From This Day Forward — Joana Starnes

On a crisp winter morning in a small country church, Miss Elizabeth Bennet married Mr Darcy - and her quiet, tame existence abruptly changed. The second daughter of a country gentleman is now many different things, to different people. Beloved wife. Mistress of a dauntingly great estate. Reluctant socialite. Daughter. Sister. Cousin. Friend. Her world is very different too, touched by a series of events that the creator of 'Pride & Prejudice' would have recognised. As the days of her married life go by, bringing both joy and turmoil, the man that stands beside her is her shelter and comfort in the face of family opposition, peril and heartbreak.
Three very different Christmas seasons come to serve as landmarks to their lives and there are blissful days and times of sorrow at the old English country house. And before too long, a time would come when Darcy must decide if he is prepared to risk everything for the sake of a full life together - or succumb to the collection of his fears.

"Quiet footsteps, eerily quiet, drew him from his trance. He looked up - and followed. The ghostly sound faded as he reached the eastern staircase and he took the steps two at a time, down to the very bottom. A madman's quest for he knew not what pushed him to the gallery. In the light of the moon, from her portrait, his grandfather's first wife looked down upon him with the deepest compassion. He dug his fingers in his hair. A long, dry sob racked his chest as he pounded the frame of the unfortunate woman's likeness, and broken gilt plaster fell to the floor. He covered his mouth with his fist, stifling the groan. And ran out of the deathly silent room, chased by his demons."