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I have been giving some thought to the best inventions in history. I realise it is an odd occupation for someone like me, but be that as it may, it has been a way to while away some time. Some might recommend fire, and while I admit it did eventually allow me to live at Rosings instead of a cave, it might not be my very first choice. Similar arguments could be made for the old favourites, such as the wheel, writing, numbers, alphabets, and the like; and while I would not disdain one holding such an opinion, I could not agree with it. No, the best invention in the history of the world is most definitely Anne de Bourgh’s phaeton. That was it without a doubt! While the others are important in the general scheme of things, the phaeton is the one device in all of Kent that can make Lizzy less crazy. Five weeks of forced inactivity and forced presence indoors had made her nearly impossible to live with. When Aunt Catherine said she could go out so long as her sisters could get her to the drive, I immediately went downstairs to ask a gardener about borrowing a wheelbarrow, though frankly I had no idea how that would work on the stairs. Yes, it must be admitted that anything that made Lizzy bearable was considered a good thing.

Saturday afternoon boasted sunshine, early spring flowers, smooth roads, and the three giddiest girls in the world. There might be those who argue that at nine and twenty years, I could not lay claim to the term ‘girl’, but I am not to be dissuaded on this opinion. I can be as stubborn as Lizzy when I feel the need. It was a week before Easter, which meant a week before Richard and Darcy were to return, unless of course, they grew restless and came back early. I could well imagine the two of them deciding to return and hide in the parsonage, sending scouts to see if the way was clear for an infiltration of Rosings.

As you can see, I have decided to try to be fair, so I adopted MR Fitzwilliam’s (as Lizzy calls him when she is being… well, Lizzy) given name, in an attempt to start over with him in my mind. I had decided that a fortnight prior, when I noticed some trunks arriving, and half an hour later, I saw a servant burning uniforms. Apparently, he was serious, so I could do no less. It was not as if I could send him away forever.

For the other lunkhead in the duo (the Bennet sisters seem to be enamoured with that word, but I have no idea if it applies to men universally or just our own two), I decided on the name ‘Darcy’ just because it seemed pointless to stop calling one man ‘Fitzwilliam’ only to have to dust the name off for the other gentleman. So, it seemed I was to make the attempt at reconciliation, and maybe even try to exert myself to be friends with him.

Anne and Lizzy were even giddier than I was with our excursion, and we literally flew through Rosings on wings. Of course, since none of us were allowed to drive, and the pony was being led by a groom older than my father, perhaps ‘flew’ is not the exact word, but it was good enough for Lizzy, and anything that made Lizzy less barking mad was good enough for the rest of us.

I sat in the middle of a seat that was really made for two, ostensibly so that if one of the injured girls fell off, I could decide whether to catch her or leave her to her fate. I would most likely catch her, but the impulse would have to be verified should the event occur.

Lizzy asked Anne an odd sort of question. “Has Aunt truly been trying to marry you off to Darcy for years?”

She had picked up on my habit of calling him ‘Darcy’, and soon we were all doing it, just like Kitty’s sheep.

“Yes, I am afraid so,” Anne replied.

“Why?”

It seemed an odd question, and I thought perhaps Anne might never have actually thought about it, or thought about it beyond what it took to avoid the connection; but I was once again underestimating her.

Anne looked at us. “You may not believe my conclusion. As you can imagine, it has occupied some time in my mind, and it is not obvious in the least.”

Elizabeth laughed, “HAH! I am wrong about half the time on average, so I must listen to your explanation, make up one of my own, which is most likely wrong, or write down some suppositions and pull them from a hat. We have no hat, unless you count Mr Smith’s cap, nor even paper and quill, so it seems your opinion shall have to prevail.”

Anne smiled but still looked thoughtful. “I never understood it until the… revelations the day you awoke. Now I think I know the answer. FEAR!”

That did not surprise us enough to make me have to decide which girl to try to save as they tumbled off the side of the phaeton, but it was a near thing. It was not an explanation that sprang easily to mind with our formidable aunt.

I asked in consternation, “Fear?”

“You are all accustomed to thinking of my mother as a fearless creature, but I now believe she must have spent much of her life living in near terror. It explains so much about her that never made sense before. Fear makes people do things they might not otherwise do in a hundred years.”

Lizzy was thinking about fear, and now I was thinking about fear… not that the thought was ever very far from either of our minds.

I finally said, “I understand her living in fear… Lizzy and I both do, but how does that explain Darcy?”

Anne replied with more courage and more certainty than I would have expected for such a guess.

“Because she trusts him! It is not about fortune, or combining the estates, or increasing the family’s wealth and position, or keeping the estates in the family. She wanted me to marry him because he is the only man she trusts absolutely and completely to harm neither me nor the estate that has been her life’s work.”

Elizabeth and I both sat there in surprise or shock, or perhaps just deep reflection, unable to say anything for a moment.

I finally exerted myself to ask, “What is your opinion, Lizzy?”

Lizzy looked like she had to think about it for a moment, but finally said, “He can be arrogant, rude, insufferable, caustic, and selfishly disdainful of the feelings of others—”

At that point, I gave her a nudge to move past that onto the core of what she was trying to say, and she continued.

“—but he would never allow someone close to him to be harmed should he be able to prevent it. Had he been pouring for Anne when Collins came in with the poker, he would have placed himself between us and harm without taking even half a breath to think about it… just as you did.”

Anne nodded in appreciation that Lizzy recognised her bravery enough to comment on it, but not to belabour it so much that it seemed out of her usual character.

Lizzy continued, “I have been told he is a diligent master, caring for all under his purview with all the care that is possible. Mrs Hewes’ opinion is not to be ignored, and she knew him since he was a small child. I think if any of his adopted sisters had any kind of need, there would be no limit to how far he would go to protect them.”

Lizzy was, for the first time in a while, or perhaps the first time in the past five minutes, thinking deeply about Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy.

At length, she said, “I believe Aunt is right, Anne. He would have done nicely for you, and might yet!”