Regret — Elizabeth Howell

The tale begins the day before Miss Lydia Bennet's wedding to George Wickham.Excited, that finally she will be married to her reckless but handsome beau, Lydia cannot contain her joy. On entering his bedchamber to show him the lace bought for her wedding day, an unexpected sight awaits Lydia. Lying on the floor, Lydia crouches by Wickham's side, believing him to be jesting or consumed by alcohol. Alas, it is neither: Wickham is dead.Receiving word from Mr Gardiner that his youngest daughter has been arrested for Wickham's murder, that day changes the lives of the Bennet family. Caught up in the scandal of Lydia's intended elopement with the military man, shame now bears down on the family as the youngest Bennet sister faces trial for killing Wickham.Turmoil pursues, and everyone is required to rally around and be strong. Life will never again be the same. In the middle of the chaos stands Elizabeth Bennet. Considered by many as the most capable of the Bennet sisters, now she has to be strong and consider everyone but herself, and she does. Worried about her father and anxious for her mother, too, her sisters each have personal despair.The light at the end of the tunnel for Elizabeth is Fitzwilliam Darcy. The noble, kind and steadfast landowner; a man she appreciated the goodness of on her visit with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner to Pemberley. Deeply she is in love with him, and Darcy is the only person who gives Elizabeth hope. Hope, in an ever-increasing world of angst and despair.Will Elizabeth get her happy ever after? Alternatively, was her fate, and that of her family sealed the day Lydia ran from Brighton in the arms of Wickham?