RATING: VERY GOOD
SPOILERS!!!
I really loved it, and this time it was more enjoyable than the last time I read it. I love the fine humour in it and the way we get to discover what each character is like.
Lizzie goes to visit her friend Maria Lucas after she marries Mr Collins, and she gets to meet his patron, Mrs de Bourgh. There she finds that Mr Darcy and his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam are there. The colonel is a very amiable man, and when they talk about Darcy and Mr Bingley's friendship, he tells her that he knows that Mr Darcy was key to steer Bingley away from an unsuitable match, and Lizzie realises that he is talking about her sister, Jane. Then surprisingly Darcy proposes to her, and Lizzie has no doubt to turn him down, and she tells him that he is a horrible person for two reasons: first, he sabotaged Jane and Bingley's relationship, and she is also outraged about the way Darcy treated Mr Wickham, stopping him from having the rectory his father had promised.
The next day after this episode Mr Darcy leaves to try to find Lizzie, who usually goes for long walks. He says that he is leaving, but he wants to give her a letter. In the letter Darcy admits that he tried to persuade Bingley that Jane wasn't the woman he needed because her family is not suitable in their eccentrities, something that Lizzie has to admit, and he also thought that Jane was not really interested in Bingley. As for Wickham, Darcy explains that it is true that his father provided a vicarage for Wickham, but he wasn't interested and demanded money instead to study law. Yet, he squandered the money, and when he came back, saying that he had realised that this was not the career for him and wanted the vicarage, Darcy had to tell him that there was already a person. And then Darcy stopped him when he was about to elope with Darcy's sister, and once again he gave him money, telling him not to come closer to his family.
After reading the letter Izzie feels ashamed by the way she judged Darcy, and he is shocked to discover the truth about Wickham. Izzie spends some more weeks with Maria and Collins, and they leave and stop in London to pick up Jane. Her uncle and aung Gardiner tell her that when they travel to the Lakes that summer, Lizzie could go with them. During the trip home Jane tells her that Miss Bingley came to visit her once, but it was obvious that she hadn't told her brother that Jane was in town.
The carriage stops in the village, and Lydia and Kitty are there, and they are all unhappy because the militia are leaving to go to Brighton. Lydia wants all the family to go and spend some time in Brighton, but Mr Bennet does not agree. Then Colonel Foster's wife invites Lydia to go to Brighton with them, and she is overjoyed. Lizzie receives a letter from her aunt Gardiner, and she tells her that they can't go to the Lakes as Mr Gardiner has some business to attend, but they will go to Derbyshire, and Lizzie agrees to go with them.
When they are in Derbyshire, they go past Mr Darcy's home, Pemberley, and Mrs Gardiner tells Lizzie that they can visit the place. Lizzie is curious, and after checking that Mr Darcy won't be expected until the next day, she and her aunt and uncle go to the place, and the housekeeper shows them around. The woman says that Mr Darcy is a good soul. Little by little Lizzie is realizing that she is discovering a new Darcy that her own preconceptions had stopped her from knowing. Then Darcy appears, making Lizzie feel awkward, and he invites her and the Gardiners to dinner. Lizzie finds herself enjoying herself and she has to admit that she is falling for him. Then she receives a letter from Jane, saying that Lydia has eloped with Mr Wickham and nobody knows where she is.
Lizzie has to tell her aunt and uncle, and Mr Darcy, and they return home. Mrs Bennet is really upset, and Mr Bennet has gone to London, trying to find where Lydia is. After many days of distress they get a letter from Mr Gardiner, who has gone to help Mr Bennet, and he says that they found Lydia and Wickham, and they got them married. Wickham has accepted to marry her for one hundred pounds a year, and they got her a position in a military unit in the north of England. The family is relieved because this means that Lydia is not ruined. When Lydia returns before going north, she does not realise what she put her family through.
Lizzie gets a letter from her aunt, Mrs Gardiner, who has surprising news. The situation with Lydia was sorted out thanks to Darcy's intervention. He managed to find Lydia and Wickahm as he suspected that Wickham had gone to the woman who had been Miss Darcy's companion and she had helped them. Darcy talked to Wickham and settled to give him an allowance and it was thanks to his intervention that he got the position in the army. Lizzie is totally impressed.
Everybody is amazed to find out that Mr Bingley is returning, and he and Mr Darcy come to pay their respects. Jane welcomes him with caution, but they gradually go back to their previous friendship. So weeks later he asks her to marry, and Jane agrees.
Lizzie then gets the visit from Darcy's aunt, Mrs de Bourgh, who has heard that her nephew wants to marry Lizzie and not her daughter, so she asks Lizzie not to get ideas about accepting Mr Darcy. Lizzie does not let the woman intimidate her, and she states that if Darcy were to propose, she wouldn't dream of refusing him. Mrs de Bourgh leaves in a huff, and a week or so later Darcy comes to see her. It seems that his aunt has told her about the conversation, and he is surprised by Lizzie's words when she had turned him down. Lizzie admits that she has changed her mind, and after Darcy proposes for the second time, Lizzie has no doubts to accept him.
I really love this book, and I have to say that I didn't appreciate it totally the first time I read it. This was a more pleasurable read.
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