at every turn, but Lizzy’s favorite spot was where woods and pastureland met. Earlier in the morning, Mr Darcy had been waiting for her in this little slice of Eden and had asked that she do him the honour of reading his letter regarding the events of the previous day when she had refused his offer of marriage. After seeing Mr Darcy well down the lane, Lizzy turned her attention to the letter and after finishing it, had to restrain herself from tearing it to shreds. Mr Darcy’s purpose in writing the letter was clear. It was his expressed wish to put behind him forever all memories of the scene at Hunsford Lodge. In this, they were in complete agreement. His words still echoed in her mind: his struggle to overcome his feelings for her, the inferiority of her connections, rejoicing in his success in separating Bingley from Jane, her pride, his shame. But before he could truly end this chapter of his life, he demanded her attention one last time.
For several minutes, Lizzy watched as a hundred black-faced sheep moved into the glade with three Border collies nipping at their heels. Was there such a view at Pemberley? Of course, there was. The landed gentry all had the same things: great houses with magnificent art, terraces and gardens, ballrooms and music rooms, gazebos and follies. And to think that she might have been mistress of such an estate. Lizzy, who loved to laugh at the ridiculous, might have seen the humour in all of this if her emotions had not been so raw. . . .
.Mary Bennet Unknowingly Assists Elizabeth http://meryton.com/aha/index.php?showtopic=2321
Upon hearing the letter carrier’s bell, Charlotte took out her coin purse so that she might pay the postman. She was not at all surprised to find that she had received a letter from Mary Bennet. In fact, Mary had become her most faithful and prolific correspondent. Charlotte was not sure how this epistolary friendship had come about, and it truly was a friendship that existed only on paper. When Charlotte had gone home to visit with her family at Lucas Lodge, Mary had made no attempt to see her even though they had been actively corresponding for months. Whatever its origins, it certainly turned out to be an interesting association.
The Lucas and Bennet families had always been close as their farms abutted one another. Charlotte, Jane, and Elizabeth, who were about the same age, had formed a tight-knit group all through their childhood, while it was Charlotte’s younger sister, Maria, who had been friends with Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. And, yet, here was another letter, the second of the week, penned by Mary, and relating all of the events taking place at Longbourn and in Meryton.
From the beginning, Charlotte had recognized that Mary’s true audience was Mr Collins. If only he had not quit Longbourn so soon after Lizzy’s refusal of his offer of marriage, he would have realized how well suited they were for each other, and it would be Mary, and not Charlotte, sitting in the parlour of Hunsford Lodge darning his stockings. Mr Collins, despite his protests to the contrary, loved gossip, and his wife had encouraged the correspondence. There was many an evening when the only thing discussed at dinner was the contents of Mary’s latest post, and it cheered Mr Collins to know that at least one member of the Bennet family recognized his manifest qualities . . . .