It is the year 1803, and George Wickham the Scoundrel, has done it again.

This time, however, he has not just lost his allowance. He has gambled away the Darcy family's Emerald Snuffbox to a Covent Garden crime lord known only as The Butcher.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is twenty years of age, honourable, and determined never to cause a scandal. But if his father discovers the loss, it will break his heart, and that of their faithful steward. Money alone cannot solve this. Wickham needs a lesson, and the heirloom needs to be rescued.

Enter the cousins: Young Captain Richard Fitzwilliam, a cynical soldier with a low tolerance for fools, and Robert Fitzwilliam, Viscount Keathley, a flamboyant dandy with a flair for the dramatic. Together, the three young men devise a plan so chaotic, so theatrical, and so utterly illegal that it can only succeed in its purpose.

Witness the night that hardened Fitzwilliam Darcy's heart, birthed his famous pride, his abhorrence of deceit, and taught him the most valuable lesson of all: never trust a man in a questionable waistcoat.

Perfect for readers who love: Pride and Prejudice variations (JAFF) & prequels; humorous historical fiction with witty banter; George Wickham getting a well-deserved comeuppance; regency era adventures without the heavy angst; Mr. Darcy falling in love with Miss Elizabeth Bennet.