He’s the fascinating romantic lead in what is perhaps the most enduringly popular novel in the English language. Yet Jane Austen reveals tantalizingly little about him, nor does she ever give readers insight into his take on the action of the book. And so the question has long remained: who is Fitzwilliam Darcy? Pamela Aidan’s trilogy answers this question, creating a rich parallel story that follows Darcy as he meets and falls in love with Elizabeth Bennet. In this second installment, which covers the “silent time” of Austen’s novel, Darcy is struggling privately with his feelings for Elizabeth but still must fulfill his roles as landlord, master, brother, and friend. When Darcy pays a visit to an old classmate in Oxford in an attempt to shake Elizabeth from his mind, he is set upon by husbandhunting society ladies and friends from his university days, all with designs on him—some for good and some for ill. Like its prequel, An Assembly Such As This, Duty and Desire will dazzle even the most discriminating of Austen fans. Aidan remains true to the original’s spirit and events, masterfully capturing the Regency backdrop and incorporating fascinating new characters of her own to create an irresistibly authentic an entertaining novel.
