[Pride and Prejudice] A 19th-Century Aristocrat's Illegitimate Daughter

Her father is the future British prime minister, and her mother is the beloved daughter of an earl.

By all accounts, she should have transmigrated into a winning life.

But unfortunately, her father is Charles Grey, and her mother is the famous Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish.

She is illegitimate.

Miss Eliza Courtney is born in 1792.

She is the product of an affair and a scandal among the upper classes.

From birth, she is sent to be raised by the Grey family.

Her father marries two years later.

Her mother returns to her family.

Eliza is left in a very awkward position.

Eventually, she is accepted as the niece of the Earl of Grey.

But everyone knows who she really is.

Still, it’s not so bad. She’s transmigrated here, so she can write novels, grow up in the countryside, and live on a generous allowance with a decent dowry.

Her parents visit from time to time.

She doesn’t have to be forced into an arranged marriage, and a carefree life is pretty nice.

Being able to lie flat with all her needs taken care of is pure bliss for a corporate slave!

*

Eliza’s grandfather dies when she is fourteen.

She and her grandmother move to Hertfordshire to recover.

Then they run into some Longbourn and the Bennet family.

So this is a novel world! Great, now she can ship couples!

She travels far and wide, stopping here and there along the way.

Later generations remember her not only as the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Grey, but also as a celebrated early nineteenth-century novelist: Miss Eliza Courtney.

The original story is set in 1810.

The male lead is the future Earl of Durham, a radical and her childhood friend.

A proud, hot-tempered, eccentric tsundere.

“He is proud, willful, very wealthy, and possessed of a romantic appearance and an explosive temper.”

He is a powerful representative of the liberal spirit of the early nineteenth century.

The second male lead is historically paired with the heroine. He’s an officer who falls in love at first sight.

The sunny, puppy-like older brother type.

The heroine is a great beauty, an optimist, and slow to recognize her own feelings.

An everyday-life story.

*

Upcoming story: A Young Lady’s Growing-Up Journal. Please add it to your collection!

Lucille grows up carefree in the countryside.

Until she starts having prophetic dreams that follow the course of her previous life.

First, she successfully avoids the fate of her adoptive parents dying.

In her dreams, a woman humbly writes to her lover every day, begging for money to pay off her debts.

Lucille: “How awful! I don’t want to be poor.”

Adoptive parents: “You’re very rich!”

Her beautiful aunt falls ill and dies.

Lucille visits her every day, and gains a viscountess who looks out for her and a childhood friend.

She’s mocked for being illegitimate.

Lucille: “What does illegitimate mean?”

Her adoptive parents reluctantly tell her the truth about her birth. In turn, she is recognized by her wealthy uncle, her earl grandfather, and her mother, a descendant of a duke.

Little Lucille inherits fortune after fortune and a duchy, and lives a completely smooth, charmed life.

*

Everyone envies this heiress, convinced she’s merely lucky and that her parents died young before they could leave her a brother to share the inheritance.

Lucille (nodding): “That’s right, that’s right. I’m just incredibly lucky!”

+ A young girl’s coming-of-age diary

From orphan → the richest heiress in the country

Pairings: a gentle, politically connected childhood friend who’s sweet on the outside and calculating underneath / an ambitious industrialist’s son determined to rise in the world / a proud, arrogant ducal heir

Theme: Self-reliance