Clara Rowsley Pride and Prejudice variations

Pride and Prejudice Christmas variations

Compliments of the Season

Each novella changes one thing in Jane Austen’s novel and follows it through one winter to a happy ending for Darcy and Elizabeth. They stand alone and can be read in any order. Clean and low-angst.

The winter, day by day · The books · Which to read first

The winter of 1811, as Jane Austen tells it

From the ball at Netherfield to Easter in Kent, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are apart, and each is wrong about the other. The novel’s days are in plain type. The three in colour are where a novella turns aside.

  1. The ball at Netherfield. Elizabeth dances with Mr. Darcy. Chapter 18

  2. Miss Bingley writes to Jane that the whole party has left Netherfield for town, “without any intention of coming back again”. Chapter 21

  3. Charlotte Lucas tells Elizabeth that she is to marry Mr. Collins. Chapter 22

  4. Cover of What Mr. Bennet Remembered: on a frosted lane a young lady in a sage-green pelisse with a white muff stands at a wooden stile while a gentleman in a long dark coat reads a letter; bare trees and a pale winter sun behind them.

    Here, What Mr. Bennet Remembered turns aside

    A packet from Longbourn reaches Mr. Darcy in town: a letter in his late father’s hand that he has never seen, and four dry lines from Mr. Bennet.

    About the book

  5. Mr. Collins comes back to Longbourn, “most punctually on the Monday fortnight”. Chapter 23

  6. Cover of With Miss Darcy’s Compliments: in a pale gold drawing room a young lady in a rose-pink gown sits at the pianoforte while a gentleman in a dark coat stands listening; snow falls beyond the tall window.

    Here, With Miss Darcy’s Compliments turns aside

    A small parcel comes to Longbourn at breakfast, with a note in a young lady’s hand, and Mrs. Bennet reads it aloud.

    About the book · Read the first chapter

  7. The Gardiners arrive, “as usual, to spend the Christmas at Longbourn”. Chapter 25

  8. The Gardiners go back to town after a week, and take Jane with them. Chapters 25 and 26

  9. Cover of Lady Catherine’s Wedding Guest: a young lady in a white gown and pale blue spencer, holding a posy of white flowers, and a gentleman in a dark blue coat walk down the aisle of a frosted country church, its door open on a snowy path.

    Here, Lady Catherine’s Wedding Guest turns aside

    A chaise turns in at Lucas Lodge with Mr. Darcy in it. His aunt has sent him to see her rector married.

    About the book · Read the first chapter

  10. Mr. Collins and Charlotte are married, and “set off for Kent from the church door”. Chapter 26

  11. Easter. Mr. Darcy is at Rosings, and Elizabeth at the parsonage “half a mile across the park”. Chapters 28 to 31

  12. At Hunsford Mr. Darcy proposes, and is refused. Chapter 34

In the novel, it takes until the autumn of 1812 to put right. Each of these finds a shorter road.

Austen names no year, but her days of the week fit 1811 and 1812, and the dates here follow from her text. The words in quotation marks are hers.

The books

Three novellas, each an afternoon’s read, and each beginning from a different page of the novel.

  1. Cover of What Mr. Bennet Remembered: on a frosted lane a young lady in a sage-green pelisse with a white muff stands at a wooden stile while a gentleman in a long dark coat reads a letter; bare trees and a pale winter sun behind them.

    From St Nicholas to Christmas, 1811

    What Mr. Bennet Remembered

    Mr. Bennet sends Mr. Darcy a letter his father wrote in 1788, and lends him the rest one a day, by Elizabeth.

    Coming to Kindle in November 2026

  2. Cover of With Miss Darcy’s Compliments: in a pale gold drawing room a young lady in a rose-pink gown sits at the pianoforte while a gentleman in a dark coat stands listening; snow falls beyond the tall window.

    Christmas, 1811

    With Miss Darcy’s Compliments

    Miss Darcy sends Elizabeth three songs for Christmas, and by Thursday all Meryton has her brother engaged.

    Coming to Kindle in early November 2026

  3. Cover of Lady Catherine’s Wedding Guest: a young lady in a white gown and pale blue spencer, holding a posy of white flowers, and a gentleman in a dark blue coat walk down the aisle of a frosted country church, its door open on a snowy path.

    Twelfth Night, 1812

    Lady Catherine’s Wedding Guest

    Mr. Darcy is sent to see Mr. Collins married, and Sir William Lucas will not hear of the inn.

    Coming to Kindle at the end of October 2026

Cover of Compliments of the Season: the covers of the three novellas fanned together on a snowy sky that runs from frost blue to blush, with a sprig of holly.

All three in one volume: Compliments of the Season, Volume 1. Coming to Kindle in November 2026.

Which to read first

Whichever you like. They do not continue one another: each one begins from the novel, not from the others, and each ends happily on its own.

If you would rather read them as the winter goes, begin with What Mr. Bennet Remembered in the first week of December, and end with Lady Catherine’s Wedding Guest, which begins in the week of Twelfth Night.