Book excerpt: Elizabeth Bennet has always regretted her mother’s ways and her ability to embarrass Elizabeth at every turn. What would Elizabeth do if another was equally invested in seeing the Bennet sisters married to men as soon as may be? On the passing of Mr. Henry Bennet, his wife and daughters fear the loss of their beloved home to his heir and cousin, a man to whom they have never had the benefit of an introduction. But when Mr. Collins takes control of his inheritance, he surprises them with the offer to allow them to remain in their home. But Mr. Collins has a deeper purpose, for he has decided it is his duty to see his cousins married and bends all his thought toward that objective. The new gentlemen in the neighborhood, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mr. Charles Bingley, seem the perfect candidates, for they are excellent men, wealthy, and show a pleasing preference for Mr. Collins’s eldest cousins. While their interest is genuine, both men find it difficult, for Mr. Collins’s determination to ensure the courtships’ success leaves much to be desired. Darcy is accustomed to matchmaking mothers, but he has never heard of a matchmaking cousin. As the lovers attempt to know each other better and find their happiness, they must contend with well-meaning but ridiculous relations and opposing forces determined to ensure they never come together. It is said that love conquers all, and they must believe it will, for otherwise, a cousin determined to offer them every possible amends might drive them apart!