Darcy’s introduction. What if Elizabeth visited Pemberley before meeting Darcy, and was prepared to think the best of him, rather than the worst? What if Georgiana Darcy stayed home from Ramsgate, and Wickham’s dastardly schemes had not yet been revealed? The answer: An ardent, inevitable love story that unfolds quite differently… but is, in essentials, very much what it ever was. Elizabeth and Darcy: Ardently Yours is a sweet, chaste Regency romance of approximately 60,000 words. A note: This story was originally posted several years ago on Jane Austen fan sites, under the title “In Essentials: Much as It Ever Was”. It has been lightly edited, but is otherwise unchanged. — Evangeline (“Vangie”) Wright.