The Elopement

'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'
1820, and the marriage between wealthy widower Sir Edward Knatchbull and Jane Austen's handsome, dutiful niece Fanny Knight is widely praised as being the most excellent match in the county.
As Sir Edward's wife, Fanny is expected to apply herself to the raising of his five children with the same dedication she has shown towards her siblings at Godmersham Park. In particular, she pays care to young Mary Knatchbull - the only girl of the family, and the apple of her strict father's eye.
Poor Mary has hitherto been raised under a cloud of quiet misery. But as the Knight and Knatchbull families merge, she discovers something like fun. The Knight girls are so sweet and the boys .... so very handsome and charming and madly athletic - especially Ned, the eldest and therefore the heir to Godmersham Park.
As Mary approaches her seventeenth birthday, a bond forms between her and Ned Knight, an understanding that leads, on the last day of the year 1825, to Ned declaring his hand. Sir Edward's outrage is immediate; his refusal unyielding. Ned Knight is his own wife's brother! The situation is simply unseemly. And besides, he dislikes the fellow. The marriage will never take place.
There appears to be only one solution for Ned and Mary - but can it really involve elopement?
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Love for Godmersham Park ...
'So envious of anyone yet to read this. A triumph!' Nigella Lawson
'A masterly piece of storytelling.' Helena Kelly
'The great writer is brought to life in this clever, well-researched piece of fiction' The Times
'Godmersham Park has some of the same understated wit and sharp observation as Austen's novels' Sunday Times

Gill Hornby is the author of The Hive and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for younger readers.
Her subsequent novels, Miss Austen and Godmersham Park were Sunday Times bestsellers, and Miss Austen is a four-part BBC adaptation starring Keely Hawes as Cassandra Austen. She is also the President of the Jane Austen Society.
She lives in West Berkshire with her husband and four children.