Four Proposals of Marriage: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

by Laura Moretti, Jo Abbott (Editor)

What if Darcy had to propose marriage four times—yes, FOUR—before Elizabeth accepted his hand?

The Darcys and the Bennets have always been neighbours and close friends, and Fitzwilliam Darcy grew up scampering through the fields in the company of Mr Bennet’s two daughters, the very pretty Jane and the very impertinent Elizabeth.
Now, Elizabeth is a proper young lady with an excellent education and a sizable dowry. Fitzwilliam Darcy is a respectable gentleman and the owner of Pemberley. The light, teasing relationship of their youth has long transformed into sincere friendship.

Elizabeth and Darcy see each other daily, they debate, they laugh. Till Elizabeth is whisked away to London to find a husband and Darcy realises, belatedly, that she is the only woman he could ever marry.

Friendship blossoming into love—a common story! This should be a simple, uneventful tale.

But no love story is ever simple. And it will take four passionate proposals of marriage—yes, four—from Mr Darcy to the rich and elegant Elizabeth Bennet before the lady will, at last, realise the depth of her own feelings and gladly accept his hand.

From the glittering ballrooms of London to the groves of Pemberley...a ‘friends to lovers’ Pride and Prejudice variation.

The paperback version includes another Pride and Prejudice variation: ‘All These Years I Dreamed of You’.

Genres: Romance, Friends To Lovers, Fiction

169 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 19, 2023

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Moretti borrows the situation here from Jane Austen's Emma - Elizabeth and Jane are the only two daughters of the widowed Mr. Bennet, who owns a profitable unentailed estate in Highbury.

Yes, Highbury, with all its other usual inhabitants except the Knightleys. In this mixed universe, it's Pemberley that sits nearby, and the Darcy, Bingley, and Bennet children grow up together.

Charles and Jane speedily marry once they're grown. Even though Elizabeth and young Mr. Darcy are the closest of friends, their route to the altar is far more circuitous and, at times, torturous.

And that's the crux of the story, describing how their relationship evolves over the years. They banter with, debate with, and depend upon each other, but it takes quite a while for either of them to realize they're in love.

The setting moves from Highbury to London, where Jane and Charles Bingley (like Emma's Isabella and John Knightley) reside. Elizabeth's London friends include Mary Crawford (from JA's Mansfield Park). The author adds original characters, Lord Cowper and Mr. Gladstone, who create complications for the couple.

It's an interesting mashup. Though it doesn't bear much similarity to P&P's plot (or Emma's, despite the location of the estates), the characters are recognizable and seem consistent with what you'd expect from them under these circumstances. You'll find neither pride nor prejudice factoring into the story, but Elizabeth is NOT Emma - no matchmaking or meddling.

The quality of Ms. Moretti's writing is excellent, with a final proposal scene that I found particularly lovely.

Content is clean.

[Katja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick read that blends characters from other Austen variations with P & P, although the characters from the other books tend to be very minor characters. Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth live in Highbury, neighbours to Pemberley. Mrs. Bennet and the younger sisters are not a thing. Elizabeth is fairly well off. Elizabeth is interested in furthering female educational opportunities. Darcy is a family friend who is two years older than Elizabeth. He has proposed to her unsuccessfully in their youth and makes another offer after Elizabeth's father dies but she declines and goes to live with Jane and Bingley. It takes them both quite a bit of time to figure out it's not just a comfortable friendship but something more breathless. I love this author's style.

[Barry S. Richman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow is my only word!

LM goes straight to the heart of ODC and prolongs the sweetest angst in a most original variation. Kudos, kudos, kudos! No spoilers--only the recommendation to choose an early time in the day to start reading as yoi will not put it down.

[Sheila Majczan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little of this story resembles canon. We only have two Bennet sisters. The mother is dead. They are rich and have an estate, Hartfield, which neighbors Pemberley. Thus Darcy, Jane, Elizabeth and even Bingley are playmates and friends as they grow. Wickham is also among those companions at times. Darcy is only 2 years older than Elizabeth. Miss Taylor is the governess for the Bennet sisters. As in Emma, Miss Taylor marries and becomes Mrs. Weston.

The first proposal, made when Elizabeth is only 15 is rather an off-hand event, made and turned down in short order. 5 years later we find that as Bingley and Jane have married and Mr. Bennet has died, Elizabeth moves to London to live with the Bingleys. There Elizabeth meets a Lord Cowper and a Mr. Gladstone. Both men figure in events but I won't give away those details.

Darcy finds himself proposing, as we are told in the story description, again and again. Through it all he and Elizabeth remain friends. Elizabeth also has Mary Crawford (of Mansfield Park) as a friend with whom she discusses her options and her choices. I enjoyed reading Darcy's thoughts, in trying to convince himself that he could remain friends with Elizabeth even if they do not marry and/or if she marries someone else.

The last/final proposal has both coming to the correct conclusion about their relationship. There is an epilogue. I did enjoy this story, although for me there was no angst. It is the kind of story in which you know that there is a HEA for the couple and it is just enjoying the ups and downs as they finally realize that those feelings between are love...not just friendship.

[abmom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love friends to lover stories. I loved the setting of Pride and Prejudice characters in Emma landscape and side characters. I loved Elizabeth and her relationship with her father. I loved Darcy and his friendship with the Bennets. In short, I loved everything about this story and best of all I loved the way this author writes.

[Barbara K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5 stars. This is a tough one for me to rate, because although it has no real problems, for some reason it didn't work that well for me. I enjoyed it, but maybe it was that it's a mashup of Pride and Prejudice and Emma, and I'm not a huge fan of Emma. But thankfully Emma herself is not in this one, and there is no interfering or matchmaking, which is rather a relief to me. I think it threw me out a bit for the author to write directly to the reader in various places. I'm not accustomed to that, though it was well done and not what I would call author intrusion, because it wasn't accidental or amateurish at all. It was well done. So let's chalk my rating up to personal preference. I do recommend this as a slightly lighter weight Jane Austen variation, though it does have its share of villains. I think the lighter parts of the story make up for them a great deal, though, and it's sweet and fun in many ways. Just don't expect P&P. This is not your usual Darcy and Elizabeth story.

If you're not in the mood for all that hostility between Darcy and Elizabeth from the start, and you'd like a shorter novel to read, this might be what you need. It's less of a misunderstood-strangers or class-inequality romance than a friends-to-lovers one, which is a pleasant change now and then.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Darcys and the Bennets are neighbors in Hartfield, the children Charles, Fitzwilliam, Jane and Elizabeth spending their time together. Naturally, when grown up, Charles and Jane marry, they move to London. When Mr. Bennet dies, Elizabeth also moves to London to live with Jane and Charles, leaving Darcy at Pemberley behind. After she is gone the young man more and more realizes that he is, and has ever been, in love with her. Elizabeth never wanted to marry Darcy out of convenience because they know each other so well, she wanted to marry for love. And now she has accepted an offer of marriage from an older gentleman she does not love. Will Darcy be able to win Elizabeth’s heart and offer a fourth time for her?

The story is friends-to-lovers-story. Darcy and Elizabeth know each other their hole life, they need a long time to recognize that their feelings are not the feelings of friends but the feelings of lovers. Sometimes you want to take them and shake them because they don’t see the obvious. But I think that is the charm of a friends-to-lovers-romance ;-)
I pity poor Darcy because he is aware of his feelings very early and he has to suffer quite long before Elizabeth realizes that she loves Darcy, too.

The story is a little bit different from other Pride & Prejudice stories. The Bennets are only Mr. Bennet, Jane and Elizabeth and they life in Hartfield with Mr. Taylor as their governess, other people from Jane Austen’s novels also take part in the story. At the beginning you need some time to get familiar with this uncommon situation but after some time you don’t wonder any more.

The sentences are sometimes a bit short and torn off. At the beginning I had some difficulties with it but from the point Darcy realizes his love it was fitting because I can imagine Darcy’s and Elizabeth’s thoughts would be like that. Nevertheless the story is a very good one.

All in all it was a very nice friends-to-lovers story with many proposals, I definitely recommend the book.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful!

A different road to HEA but a very satisfying journey. Part Emma, part P&P, but its own story. Well written, believable and true to the characters, it was well worth the time!

[mikaela (spinebreaker) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE YOU LAURE <3

reread 2025
nothing like a Laure001 original to read at midnight (especially since Heatwave on AO3 isn't finished yet). I restarted my KU for these and I have 0 regrets

[Gratia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful Austen variation

The Amazon review of LCMMSW describes this story well. I can only add that Ms Moretti’s tale really does magnify the interactions and thoughts of ODC. All other characters blur as Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship gradually develop from youth and friendship to more. I enjoyed the writing, and will look into more of this author’s works.

[loriinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful!

The concept of our dear couple being life-long friends (living in Highbury!) was fun, as we all know Darcy is a different sort of person when he is comfortable with his companions. I especially loved the witty banter Elizabeth and Darcy share, from beginning to end.

[Carolyn Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely work

All the best parts of Elizabeth and Darcy. Well written. Enjoyable read and emotive. Will most likely read this again.

[Terri Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story . Little bit of angst well resolved.

[Teresita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a variation

Only the characters' names are kept. The story is somewhat interesting but I think it falls short in coalescing. It has some amusing scenes.

[Rachel Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful friends to lovers version. Such a great version of Darcy- where he both goes after what he wants, but so so respectfully. A great story of realizations and respectful persistence.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up together

This is a large changes variation- 1) the Bennetts live in Derbyshire and not at Longbourn, 2) Jane and Lizzy are the only Bennett girls, 3) Mrs. Bennett has died, and 4) the Bennetts, while not rich, are not hurting for money and the girls have good dowries. The premise being Elizabeth and Darcy grew up together as neighbors and are very close. It was an interesting story about the relationship and its various stages and changes as they mature. Aside from the characters being inspired by Pride and Prejudice there isn't much that links back to the original book but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.

[Linda K Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

Sweet short story of Darcy and Elizabeth's going from friends to finally realizing they love each other. Minor angst, and modelled after Emma at least in their family at the beginning of the book.
Enjoyable if in need of a short read.

[lori huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

This is a P&P and Emma mashup, in that the names are borrowed from P&P, but assigned to the characters in Emma. The setting is Highbury. Emma is named Elizabeth Bennett, Mr Woodhouse is Mr Bennett, and Knightley is Darcy. Darcy and Elizabeth are best friends, and grow up together. When Elizabeth is fifteen and Darcy is seventeen, he makes his first proposal in an attempt to save them both the trouble of having to look for a mate when they're older. Of course this doesn't mean that much to such a young girl, but their friendship matures from there.

I like Darcy in this version, but not so much Elizabeth. Darcy is close to Mr Bennett before he dies and, like Knightley, is at Hartfield frequently. He's mostly true to his Darcy personality in that he's imposing, somewhat serious, and he likes Elizabeth. Elizabeth, however, is very much out of character. Like Emma, she's wealthy, so this changes her from the start. On top of this, she loves living in London and she really enjoys the life of luxury and sophistication to be had there. In other words, although she's well educated, she's very un-Elizabeth. Although her pleasant and playful childhood is mentioned, in this version she's far removed from the hoydenish and impertinent Lizzy.

I deducted a star because I felt this should have been a variation on Emma, and P&P should have been left out of it. I'm not sure why the author decided to use the P&P names, when every other detail and accessory character comes from Emma. However, the book is well written and well edited. I recommend it highly.

[Carol Perrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Proposals of Marriage

What I liked about this story was ODC finally got their HEA. Also liked that Jane and Bingley were married without needless interference. I also like the changed circumstances of the Bennets and that their were only three (Mr. Bennet, Jane, Elizabeth) and growing up in Derbyshire near Pemberley. What I didn’t like was how long it took ODC to get there. As clever, witty, and well educated Elizabeth was supposed to be, she was blind as a bat in regards to Darcy’s feelings. Damned near married another man that she was not in love with before waking up to reality and realizing that she loved Darcy. Felt like I wanted to jump into the book many times throughout the story to smack some sense into her. Granted Darcy’s first two proposals were flippant and lacked any real feelings, but his constant contact and interactions with her were enough to not understand his real feelings. When she refuses the third time to remain in her engagement to her marriage of convenience, I wondered when her commitment to marry for love and respect disappeared. Normally, I would have given a higher rating, but the constant aggravation this story caused me as I read, I just couldn’t give this story
a 5 star review. In fact, if there were half ratings available, I would have made this a 3.5 star rating. I hate a nonsensical Elizabeth.

[Maria Escarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friends to lovers, Emma-crossover variation

This is not the typical Laura Moretti variation, in this reader’s opinion, as it lacks the dark and edgier elements usually found in most of the author’s works. Still, this one packs a punch as it dwells in a story where most of the principal characters of Pride and Prejudice are exchanged/intertwined with the characters of Jane Austen’s Emma.

Elizabeth Bennet serves as the Emma with Mr. Darcy as Mr. Knightley. Many secondary characters of P&P Canon are done away with, which is rather beneficial as it highlights merely on Jane and Elizabeth Bennet at the start of the story.

Four proposals of marriage is indeed possible as shown in this novella. What’s striking is how this story is so relatable even in the modern world.

When Fitzwilliam Darcy realizes his love for his childhood friend, Elizabeth, it is most affecting and heart tugging. His distress over his obvious blindness and lack of understanding of their relationship and his heart was very English and painful. Elizabeth’s realization of love for Darcy also almost comes too late without painful consequences. What matters is the friends to lovers get their HEA in the end. If only most of such stories do!

[Laura Wardale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost give this one 5*. I loved the childhood side of things and how the proposals occurred. There wasn’t much in the way of pride and prejudice in the characters, perhaps some pride on Darcy’s side as he got older which is probably why i felt I couldn’t give it 5*. That said, I loved the changes that were made here, they lived on an estate next to Pemberley and grew up together etc and then each realised the truth as they got older.

I liked the relationship between the two and loved how blind people can be sometimes to things right under their nose!

A nicely written, well thought out variation. A lot changed so if you can’t cope with the idea of them not living at Longbourn then perhaps skip past this one but otherwise, give it a go

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Mrs. Bennet, No Longbourn, this is like a different book for sure. Pemberley in the south in Highbury? Wow a lot to take in but it was a nice gentle read. Low angst, I liked the story. I would have liked more fleshing out of the characters. Lady C was mentioned. No Mr. Collins. There was Persuasion and there was Pride mismashed together with some left out. Only 2 Bennet daughters. I would like to see more detailed story first they are at a ball then Darcy is traveling and Lizzy is enjoying the Season. Caroline is really a footnote which wasn't a bad idea. I just wanted more. if you read it you will understand.

[Lynette Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

sincerely charming. truly

Only chose since new variant/author for me read reviews prepared to be only ‘mildly diverted’ which at first, was true. As read more, each word mostly from FD viewpoint, became enchanted with how a man comes to realize his own mind, heart hand hopes for the future but only bc possibility of real love exists within one true love. This book is sooo low angst u may feel relaxed enough to dream of your own what ifs, but urge u to read each lovely introspective & yes lightly historical chapter to glean the sweetest moments of staying true to yourself and whom you offer your love. Charming book. Will read again.

[Vem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really the D or E of P&P. They have the same name but different people. But, this was a lovely read and the writing was moving. Romance was also great although i feel like it's a bit unrealistic how obvious they both are, seeing as they have the example of Jane and Bingleys friendship to love example in front them. Now that I'm thinking it more, i feel like this didn't actually suit that time period, seeing as how marriage was an important topic, and with Darcy and Elizabeth's close friendship, age etc someone would have already brought the topic of their marriage long ago. But still, enjoyed reading it

[Daniela Quadros · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful story, where Pride and Prejudice meets Emma, and Darcy and Elizabeth have grown up as neighbors and friends. I love stories where ODC has a previous acquaintance, and here they are great together and have wonderful conversations and interactions. Their road to HEA is bumpy and it takes them a long time to realize their feelings for each other but it is well worth it. I highly recommend this book.

[Camille Fiore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice,but

This variation starts so far from canon that the reader must flounder for a while. Where is Highbury? What happened to Longbourn? Why are the Bennets rich, living near to the Darcys, and a family with only two daughters?

Most of these questions are answered...sort of, but many others just must be set aside. This is a nice book, but only the names are the same, it is totally different, not really a variation.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an interesting book. It more or less merges the characters of Darcy and Knightley, and creates an Emma if she were like Elizabeth in perspective. For example, if you mixed Elizabeth and Emma, Emma's good-hearted interventions would take the more productive course of social justice and education for the poor. This is a fast and really engaging read.

[ste · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ rounded up.
I don’t know if it’s because my period is coming but this book made me highly emotional. I teared up in the last quarter of the book. It was very heartwarming to see E&D growing up together and fall in love without realizing. I would have liked to see more of their engagement in the end, because after this odyssey they deserved some happiness.

[Patricia A Garland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four proposals, Elizabeth, really?

Elizabeth and Darcy risk their possible happiness by not realizing their true feelings until it is almost too late. Obligations to another person nearly ruins three lives.

[Teresa Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, though a bit wordy

I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the 4 proposals, and the stages of life and maturity represented. I liked this Elizabeth and Darcy, as well as the setting. I did find I needed to skim a bit in the reading though.