She has been reading people since she was thirteen. So has he.

Elizabeth Bennet built her method from a wound: not just what was done, but what her father said when she told him — three words, a joke, a closed door. She watches how people treat those who cannot benefit them — and she has never been wrong. Fitzwilliam Darcy built the same instrument at fifteen, when a childhood friend showed him that loyalty was a coat worn for convenience. Two people — same damage, same precision, entirely different reasons for being at the Meryton Assembly — and neither of them came there to fall in love.

What follows is contested, involuntary, and earned. All five Bennet sisters have their own arcs, and the epilogue delivers the moment readers will return to the book to find again.

Content note: the Prologue addresses the exploitation of a young woman in service. It does not depict graphic content but may be distressing for some readers.