Fitzwilliam Darcy regresa a su propiedad rural de Pemberley para pasar la Navidad con su hermana Georgiana. El recuerdo de Elizabeth Bennet parece perseguirle a todas partes. Distraído y distante, Georgiana trata de averiguar qué le pasa. Él le cuenta sus encuentros con Elizabeth, pero también deja muy claro que, aparte de la opinión que la joven pueda tener de él, la posición social de la dama, claramente inferior a la de su familia, es un obstáculo insalvable para cualquier posible relación entre ambos. A su regreso a Londres, toma la decisión de olvidarla por completo y se propone buscar a alguna joven adecuada para ser su esposa. En su interior se impone un fuerte sentido del deber y del honor que supera momentáneamente a sus sentimientos.

This one, Aidan took a bit more freedom with, but I was willing to run with it as I enjoyed the first so much. In his attempt to find a woman of his own station, Darcy gets into a bit of interesting scandal, LOL I love Fletcher though, and think he's a great side character, and this era with riding horseback everywhere is my kind of thing. Nelson and Trafalgar are Darcy's "pets" as much as my horses and dog is mine. Thoroughly enjoy reading these. ( )

I do love me some Pride and Prejudice retellings! Pamela Aiden's offerings introduce us to some charming new characters and broadens our knowledge of others...a fun, light read. The second book in the trilogy enters into a Gothic romance style which is a bit out of character for Darcy, but still enjoyable. ( )

After rather unwillingly enjoying the first novel in Pamela Aidan's retelling of Pride & Prejudice, I cannot say I found the second quite so agreeable. In Duty and Desire, Aidan's writing seems to have improved from her first effort, but if the character wasn't named Fitzwilliam Darcy it would not have been evident that this was a part of his story. The plot events present such a radical departure from the norms of Austen's world, I am still at a loss what to think of it.

The story also struggles because Elizabeth is absent for most of its pages, present only in Darcy's thoughts and shoved entirely to the side by the lurid events at Norwycke Castle, whence Darcy repairs to find a suitable replacement for his fine-eyed fascination. The story quickly becomes more of a mystery than anything else, with Darcy and his highly competent valet Fletcher tracking down clues and trying to discover the author of the disturbances.

I do give Aidan full credit for the inventiveness of her plot. It is so far removed from anything I can imagine Austen penning. Some readers will like that; others, like me, will like it better if they think of it as its own tale, unrelated to Austen's characters or story. Duty and Desire would make an admirable historical novel in its own right, but it doesn't feel a plausible place for Austenian characters to live in. ( )

This second book in the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy is both very silly and rather horrible. Almost horrible enough to be fun, but not quite. Just standard horrible.

The premise seems interesting enough--it is set during one of the time periods when Darcy disappears from Pride and Prejudice and no one knows what he's doing. Turns out he realizes that Elizabeth Bennet does not like him, so he sets out to find someone to replace her in his affections. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, the first half of the book is Darcy sitting in church thinking, and then having boring conversations with his cousin Col. Fitzwilliam or speaking in platitudes with his sister Georgiana. In the later half, he goes off to Northanger Abbey and gets involved in a ridiculous Gothic plot in a creepy castle.

This Darcy is a cardboard hero who is boringly flawless, and the only likeable character in the novel is his valet, Fletcher.

Aiden uses a weirdly antiquey style of writing that I think is supposed to sound Austen-esque, but has none of Austen's flair or wit.

I praised the first book in the trilogy (An Assembly Such as This) as "not atrocious," but I'm sorry to say that part two is most definitely atrocious.

Recommended for: Many readers suggest skipping this part of the trilogy, and I heartily agree. ( )