Posted on 2025-11-15
Summary: Lizzie Bennet is a highly accomplished senior English major attending the University of Texas at Austin. With just a semester and a half left, Lizzie has her sights on finding the best graduate program and finishing with a 4.0. However, when a group project about Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility results in her being in a group with the mysterious and wealthy Will Darcy, she may just find herself with a new priority.
Mr. Bennet returned his phone to the charger and then returned to his seat next to his wife. She was watching the news, nervously rubbing her palms together as an economist discussed the inflation rate and its impact on the price of cherry tomatoes and golden potatoes. Mr. Bennet sighed, leaning into the sofa.
“What’s the matter dear?” asked Mrs. Bennet, her attention still on the TV.
“Lizzie is going to have to stay late again today.”
“If she stays any later,” Mrs. Bennet lifted up the remote and changed the channel to a local traffic report, “she is going to get stuck in all that ‘weird’ Austin traffic.” Relating the report was a thin man draped in a chartreuse suit gesticulating at pillars of cars slowly inching their way forward. The sun was already setting, and the brake lights were morphing into a great red snake. Mrs. Bennet's palm rubbing intensified.
Mr. Bennet shook his head. Upstairs, the strained, choked calls of a trombone leaked from Mary’s room. Her trombone was out of tune, and it quickly engendered a spat of yelling from Mr. Bennet’s younger two daughters, Kitty and Lydia. They were twins and deadset on using their free time to call friends and doomscroll.
“Did she say why she has to stay late?”
“She has a new group presentation to manage.”
“A group project!”
“Why is that exciting?”
“Are her group members boys by chance?”
“My dear, you know Lizzie hates it when you tease her about that sort of thing.”
“Mr. Bennet, are her group members boys or not.”
He sighed again. At times, his wife’s mind seemed to orbit around just one thing: setting up her daughters with the eligible bachelors of Austin, Texas. With any interaction, whether public or private, Mrs. Bennet was curious to know whether or not her daughters were talking to boys and making an effort to secure themselves a boyfriend who then could become a husband and deliver her a great bounty of grandchildren that she could then dote on. In any lull of conversation, the matter of boys was Mrs. Bennet’s go-to topic. In this regard, Lizzie disappointed her. Sure, Lizzie had been valedictorian of her high school, was attending the prestigious University of Texas, and managed a bevy of extracurriculars even while commuting from her home in the suburbs to the city’s downtown, but she had no boyfriend. To Mrs. Bennet, nothing really mattered except that.
“Mr. Bennet, you have to tell me.”
“Well, her professor randomly assigned the groups. She wanted to work with Charlotte Lucas, but instead ended up with that Will Darcy fellow and that friend of his.
“Will Darcy!”
“Yes dear.”
“Oh, if my Lizzie could win his heart, we would all be set.” Through no fault of his own, but rather his family’s immense wealth and political activity, Will Darcy was a man with a sizable internet presence and a man whose activities were well documented. The moment Mrs. Bennet learned he would be attending the same college as one of her daughters, she began following him through every possible digital avenue while daydreaming about the chance that he might meet one of her daughters. She almost jumped through the ceiling when she learned he was getting a minor in English. Now, her exuberance was erupting. Her husband sighed.
“I fear you make too many assumptions. One, I think our Lizzie has much better things to do than deal with this Darcy fellow, and secondly, from what I have heard, he is not suited for our daughter.”
“Oh, Mr. Bennet, is it not a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in college, and a fabulously rich one at that, must be in want of a girlfriend.” Mrs. Bennet returned to the TV with a broad smile, mentally rehearsing what she would say in hopes of pushing her daughter to consider Will as a potential suitor.
Author’s Note: This story chapter is a part of a school assignment where my group and I were tasked with presenting on an item that interacts with the works of Jane Austen. Out of a long list of possible topics, we chose to present on the Derbyshire Writers’ Guild. To help us fully understand and appreciate the Guild, we have all elected to try our hand at contributing to the website. I do apologize if I have made some errors in making this post.
Mr. Bennet returned his phone to the charger and then returned to his seat next to his wife. She was watching the news, nervously rubbing her palms together as an economist discussed the inflation rate and its impact on the price of cherry tomatoes and golden potatoes. Mr. Bennet sighed, leaning into the sofa.
“What’s the matter dear?” asked Mrs. Bennet, her attention still on the TV.
“Lizzie is going to have to stay late again today.”
“If she stays any later,” Mrs. Bennet lifted up the remote and changed the channel to a local traffic report, “she is going to get stuck in all that ‘weird’ Austin traffic.” Relating the report was a thin man draped in a chartreuse suit gesticulating at pillars of cars slowly inching their way forward. The sun was already setting, and the brake lights were morphing into a great red snake. Mrs. Bennet's palm rubbing intensified.
Mr. Bennet shook his head. Upstairs, the strained, choked calls of a trombone leaked from Mary’s room. Her trombone was out of tune, and it quickly engendered a spat of yelling from Mr. Bennet’s younger two daughters, Kitty and Lydia. They were twins and deadset on using their free time to call friends and doomscroll.
“Did she say why she has to stay late?”
“She has a new group presentation to manage.”
“A group project!”
“Why is that exciting?”
“Are her group members boys by chance?”
“My dear, you know Lizzie hates it when you tease her about that sort of thing.”
“Mr. Bennet, are her group members boys or not.”
He sighed again. At times, his wife’s mind seemed to orbit around just one thing: setting up her daughters with the eligible bachelors of Austin, Texas. With any interaction, whether public or private, Mrs. Bennet was curious to know whether or not her daughters were talking to boys and making an effort to secure themselves a boyfriend who then could become a husband and deliver her a great bounty of grandchildren that she could then dote on. In any lull of conversation, the matter of boys was Mrs. Bennet’s go-to topic. In this regard, Lizzie disappointed her. Sure, Lizzie had been valedictorian of her high school, was attending the prestigious University of Texas, and managed a bevy of extracurriculars even while commuting from her home in the suburbs to the city’s downtown, but she had no boyfriend. To Mrs. Bennet, nothing really mattered except that.
“Mr. Bennet, you have to tell me.”
“Well, her professor randomly assigned the groups. She wanted to work with Charlotte Lucas, but instead ended up with that Will Darcy fellow and that friend of his.
“Will Darcy!”
“Yes dear.”
“Oh, if my Lizzie could win his heart, we would all be set.” Through no fault of his own, but rather his family’s immense wealth and political activity, Will Darcy was a man with a sizable internet presence and a man whose activities were well documented. The moment Mrs. Bennet learned he would be attending the same college as one of her daughters, she began following him through every possible digital avenue while daydreaming about the chance that he might meet one of her daughters. She almost jumped through the ceiling when she learned he was getting a minor in English. Now, her exuberance was erupting. Her husband sighed.
“I fear you make too many assumptions. One, I think our Lizzie has much better things to do than deal with this Darcy fellow, and secondly, from what I have heard, he is not suited for our daughter.”
“Oh, Mr. Bennet, is it not a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in college, and a fabulously rich one at that, must be in want of a girlfriend.” Mrs. Bennet returned to the TV with a broad smile, mentally rehearsing what she would say in hopes of pushing her daughter to consider Will as a potential suitor.
Author’s Note: This story chapter is a part of a school assignment where my group and I were tasked with presenting on an item that interacts with the works of Jane Austen. Out of a long list of possible topics, we chose to present on the Derbyshire Writers’ Guild. To help us fully understand and appreciate the Guild, we have all elected to try our hand at contributing to the website. I do apologize if I have made some errors in making this post.