Duty and Desire Duty and Desire Duty and Desire is a 2004 historical Romance novel by Pamela Aidan. The second in the "Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman" trilogy, the novel examines Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" from the perspective of Fitzwilliam Darcy, the central male character of that novel. In relation to "Pride and Prejudice", on which the novel is based, "Duty and Desire" takes place between Darcy's initial leaving of Hertfordshire and his reappearance in "Pride"'s narrative at Rosings Park. Following on from the events of "An Assembly Such as This", the novel opens with Fitzwilliam Darcy preparing for the Christmas season with his
Mr. Darcy would have done, because he is reserved, vain, and quasi-isolated from society. Morgan argued that Austen's message in "Pride and Prejudice" is that one should marry for love rather than money as Wickham disqualifies himself as a potential groom owing to his bad character, not his income. Morgan observed that for most of the novel Darcy loves Elizabeth even when she loathes him and also when she comes to return his feelings. Austen writes it was because of "a motive within her of goodwill which could not be overlooked. It was gratitude - Gratitude, not merely for having loved her