Yikes! It sounds like this Darcy is going to have a much, much harder time gaining this Elizabeth once he decides he wants her! General dislikes for real & foolish things coupled with youthful foolishness is hard enough to get through. Add PTSD & strategizing like a they’re pieces on a chess board — his chances don’t look good...

Elizabeth as the “fox in a hunt” is great imagery & mood indication.

Ooooohh. Didn’t realize in the prior chapter that he was dead.

Naaaaah! Naaah! Naaaaaaah! She should swing one last HARD blow of the cane on the asshole’s kneecap that would keep him from pursuing either of them when/if he comes to & maybe make it much less unlikely he would go back to Georgiana’s house to attack her again with Mrs. Younge assistance or at least acquiescence. Plus back then, that kind of injury would likely cause some permanent crippling. A small amount of payback plus scuffing his appearance to at least have the potential to make it slightly less easy to slickly scam other vulnerable young women in the future.

Hmmm. I’m thinking the rescuing young woman is probably going to turn out to be Elizabeth Bennet although how she might be at Ramsgate with a companion escapes me. If it is, I have to wonder if (presumably) Wickham got a good enough look at her face to remember her when he later arrives in Meryton...

This has been one of the best stories I have read in a long time, and takes a high place among my favourites! It is truly exquisite. I adore it, everything about. Your characterization is done perfectly, the plot is novel and fascinating, the relationships are heartwarming. I picked it up, and quite dropped everything else from my life until I was finished. Lizzie killing Wickham was completely unexpected but just so amazingly executed, especially the way it influenced her ever since. I have been drawn utterly into the story, so terribly believable despite all the exceptional twists and turns. I loved the chapters of her nursing career. Your Elizabeth is someone I so fully respect, and one of the best characters I have seen in a long while. It can be difficult to make such a strong, capable character three dimensional, and equally difficult to show character flaws in a compassionate yet realistic way, and you have managed both. Elizabeth is here a woman of such strength and kindness, but you also showed how her scars and trauma made her irrational and scared. I don't remember the last time I adored a character half as much. And not just her - you bring out the best in so many of the characters! I admit to some curiousity about where Charlotte ended up, and I'm going to spend awhile giggling about General Wellington's reaction the first time he sees her in Town after her marriage :D

This has been wonderful. Thank you so much for your writing!

Story well written!

Absolutey lovely fic. I reslly enjoyed it, thanks for sharing!

Wonderful! Fun to read again and again!

Wonderful! A new friendship!

Amazing!

That was fun!

Such a brilliant story!

Very much enjoyed the read! I loved this version of Caroline, and I felt that Elizabeth was very believable.

Oh my, this was sooooooooo very good!

Powerful tale. An excellent and believable opening scene, and well developed aftermath. I particularly appreciated the way so many Hertfordshire scenarios could be the same on the surface, yet have such different undertones, due to Darcy making just that initial effort to apologize (though without any knowledge of Georgie's incident at Ramsgate, what excuse does he have for being rude?!), and the profound changes in Elizabeth's character and behaviors. I found it more gripping than canon, because the stakes were so great. They were both acting more mature.