Table Of ContentTable of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
STAGE ONE
CORRECT
CORRECT
WRONG
WRONG
YOU ARE QUITE WRONG.
CORRECT
THE SENSIBLE TYPE
THE SENSE-IBILITY TYPE
THE SENTIMENTAL TYPE
THE SENSIBLE TYPE
THE SENSE-IBLITY TYPE
THE SENTIMENTAL TYPE
STAGE TWO
CORRECT
INCORRECT
STAGE THREE
WRONG!
NO “RICHE” AT ALL
NOUVEAU RICHE
OLD MONEY
NO “RICHE” AT ALL
NOUVEAU RICHE
OLD MONEY
CORRECT
CORRECT!
WRONG
STAGE FOUR
STAGE FIVE
NOTES
Acknowledgements
About the Author
RIVERHEAD BOOKS
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have control over and does
not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites of their content.
Copyright © 2007 by Emma Campbell Webster
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Campbell Webster, Emma.
Lost in Austen : create your own Jane Austen adventure / Emma Campbell Webster.—1st Riverhead
trade pbk. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN : 978-1-594-48258-8
1. Bennet, Elizabeth (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Young women—England—Fiction.
3. England—Social life and customs—19th century—Fiction. 4. England—Social life and customs—
18th century—Fiction. 5. Plot-your-own stories. I. Austen, Jane, 1775-1817. II. Title.
PR6103.A57L
823’.92—dc22
http://us.penguingroup.com
For my dad, Ben
YOUR MISSION
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young Austen heroine must be in
want of a husband, and you are no exception. Christened Elizabeth Bennet, you
are tolerably beautiful and moderately accomplished, with a sharp wit and quick
mind. You are the daughter of misguided but well-meaning parents and live with
them and your four sisters—Jane, Mary, Kitty and Lydia—in the village of
Longbourn, near the town of Meryton. You are of a happy disposition and have
hitherto whiled away your years reading, walking and enjoying what limited
society Meryton has to offer. A recent event, however, threatens to disturb your
tranquillity: a man of large fortune has let a nearby manor house.
Inconsequential though this change of circumstance appears, it is the first in a
long chain of events that will require you to face difficult decisions and impolite
dance partners. Equipped with only your wit and natural good sense, your
mission is to marry both prudently and for love, eluding undesirable suitors and
avoiding family scandals which would almost certainly ruin any hope of a
financially advantageous marriage for you or any of your sisters.
HOW TO PLAY
This book is no ordinary book, and should not be read through from beginning to
end. It contains many different adventures, and the path you take will depend on
the choices you make along the way. The success (or failure!) of your mission
will depend on the decisions you make, so think carefully before choosing. . . .
While your choices will determine your journey, your success will also
depend on how well you do in the following five categories: your
Accomplishments, Intelligence, Confidence, Connections and Fortune (which
could mean either luck or money). On separate pieces of paper, draw up lists for
the five different categories. You begin with high scores for your Intelligence
and Confidence (200 points each) but with a regrettably low Fortune score (only
50 points), and absolutely no Accomplishments or Connections. In order to
increase your chances of marrying well you must try to improve your scores and
gain more Connections and Accomplishments. At intervals during your
adventure you will be given bonus opportunities to increase your scores by
taking tests or answering questions. But take care! While you can gain points,
you can also lose them, which could harm your chances of marrying happily and
affect the outcome of your adventure.
If the mere suggestion of scorekeeping gives you palpitations, fear not; you
can choose not to keep track of your scores if you so wish. When asked to check
them, simply choose whichever score you fancy from one of the two options you
are offered.
You may now begin your adventure. Good luck!
STAGE ONE
The news that nearby Netherfield Park has been let to a man of above five
thousand pounds a year greatly pleases your mother, who is utterly convinced
that this will immediately enhance the prospects of one or another of her
daughters marrying well.
You learn from your neighbors Sir William and Lady Lucas that Mr. Bingley
is quite young, wonderfully handsome, extremely agreeable, and to crown the
whole, he means to be at the next assembly with a large party.
Not a bad start. Collect 10 Fortune points.
Nothing could be more delightful. To be fond of dancing is a certain step
towards falling in love; and your mother entertains very lively hopes of one of
you attaining Mr. Bingley’s heart. When his party enters the assembly room it
consists of only five altogether— Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the
eldest, and another young man.
Hardly a “large” party, is it? And only two of them are eligible. Mr. Bingley
is a disappointment already, and you haven’t even met him.
Mr. Bingley is good-looking and gentlemanlike; he has a pleasant
countenance and easy, unaffected manners. His sisters are fine women, with an
air of decided fashion; his brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, looks the gentleman but
lacks the manners and grace of one; whereas his friend Mr. Darcy soon draws
the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien,
and the report, which is in general circulation within five minutes after his
entrance, of his having ten thousand a year.
That’s more like it. Collect another 20 Fortune points.
The gentlemen pronounce him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declare
he is much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he is looked at with great
admiration for about half the evening, till his manners give a disgust which turns
the tide of his popularity. He is discovered to be proud, to be above his company,
and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire can save him
from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy
of comparison with his friend. Your own opinion of him is soon decided when,
having been obliged by the scarcity of gentlemen to sit down for two dances,
you are near enough to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley in
