Lady Catherine de Bough has invited herself to Pemberley, intent upon bringing about an engagement between her daughter Anne and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Unlike Darcy, Fitzwilliam must marry for money and so cannot fail to oblige Lady Catherine.

But her ladyship has failed to take into account the improvement in her daughter’s health, brought about by the charismatic Mr. Asquith, inexplicably engaged by Lady Catherine to take Mrs. Jenkinson’s place as Anne’s tutor. Asquith opens Anne’s eyes with his worldly wisdom and engaging charm and she finds herself thinking the unthinkable.

For his part, Joshua Fitzwilliam longs for a love match to rival the Darcys. When he meets Celia Sheffield, a recent arrival in Derbyshire, he is enchanted by her beauty and wit. Widowed a year previously, Mrs. Sheffield’s fortune is being contested by someone from her past in Jamaica, from whence Mr. Asquith also hails. What is the connection between him and the woman Joshua has become fixated upon?

Lizzy Darcy, expecting her first child, struggles to remain on congenial terms with Lady Catherine. She is at her wits end when Mr. Collins unexpectedly arrives, bringing with him grave rumours regarding Mr. Asquith’s character.

Will Anne find the courage to defy her mother, risk being disinherited, and follow her heart? And what of Joshua? Can he save Celia from the debauched individual who wants more from her than mere monetary rewards…