To the England of Jane Austen, author Elizabeth Aston returns all readers to partake of another entertaining, and highly poignant, rendezvous with MR. DARCY’S DAUGHTERS. Here, in the sequel, she centers a tale of independence and discovery upon the youngest, and newest wed, of the five, Alethea.

The story opens with a short prologue, which establishes where the characters are heading, if not refraining from, for the immediate present, elaborating on the why, as well as the exact how of what their course might be. The important thing to note is that Alethea Darcy, married for less than a year to the handsome and charming Norris Napier, is in stealth, with the help of her servant woman Figgins, leaving him. She is running away from her husband without any apparent cause, in an age when a woman’s first responsibility was to him.

This cultural ethos holds no sway over Alethea, as her reputation of being the most free-spirited of the Darcy daughters is well known. Thus it becomes no stretch of the imagination when she, and Figgins at her side through every ‘exploit and adventure’, don male clothing to pass themselves off as a young Mr. Aloysius Hawkins and his servant Mr. Figgins.

Her goal is to reach one of her sisters for help. She discovered herself in a bad marriage of which she knew no other recourse than simply to run. Her true love, Penrose Youdall, whom she naively believed loved her, succumbed to family obligations to marry someone else. It left her jaded towards men and marriage, and open prey to the first charmer, Norris Napier, to ask for her hand.

Similarly, Titus Manningtree sees his one true love, Emily Thruxton, marry another. It leaves him embittered towards all women, save the woman in the Titian painting purchased by his father years ago, and lost through the confusion of war. George Warren has apparently located it somewhere in Italy, and by means of the English king, he is sent to procure it for the king’s private collection. Manningtree, as rightful owner, wants it back in his father’s house where it belongs. All three people, along with Emily (now Signora Lessini) and her husband, a pretentious busybody-of-a-woman, Mrs. Vineham and her escort, the effeminate Lord Lucius, who carries a certain thing for young boys like the Mr. Hawkins Alethea is pretending to be, find themselves stranded together at a snow-bound inn on their journey to Italy.

This book, true to its title, is indeed THE EXPLOITS AND ADVENTURES OF MISS ALETHEA DARCY; for from the moment she and Figgins leave Napier, there is a constant flux of not knowing what lies around the next bend. Will any of her sisters help her out of her bad situation? Would the law, which favors an upstanding, model citizen like Napier, do anything on her behalf? Would anyone believe her? That she had good cause to escape a man like Napier?

I liked the way Aston presented Alethea. Here was an independent spirit (she discovers, and enjoys, the liberty she holds as a ‘man’) who is thrown into her run across Europe, by the character of a husband, to whom she is bound to through something other than love. Yet, the travels she and Figgins take are clearly not the story’s main theme. This is a tale of two-fold independence: on the surface, there is freedom from Napier, a man whose secret is one I must admit I did not foresee (abominable to even lax 21st century standards for marriage); as well as, liberty from the restrictions placed upon 19th century women by society and the husbands to whom they are bound. Alethea and Figgins could never have made their escape as women. Only in the guise of men, was this possible.

The only qualms I might express came in the flurry of characters and the quick, and almost non-existent, transitions from one locale to the next. This is not a major factor, and I’m certain, if I had read MR. DARCY’S DAUGHTERS first, such would not be that much of a problem at all.

Lastly, allow me to commend Elizabeth Aston for her remarkable adroitness used in the introspection of Alethea and also Titus. Somehow, she manages to allow the reader to stride down the same pathway of self-discovery they are walking. The thoughts going on within their minds, as they observe what is transpiring around them, become the reader’s thoughts. It is an amazing experience.

Titus’ musings over his attraction to the now-married Emily Thruxton (not to mention his curious draw towards Alethea) is so on target to how the male mind functions it’s scary. How Aston captured this typical male trait is stunning. As I read his thoughts, it was as if reading my own from any myriad of past affairs. I pondered the same things; I reacted in the same ways. I even had confrontations like he had with George Warren (though, of course, in a contemporary manner) learning the stupidity of what rash behavior can lead to.

This is a wonderful book.

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