The young officers he had overtaken pushed past him, all now holding the hands of females whom Darcy was able to identify as Elizabeth's younger sisters. They encircled her and Denny and, one of them pulling on that officer, bore him away to the ballroom. Elizabeth turned, waving them off with a wistful smile. As she did, Darcy finally saw her complete. The sight utterly ravished him. It was, suddenly, painful to breathe. The roaring of the blood through his veins caused the world about him to go silent.

Part of my soul,
I seek thee and thee claim
My other half...

Where had he read that? He mused as he stood unmoving, mesmerized by the vision before him. "Part of my soul..." He comanded his limbs to move. He took a step toward those marvelous eyes alight with so much life. "I seek thee..." Another step and he thought their eyes met, but it could not have been, for she was turning away. "My soul..."

Comprei esse livro por indicação da Terry Hubener, do JASNA, quando esteve aqui no Brasil ano passado, à época que ocorreu nosso primeiro encontro regional. Confesso, contudo, que não levava assim tanta fé que o livro fosse, nas palavras dela, “a melhor de todas as adaptações de Orgulho e Preconceito; a melhor versão do Darcy que vi em muito tempo”.