The Crown's Favor at Netherfield

When King George starts choking at a gathering in Meryton, the company stands paralyzed, but Mr. Thomas Bennet acts, facing the royal guards to save the king and earning a knighthood along with Netherfield Park.

A decade later, Sir Thomas is an attentive father, his daughters have been shaped by education and royal favor, and the Bennets make Netherfield their home while Longbourn is leased to Charles Bingley.

Bingley arrives in Hertfordshire ready to admire everything, especially Jane Bennet, yet his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy expects little from local society until he meets Elizabeth, a clever, confident woman unmoved by his fortune or rank.

Attraction grows through lively disagreement and reluctant respect, though pride, mistaken judgments, and Darcy's habit of deciding what is best for others put any real understanding in jeopardy.

As Jane and Bingley meet trials of their own and quiet Mary finds that someone may value more than her music, an old enemy watches both families from the shadows, intent on settling a long-held grievance.