PRIDE and Prejudice came to Lydiard House as a man proposed to his girlfriend dressed as Jane Austen’s fictional heartthrob, Mr Darcy.

Uan and Rebecca Harrison, 33 and 29 respectively, of Freshbrook, got engaged last weekend after the smitten groom-to-be donned his breeches, riding boots, gold waistcoat and dress-shirt to give his fiancée the proposal of her dreams.

And social worker Rebecca said that Uan perfectly embodied the spirit of the character – memorably played on TVby Colin Firth (left).

“I was blown away, he looked so handsome,” she said.

Uan brought the proposal into the 21st century by revealing the whole outfit set him back just £20 in the House of Fraser sale.

The romantic, who planned to propose for a year, got the idea from Rebecca’s favourite novel and TV series about the complex love-story between the brooding Mr Darcy and the high-spirited Elizabeth Bennet.

Rebecca said: “I’ve always loved Pride and Prejudice since I was a teenager, particularly the character of Elizabeth, she’s so feisty and I love that. We’ve read the book together and watched the TV series and Uan loved it too.”

He added: “We often go to Lydiard house to walk around. We call it our Netherfield (one of the estates in the the book) and I always say she’s like Elizabeth Bennet too.”

The groom-to-be was all set to re-enact the famous lake scene – where Firth’s Darcyset thousands of women’s hearts afluttering when he memorably emerged from a lake in a dripping wet shirt – but was put off by the British weather.

“I was tempted but not in this weather,” he said.

“I’m temperature sensitive so I thought it was best to stick to the drawing room.”

Rebecca revealed that Uan used a cunning ruse to get her to Lydiard House, faking an injury during a laser gun session in the woods – with the help of best friend Ben Biddiscombe.

She said: “I got a call from Ben saying that Uan had fallen over playing laser guns – he’s a big kid.

“I went there and the lovely Annie Griffin at Lydiard House took me into a drawing room where Uan got down on one knee – Ben was watching on the CCTV.”

Rebecca had an unconventional and Elizabeth Bennet-esque response to the proposal saying: “I said ‘thank you, I love you’. I forgot to say yes.”

Uan went to painstaking lengths to give Rebecca the perfect proposal – even wooing her with the same speech Darcy gives Elizabeth in the book, which he memorised during his lunchbreaks at work as a teaching assistant at a school for disabled children.

The couple have been together for three years after meeting through work and recently moved into their first family home together – along with Rebecca’s children Archie and Florence and Uan’s daughter, Matilda.

Archie is set to join Ben as joint best man at the nuptials in September.

Rebecca said: “We can’t wait to marry.”