While touring Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth Bennet is horrified to discover they intend to visit Pemberley, the home of Mr Darcy. She had hoped never to meet him again after rejecting his proposal months before. But assured that he is not home, Elizabeth decides to take the opportunity to explore Pemberley Woods while her aunt and uncle are out. There, alone in the woods, she is the victim of an accident. Mr Darcy discovers her lying unconscious and must think quickly to get her to shelter before a storm begins. He takes her to his hunting lodge to tend to her injuries, realising he will have compromised her reputation and be obliged to marry her if word gets out. But Elizabeth is suffering from amnesia as a result of her accident and is intrigued by the kind, generous man who tends to her. Is this Mr Darcy's last chance to show her the man he can be? And as for Elizabeth, she is astonished to discover that the warm, caring man she's starting to fall in love with was someone she disliked intensely before her accident. But just why was her dislike for him so strong? When word gets out of them spending the night together, Lizzy's reputation is compromised and the only way out is to agree to marry Mr Darcy. But can she accept him for the man he is now? And can she truly love a man she cannot remember?
My Library Notes: An Encounter at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Isabelle Mayfair Kindle Edition, First Edition, 89 pages Published November 16, 2016 ASIN: B01NA6Q5ZN
While touring Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth Bennet is horrified to discover they intend to visit Pemberley, the home of Mr Darcy. She had hoped never to meet him again after rejecting his proposal months before. But assured that he is not home, Elizabeth decides to take the opportunity to explore Pemberley Woods while her aunt and uncle are out. There, alone in the woods, she is the victim of an accident.
Mr Darcy discovers her lying unconscious and must think quickly to get her to shelter before a storm begins. He takes her to his hunting lodge to tend to her injuries, realising he will have compromised her reputation and be obliged to marry her if word gets out. But Elizabeth is suffering from amnesia as a result of her accident and is intrigued by the kind, generous man who tends to her.
Is this Mr Darcy's last chance to show her the man he can be? And as for Elizabeth, she is astonished to discover that the warm, caring man she's starting to fall in love with was someone she disliked intensely before her accident. But just why was her dislike for him so strong?
When word gets out of them spending the night together, Lizzy's reputation is compromised and the only way out is to agree to marry Mr Darcy. But can she accept him for the man he is now? And can she truly love a man she cannot remember?
“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” Friedrich Nietzsche
When I started reading this story, I had a feeling of déjà vu, that I had read it or parts of it before.
We have the tried—and—true tropes for our JAFF variation. They are as follows:
Falling/tripping trope: “Lizzy has fallen and can’t get up” scenario. Dang, that girl can’t walk on even ground. She’s always falling in a ditch or hitting her head.
Amnesia trope: Lizzy has partial amnesia where she doesn’t know anything or anyone. She then gets to see Darcy for who he really is, with no prejudice and no grievance against him due to separating Jane and Bingley.
Compromise trope: Darcy forced to ask for her hand due to having compromised her.
Spend the night in a hunting lodge trope: Storm approaches, torrential rain, wet to the bone, has to change out of wet clothes, etc., seen by others [Caroline and Bingley in this case].
Caroline: “It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.” Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata
Ah, Caroline, beauty on the outside and black as night on the inside. Oh, you are up to your old tricks. That girl, I swear, not one word out of her mouth can be trusted. She would lie to her best friend if she thought it would increase her standing in London’s social circles. She did the unspeakable… or at least we think she did. It wasn’t clarified for sure. Lizzy thinks she did, Darcy isn’t so sure. I think she did. However, it proved counterproductive if she did. There was no epilogue to tell if she was punished for her crimes against Bingley, Darcy, and Elizabeth.
I liked this Darcy. He did everything he could to correct his mistakes. He was so loving and caring for Elizabeth and she was so receptive of him… at first. Because she didn’t remember her grievances against him, she was totally accepting of his kindness and generosity and thought he was the best of men.
This was a quick, clean read. I was finished in no time. I enjoyed it, even though things moved quickly. There were editing problems, missing letters, word substitutions, fiancée [female] fiancé [male] confusion, and others.
Note: update: I have since learned that fiancée was not in use until the mid-1800s. My apologies to the author.
I enjoyed this even though it's not exactly new territory for a Pride and Prejudice variation. When Elizabeth and her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner visit Lambton, she wanders into the surrounding countryside and takes a nasty fall that leaves her unconscious. Darcy discovers her and is amazed by her presence near his estate. He brings her to a hunting cabin, which is close by, in order to get her dry and out of the rainy weather, and they are there overnight. The next day, she awakens with amnesia- doesn't know who he is or even who she is. Mr. Bingley finds them there and returns with a cart to convey the injured lady to Pemberley. Much as Darcy relishes this opportunity to spend time with her, he knows eventually he will have to tell her about their last encounter when she forcefully refused his marriage proposal. She is drawn to this handsome, thoughtful man whose has an admirable relationship with his sister Georgiana and his servants. Caroline, meanwhile, suspects that Elizabeth is faking her memory loss to get closer to Darcy. The story moves on from there.
I believe Caroline would not be able to stay at Pemberley without her brother or a companion present (Bingley leaves Pemberley but doesn't take Caroline with him) without her reputation being ruined. As others have mentioned, Elizabeth is awfully alert and energetic (aside from her memory loss and sprained ankle) for someone who was out in the elements and unconscious for so many hours just a day previously.
I know other reviewers mention the trite storyline. I can't deny that there are a lot of elements here that I've read before, but I don't remember recall having read a story with this exact combination. The writing is pretty good, and I found myself interested to see how it was going to play out. It's not a great book, but I did like it.
The book description tells the reader most of the premise of this story. It does need some editing and towards the end the font shows up in "bold" for a few pages. I would have liked an expanded ending as we didn't even get to the wedding(s) much less have an epilogue to tell us of children, etc.
If you can accept that the path Elizabeth walks is not only on Pemberley property but also that it just happens to be a path on which a horse can also follow then the fact that Elizabeth is found with a head wound and a badly sprained ankle unconscious by Darcy is not so strange. (I never thing of Pemberley property edging the border of Lambton but maybe that is my mistake.)
Next we have a premise which has been used more than once...caught far from the main manor ODC has to take shelter in cottage or hunters' shack for shelter from a violent storm...overnight. Plus as their clothing is soaked he has to undress the comatose Elizabeth and dress her in the men's clothing left in the hunter's cottage. Then they are not allowed to sneak back to Pemberley - they are discovered by Bingley who goes for a cart to take her to the house as she has awoken with not memory. Darcy knows who she is but not how she got to be on his land nor with whom she was traveling.
The parts that I particularly liked about the story were that Darcy, even in knowing that he will offer for Elizabeth again as she is compromised, reveals to her all about their previous relationship and how she has turned him down at Hunsford. Then it was also poignant to read of what finally jolted her memory and had all the history come flooding back.
There were really no surprises in this story and little angst. But, for me, it was a sweet read. Elizabeth got to know Darcy without his "public face" and liked him despite knowing that he had separated his sister from Bingley. He has never stopped loving her.
Traditional Plotline Inevitability Leads to Happiness
Ms Mayfair offers a new (not necessarily different) take on the Amnesia crux in the center of the plot. This makes for diverting read. The characters o not stray far from the Canon. Other points of tension are avoided. Well-written effort for easy reading.
This is a short, kind of ridiculous, trope heavy book. During her stay in Lambton Lizzy wanders off, falls, sprains her ankle (Trope), and strikes her head developing amnesia (trope) she is discovered by Mr. Darcy and as the rain falls they are forced to spend the night in a hunting cabin (trope) so Lizzy is compromised (trope). They return to Pemberley where is treated for her injuries and Mr. Darcy notifies her relatives and sends word to the village to discover her traveling companions.
Despite Lizzy's injured leg and full on amnesia she is quickly scampering about Pemberley fighting with Miss Bingley and falling in love with Fitzwilliam Darcy. So she is confused when her aunt insists that she had told her that she hated Mr. Darcy. Once she rereads his letter from Hunsford her memory is restored and she is embarrassed at her mistreatment of Mr. Darcy. and they all lived HEA....
Fast paced and light-hearted book that was a pleasure to read.
Elizabeth was travelling to the North with the Gardiner's when she injured herself on a walk. Darcy discovered her, unconscious, on his way home and they were forced to take shelter in a hunting lodge. Utterly compromised and Elizabeth had no memory from before the accident, ODC's road to HEA was swift and relatively pain-free.
An Encounter at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
A brief, short accounting of Elizabeth's trip with the Gardiners to Derbyshire, but very enjoyable. A sudden accident places a hurt Elizabeth with Darcy in his hunting cabin at Pemberley during a rain storm. Having lost her memory when she fell and hit her head, she doesn't remember Darcy at all. She's convinced that he is a wonderful man who makes her quite happy. She wonders what woman would not fall in love with him. Like I've stated, she cannot remember who she is much less who he is and that they have met twice before. No clue that he proposed at Hunsford or why he was rejected. The gossip rag of a newspaper already has wind of the scandal in the cabin, so Darcy proposes again. He's not upset with marrying her, just that the gossip has made it necessary without any other choice for Elizabeth. After Darcy writes her father about her accident and memory loss, he and Jane rush to Pemberley. Seeing the letter delivered at Hunsford by Darcy, Elizabeth regains her memory. Bingley leaves Pemberley before the Bennets arrive and travels to Derby. Righting his mistake, Darcy travels to Derby to set things straight with his friend. When Bingley returns to Pemberley, he and Jane become engaged and much to Caroline's dismay, a double wedding is planned. I would have given this a story a 5 if the author would have fleshed out who leaked the details of their night in the hunting cabin, and had there been a set down of Caroline Bingley by Darcy, Elizabeth, Jane, and Bingley. Her hateful self deserved anything that they could throw at her since her continued lies and interference surely warranted their effort. Loved this Darcy. Even though the truth might hurt his efforts to win Elizabeth's love, he told her all that happened between them before she regained her memory from their first meeting at the Meryton Assembly to the disastrous proposal at Hunsford.
This story was okay. I didn't really buy Elizabeth's injury, given that she was up and walking with a crutch within a day and didn't seem to have any lingering effects from her head injury other than the memory loss. The way she took everything in stride seemed too good to be true, too. Yes, Elizabeth tries to keep a happy attitude, but she's not without normal human reactions and emotions (as evidenced by her strong reactions to all things Darcy). It was weird to not have her express distress, and also to have her thinking about determining whether she's in love (to the point that she asks Aunt Gardiner about it) after a couple of days in Darcy's company and still no memory.
2.5 stars, though rounded up to 3 stars for some generally pleasing scenes between Elizabeth and Darcy.
The plot is an amnesia fic and a forced engagement story. Elizabeth is injured and loses her memory and Darcy tends to her alone for long enough that there is a scandal. We assume that Miss Bingley spread the word to the gossip rags which seems like a counterproductive thing for her to do. Minor editorial misses. Steam level: safe for work
Cute, sweet, short story to read. Loved bloomed throughout this story from Darcy to Elizabeth. Elizabeth starts to have her heart open up, but plot twist.... Caroline is there.
I enjoyed this version of P&P. It stays true to canon at the beginning. Darcy proposed and was turned down. Lizzie is with her aunt and uncle and they want to go see Pemberley. The day before they are to go, Lizzie goes out for a walk close to the grounds of Pemberley, and she falls and hits her head. Darcy finds her. She has no memory. There is a storm and he is forced to go with her to the hunting lodge to spend the night. Darcy is so concerned for her and takes such good care of her, she is drawn to him. Darcy tells her the truth of their history and she finds it hard to believe. There is no Wickham and no Lydia (thankfully). Caroline plays a role and she's her usual hateful self. My only complaint is that the story had an abrupt resolution and ending. There are quite a few typos and grammar problems as well.
A short read that has me scratching my head at the end. Instead of meeting at Pemberly, Elizabeth falls in the woods and Darcy finds her on the way home. As she is injured and it is raining, he takes her to the hunting lodge. Of course, she is compromised but also has no memory.
What is strange is that everyone seems ok with what is going on and Elizabeth is cheery, etc. It just seems out of place. There were a lot of things that just didn't feel right. There were also lots of spelling mistakes and random bold text. The end was also very short and made me ask what just happened.
This was another really fun story by Isabelle Mayfair and I enjoyed seeing how the story unfolded and how Elizabeth and Darcy as well as Jane and Bingley reached their happy endings.
While out walking in the woods around Lambton, Elizabeth is hurt and found unconscious by Darcy. Due to an approaching storm he takes her to the nearby hunting lodge. Unfortunately the next morning Elizabeth wakes with no memory of anything. An okay story which was keeping me entertained then one sentence near the end threw me out of the story and then it became a struggle to finish. So it was nearly just a 2 star read.