The Best P&P Variations Where Darcy is Poor or a Second Son

The Lost Heir: A Darcy and Elizabeth Pride and Prejudice Variation (The Ardent Love of Fitzwilliam Darcy Book 1) by Harriet Knowles

For the last twelve years in The Lost Heir: A Darcy and Elizabeth Pride and Prejudice Variation (The Ardent Love of Fitzwilliam Darcy Book 1) by Harriet Knowles, William has worked prodigiously in London’s poverty-ridden East End. Will he ever be secure enough to win the heart of a gentleman’s daughter — his mentor’s niece, Miss Elizabeth Bennet?

Now she is grown up, Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s heart whispers all sorts of possibilities for the grave, well-mannered, mysterious man. She is lost in admiration of his hard work and bold ideas. It also hasn’t escaped her observation that he is exceedingly handsome.

Sadly, she knows her father will never permit her to marry a man who cannot offer her security.

But when William’s true identity is revealed his family become the obstacle, determined he ought not lower himself to such a woman.

Even as he struggles to come to terms with his true identity, can Fitzwilliam Darcy keep his beloved — and his new-found family — safe from someone who is determined to reclaim the fortune that was so nearly his?

The Barrister’s Bride by Suzan Lauder

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a successful young barrister with a bright future in The Barrister’s Bride by Suzan Lauder. His late uncle has guided his career, made him his heir, and even selected a bride for him—sight unseen—whom he’ll meet and marry upon her majority. Who could have predicted that making the acquaintance of Miss Elizabeth Bennet in Meryton would throw those careful plans into disarray?

Elizabeth Bennet doesn’t know what to make of “Fitz” Darcy, who intrigues and draws her notice like no other. Despite Fitzwilliam’s warnings, she allows Mr. George Darcy, Fitzwilliam’s older brother and master of Pemberley, to charm her. Little does she know that she, too, has been promised in marriage by her late father—to an unknown barrister, no less. What is she to do when her hopes to marry for love disappear in the blink of an eye?

Is George Darcy’s suit in earnest? Can this mysterious bridegroom of her father’s choosing become the husband of her dreams? With the danger of duels and deceits, what will come of the initial attraction between her and Fitzwilliam? Will she become the barrister’s bride?

The Recovery of Fitzwilliam Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Lucy Marin

IN 1789 A TERRIBLE CRIME IS COMMITTED, plunging one family into grief as another rejoices in the gift of an unexpected son. Two decades later in The Recovery of Fitzwilliam Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Lucy Marin, a chance meeting leads to the discovery of the lost heir of Pemberley and the man who knew himself as Mr William Lucas is restored to his birthright as Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley. 

DISCOVERING THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS PAST means leaving behind everyone and everything he has ever known and loved—including his childhood best friend and soon-to-be betrothed, Elizabeth Bennet. Tormented by questions about himself, and his place, Darcy struggles to understand and adapt to his changed identity and his new life. He must contend with a father buried in the shadows of the past and family relationships he does not understand. 

Fitzwilliam Darcy Solicitor: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Tiffany Ward

Fitzwilliam Darcy was born the second son of a wealthy family in Fitzwilliam Darcy Solicitor: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Tiffany Ward. As there was no inheritance set aside for children other than the heir, he decided to pursue a career that would challenge his intelligence.

To remain a respectable member of society he chose to become a solicitor. He gets invited home with school roommate for holidays; there he meets Elizabeth Bennet. They fall in love. As he becomes financially secure, he proposes.

Before they marry, his elder brother Harold and cousin Gerald, Viscount Hawkins are both killed in the same carriage accident. Fitzwilliam brings his betrothed and her father home for the funerals. His family is divided over the deaths.

Will they reunite, or is there more trouble to come. How will his family react to their only remaining child marrying an unknown country lady?

The Reintroduction of Fitzwilliam Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Christine Combe

When Elizabeth Bennet moves with her widowed sister and niece to an estate in Derbyshire in The Reintroduction of Fitzwilliam Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Christine Combe, she does not expect to find herself captivated by the mysterious steward of Pemberley. Though cautioned not to spend more time in his company than she ought, Elizabeth finds she cannot stay away from him.

Fitzwilliam Darcy’s father lost half the family fortune to a pair of swindlers and the rest to gaming and investments that gave no returns. He knows he is no good for the daughter of a baronet, but he falls for the lively Elizabeth in spite of every reason he should not.

When the two determine their mutual attraction cannot be denied, Darcy decides to accept the challenge of re-entering society more for the sake of Elizabeth’s reputation than his own. Because both know it won’t be easy for him to regain the good opinion of the ton, Darcy goes to his noble relations to seek their assistance and Elizabeth joins him in London to support his efforts.

Of course, the expectation of whispers and snobbery is scant preparation for facing down the harshest critic of them all: one’s own family.

Fair Stands the Wind: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Catherine Lodge

What if Mr. Darcy is the second son, sent to sea at a young age? What if Elizabeth is trapped by circumstances with an ill father on one side and an understandably desperate mother on the other?

In Fair Stands the Wind: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Catherine Lodge, Captain Darcy of the Royal Navy is a successful frigate captain with ample prize money and a sister for whom he needs to provide while he is at sea. Meet also Elizabeth Bennet, who needs a husband and is trying to resign herself to Mr. Collins, the worst “least worst alternative” in the history of literature.

Second Son: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Cherith Boardman

What if, instead of being born the heir to Pemberley, Fitzwilliam Darcy had been a second son? That’s what happens in Second Son: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Cherith Boardman.

In a time when birth order determines who inherits everything or nothing, Fitzwilliam Darcy must find his own path – excelling in the profession he chooses.

When tragedy strikes, he is called to fulfil his role as the “spare,” struggling to meet the demands placed upon him, overcoming the distrust of those who wish him to fail, and devoting himself to the good of Pemberley’s dependents.

Disgusted with Society, and scorned by the sister he loves, Darcy visits his friend in Hertfordshire, where he meets the Bennets of Longbourn. He discovers in their second daughter, Elizabeth, a new source of hope and purpose for his life.

When his family questions the lady’s fitness to be Mistress of Pemberley and demands he fulfil his responsibilities to his family and the legacy of the Darcy name, Fitzwilliam is left torn between duty and his heart.

Duty has taken his dreams once, is Pemberley to take Elizabeth from him as well?