A Great Deal Of Ingenuity – Ruth Leigh

She looked a fright in her gown which I recognise from two winters since. I would not have been induced to wear it for any thing. Mr Bingley brought his two sisters, a stout, indolent-looking gentleman who is married to the eldest, and a friend of his who is immensely handsome. Mama had intelligence from Mrs Philips that he is even richer than Mr Bingley, with a fine estate in Derbyshire and ten thousand a year! If I cannot have Mr Bingley, I would not be sorry to set my cap at his friend.

But it was all for naught. Mr Darcy, as he is called, was above his company and refused to dance with anyone except Mr Bingley’s simpering sisters. They were dressed in rich silks and I daresay their headdresses alone cost as much as Mama allows us to spend on dresses all the year. I was disgusted with his behaviour, as were we all, saving Jane Bennet, who thinks ill of no- one. Mrs Long’s neices told me that he ignored their aunt completely until she forced him to speak, and even then, he looked very angry at being addressed.

Mrs Long is a very sociable lady and entertains most handsomely at her house. She has a fine instrument and is always very happy for us to roll up the carpet and dance. † The next day, as we walked into Meryton, we saw Charlotte and Maria Lucas coming out of Clarke’s Library.

Maria looked like a frightened mouse, as usual (I would not wear such pale ribbons near the face if I had her colouring, but Mama says that Lady Lucas does not have the first idea of how to dress her daughters). Charlotte looked tolerably well. She invited us all to supper at Lucas Lodge Tuesday se’nnight[42]. Mama had agreed to advance Pen and I the money for new dresses, so we all walked into the haberdasher to chuse our ribbons. I selected a drab green, which I flatter myself goes well with my eyes.

Pen insisted on turkey red, which merely brings out her high colour. I told her nay, but she would do it. William says that even in her first bloom, Pen is no beauty, but this is not kind. I am the pretty one, but Pen does well enough when she puts her mind to it. † Our lives are become a social whirl! Mr Bingley has left invitations on the entire neighbourhood for a ball at Netherfield on 26th November. Mama has agreed that we shall both have new cloaks, gowns, dancing shoes and hair ornaments for the occasion.

Papa sighed and said we would be the ruin of him, but I believe he was joking. To be sure, nobody laughed, but Papa’s jokes are not intended to be amusing.

Copyright © 2023 Ruth Leigh The right of Ruth Leigh to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published by Resolute Books www.resolutebooks.co.uk 1kitap1.com/en Contents Title Page Copyright Endorsements Dedication Acknowledgements Biography Notes on the Text Introduction Miss Gardiner Harriet’s Story Sally The Reverend Mr Annesley The Harrington Sisters The Cook’s Tale An Unremarkable Woman Mrs Long and Her Neices A Fine Trousseau Bibliography Also By This Author Endnotes 1kitap1.com/en Endorsements Cleverly thought-out and brilliantly executed, Ruth Leigh bestows upon us the backstories we never knew we needed.

Leigh has breathed life into those who made but a cameo appearance in Pride and Prejudice. Delightful! Rose Servitova, author of ‘The Longbourn Letters’, ‘A Completing of The Watsons’ and ‘A Season at Sanditon.’ ‘Whether or not you are an Austen fan, you will love these glimpses into the lives of minor Pride and Prejudice characters. With warmth, wit and a detailed understanding of the period, we are drawn effortlessly into the social niceties and small calamities of everyday Georgian life.

These are fascinating cameos of minor characters in this timeless book, brought to life with skill and artistry.’ Deborah Jenkins, author of ‘The Evenness of Things’ and ‘Braver’ (shortlisted for the Writers’ Guild Best First Novel Award). 1kitap1.com/en Dedication To all Austen fans, everywhere, in the hope that this book finds a home on your bookshelves and a place in your heart. I wrote this book for everyone who yearns to know more about the world of the Bennets, the Lucases, the Bingleys, Meryton and beyond.

I worked from the Penguin Classics 2003 updated version of the novel. It was originally published in 1813 by T Egerton. 1kitap1.com/en Acknowledgements I wrote most of this book in the early part of lockdown in 2020, struck by the notion that Pride and Prejudice is full of characters about whom we know very little. Like so many other devoted Janeites around the world, I absolutely love the novel, and the sheer pleasure of making up back stories about some of its minor characters certainly didn’t feel like hard work.

When I first wrote the outline three years ago, I was a freelancer with no experience of writing fiction and no belief in my own ability to find a publisher. I am grateful, therefore, to my colleagues at Resolute Books, who invited me to join their authors’ collaboration at just the right time.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 2977c45bf4e211a6
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,566,832 bytes (1.494 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 155
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 274.88 minutes
• Total Words: 54,976
• Total Characters: 297,111
• Average Words per Page: 354.68
• Average Characters per Page: 1916.85

Most Frequent Words

mrs (328), miss (286), young (174), lady (158), one (152), bennet (143), good (120), mama (120), dear (114), sister (113), little (111), time (98), well (96), new (95), lucas (95), home (93), family (93), house (92), two (91), long (89), meryton (82), married (81), see (80), lydia (80), eyes (77), know (75), mother (75), girls (73), myself (71), never (70), husband (70), day (69), room (69), now (67), fine (66), first (65), come (63), upon (62), bingley (62), years (60), wife (60), catherine (60), man (59), even (59), gardiner (58), woman (58), make (58), much (57), darcy (57), made (56), love (56), walked (56), said (55), face (55), many (54), great (54), colonel (54), news (53), old (52), back (51), came (51), morning (51), like (50), take (50), forster (50), work (49), sir (49), enough (49), sure (49), life (48), think (48), pen (48), hand (48), around (47), every (47), maria (47), mistress (46), children (45), often (45), marriage (44), mary (44), away (43), dinner (43), papa (43), philips (43), since (42), daughter (42), visit (42), gentleman (42), poor (42), girl (41), aunt (41), way (40), saw (40), ladies (40), collins (40), sisters (39), yet (39), told (39), year (38).

PDF Download