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Elizabeth watched her uncle. It appeared he was happy to get a long suppressed annoyance off his chest.

“Elizabeth, you are my niece but I think of you as a member of my own family. Your sacrifice has allowed this family to grieve and recover, and then thrive. Your energy was what I needed to come to terms with my injury. Madeline and I loved to dance and in the autumn of 1807 I had to come to terms with the fact that I would never dance again. But it was not your physical energy that helped me, it was your intellectual energy. Even when sitting still your mind was racing. The Gardiner family is where it is today thanks, in part, to you. What you own, what you have earned, the connections you have made, are all down to your own ability. I do not want to see that squandered away.

“Do you remember why you decided you were going to come to London and help? You told me back in the late summer or early autumn after I was physically recovered and back home. It was the phrase that your mother recited annually when Madeline and I visited Longbourn at Christmas.”

‘If you are not kind to us, brother, I do not know what we shall do.’ The phrase came unbidden to Elizabeth’s mind.

“I can see that you remember it well. Your mother is my sister, my family, but I will tell you honestly, I am struggling with my obligations to my family.”

Elizabeth sat quietly, a traitorous part of her mind in complete agreement.

“Bluntly, what is my responsibility to help my family when that family does not help itself? I work hard, despite the loss of my legs. You work even harder, many weeks you work longer hours than our staff. From listening to Mary every quarter I can tell that Fanny flits about the neighbourhood with little restraint to her spending and Thomas hides in his library with no restraint on his spending. Again, you do not have to say anything, and I recognize that these are harsh critiques. But they are much closer to truth than to fiction.

“My suggestion is that you leave all the documents regarding your funds here in London, either with me or with one of your friends. That way there is no evidence of your wealth and you will have to come to London to spend, invest or move the funds.”

Elizabeth did not protest but did sigh.

“Do you really think it is necessary?”

“Sadly, I do Lizzie.”

“I am very likely to agree with your suggestion but might I have some time to think it all over?”

“Of course, everything we decide will be discussed several times. I am not going to demand anything of you Lizzie, you have earned the right to make your own decisions regardless of what the law says. There are only two additional things I would like you to think about and then we can join the rest of the family. We were talking earlier about your guardianship. My suggestion is that neither of us mention this to your father. It gives you an additional layer of protection when you are back in Hertfordshire.”

“Why do you suggest that?”

“Do you want to hear my honest answer?”

She could only nod.

“I do not trust your parents. The guardianship is a legal document, witnessed by your other uncle and one of his clerks. To revoke an open-ended guardianship would require another document. Once you are of age then the issue becomes moot. But that is not for another 11 months.”

“Do you have a specific reason?”

“No. In this case I am working off the maxim of ‘actions speak louder than words’. I have no reason to think there will be an issue but I want you protected. And on that last point, Claire and Robert will accompany you when you return to Longbourn. They will stay with you until your majority and then we will discuss them further.”

The carriage struck a rut and did not just bounce Elizabeth physically but also mentally. She returned to the present and looked opposite at her. Elizabeth did not know how to describe Claire any more. She was more of a companion than a maid, yet she was also a bodyguard as well as a friend.

“Your eyes were open but you were a long way away.”

“I was thinking back over the last three months. So much has happened, the marriage, deciding to return to my childhood home. Dealing with the business,” she grimaced “trying not to react to some of young Edward’s attitude. Trying to explain to Michael that even although I was leaving him physically I was not leaving his heart, just as he would always be in my heart. That was probably the toughest. It cannot have been easy for Agatha to see our closeness and know that she has to take over.”

“Are you looking forward to returning, Miss Elizabeth?”

That Elizabeth had to pause was an answer in of itself.

“This will sound heartless and you know I do not mean it this way, but I am more nervous about this trip than I was four years ago immediately after the accident. Now there is no doubt some dulling of the immediate memories, but I do not know what to expect upon my return. I have not seen my parents in four years, the same with my youngest two sisters. With Jane, she has not been allowed to visit since, let me think, early ’09. More than two years ago. The only member of my family that I have seen regularly is Mary. I have this image of the family as if sculpted in ice, a frozen moment in time. They are probably equally unsure about me. I doubt they are nervous but my returning after four years will disrupt their routine.”

“Do you mind me asking questions?”

“Not at all. It is forcing me to think about situations, frankly it is helpful. Ask away.”

“Did you ever think you would return to Longbourn?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“No. Mrs. Mallory and my uncle forming an attachment was a complete surprise. I did not think about it very much but when I did my expectation would be that Angela would take over sometime between her 16th and 18th birthdays. I am more than eight years older than her so in that instance I would have been in the middle years of my twenties.”