Page 58 of Shields and Roses

"You said that was the ostensible beginning. What did you mean?" asked Darcy, as they were shaken by yet another pothole in the road.

"From what Father says, Aunt Catherine has always disliked Mr. Bennet. Among other things, she thought he counseled Uncle Lewis against marrying her, although Mr. Bennet says he did not."

"So, she has a motive in speaking ill of him. I remember you once saying there was more to the story of why he did not attend Uncle Lewis' funeral, but at the time I was not ready to hear anything that challenged what Aunt Catherine had told me. What is the true reason? It was not, as she said, because he is indolent, self-serving and neglectful, was it?"

"Not at all, unless you would apply those same terms to your own father because he chose not to travel any great distance from home."

"Of course, he did not! He was ill," Darcy said indignantly.

"Exactly," Richard replied, "although in Mr. Bennet's case it is due to an injury, not illness. The circumstances under which he received that injury demonstrated far more than simply attending a funeral what a good friend he was to both my father and Uncle Lewis."

They hit another bump and the basket fell over once again. Darcy righted it before wedging it in the corner of his bench opposite the one in which he had wedged himself. "What happened?" he asked.

"I do not know if you are aware how long-standing their friendship was. The three of them met at Cambridge, although Father was in his final year when the other two first began their studies. Despite the difference in their ages, they became the best of friends and kept in touch even after Father left. They began having a standing meeting once a month at a coffee shop on the outskirts of London, a place that was easy for all of them to reach. They would gather in a back room of the shop and spend hours challenging each other at chess. Sometimes they would bring along others to make the play more exciting, but sometimes it would just be the three of them. My father married early and some twelve years before the other two. After his marriage they still met there a few times, with the last occasion being almost a year after the wedding. They never did find out exactly how it happened, but there was an explosion in the next shop on the row during that last meeting at the coffee shop. Mr. Bennet had just leaned under the table to pick up a chess piece that had fallen, when the wall behind Uncle Lewis blew to pieces. Father was stunned by the blast, and Uncle Lewis was knocked unconscious by flying debris. Seeing that the building was unstable and fearing another explosion, Mr. Bennet led my father to help him drag Uncle Lewis out of the room towards the front of the building and the exit to the street, something Father says he was too dazed to even think of doing on his own. They had almost made it out when the second explosion Mr. Bennet feared caused the building to collapse. Had they stayed where they were, all of them would have been crushed. As it was, Mr. Bennet was hit by falling debris that broke his collarbone and shoulder on the left side, snapped his upper arm and cracked a few ribs. Even injured as he was, he insisted that those who came to their aid take care of Uncle Lewis, who they wanted to leave for dead."

"I am amazed Mr. Bennet survived injuries that severe," Darcy said, shocked at the thought.

"He almost did not. It was touch and go for both him and Uncle Lewis for a time. Father always reckoned it was an after effect of that head injury that prompted Uncle Lewis to eventually marry Aunt Catherine, although Mr. Bennet told me the two truly did appear to care for one another. Who knows what she would be like if our uncle was still alive. At any rate, Mr. Bennet was also fortunate to be treated by a man who knew how to set bones properly and taught him to work with the new limitations of his body. He eventually regained some use of his left arm, but the injuries left him with a great deal of pain, particularly when he is jostled. Riding is impossibly painful. Taking the carriage just the two miles to the church in the village is painful enough that he usually walks, although that presents its own challenges. Working with the local apothecary, he developed a brace that holds his left arm close to his body and allows him to walk with less pain than he would otherwise have. He generally stays close to the house, although he will walk farther when he tends to the needs of his estate." They bounced as the wheels of the carriage went over a rock and Richard added. "To reach the funeral he would have had to travel over roads like these. It would have been agony and something Uncle Lewis would not have expected of his friend, especially with a new child about to be born at any time."

"Miss Elizabeth," Darcy said, remembering what Richard had told him earlier.

"Yes."

"Do you remember Uncle Lewis?" Darcy asked. "I do not."

"You were only six at the time, and I saw him more often than you ever did. He was a pleasant man, not quite as obviously genial as Bingley, but cut from the same cloth. He had a sly sense of humor and enjoyed playing harmless pranks. Anne is like him in many ways."

"Truly?"

"Truly. She has always been wary of you because you believed her mother. She and I are good friends, and I always looked forward to her letters when I was off in foreign lands. Even when she complained about her mother she made it sound like a good joke. I can tell from that note she sent you that she is very worried."

"Is she concerned her mother will somehow make her marry me?" Darcy asked.

"I doubt she is worried about that, but her mother could find ways to prevent Anne from marrying where she wishes, something we will probably resolve for her during this visit. She is also worried about the Bennets. I have told her stories about Lizzy, Miss Elizabeth, for years. Anne considers them friends, although her mother would never allow direct contact between them. She also knows about the friendship between her father and Mr. Bennet. She has told me she will not allow her mother to dishonor that bond if there is anything she can do to prevent it."

"How can she help?"

"She has been a spy in the enemy camp. As you know, Aunt Catherine believes Anne to be a docile creature without will or thought of her own. Anne plays the part well and, at the same time, she hears and sees things her mother might hide from someone she respected more."

"It is strange to realize that everything I thought I knew was wrong. Looking back, I can see that she molded me more successfully than she molded her own daughter. I willfully refused to accept any other truth than the one she told me. I can hardly believe you kept trying to convince me when I was so very stubborn."

"I always hoped you would come around, Will," Richard said seriously. "I always knew you were a good person even if you were deluded and, as you say, willfully so. You cannot imagine how glad I am that you are opening your eyes and seeing what lies beneath the things you always thought were true."

"I am glad as well, although I realize I have a long way to go."

"You have a good reason to travel on that road. Speaking of which, I think we have finally turned on to the main highway. Perhaps it will be smooth enough that we can nap a bit before we reach the turning to Hunsford. We will need all our wits about us when we arrive at Rosings Park."

Richard wedged himself a little more firmly into the corner. Across from him, Darcy did the same. Soon all that could be heard in the interior of the carriage were their soft snores.

Chapter 33: Anne

Darcy awoke with a jolt as the carriage rocked violently from side to side accompanied by the sound of swearing from Richard. With a second jolt came the clatter of the metal flasks hitting the floor after they slid away from the overturned food basket.

"What the...where are we?" Darcy asked groggily. He received no answer.

The carriage rocked again and threw Richard slightly off balance as he yawned and stretched. Muttering another curse, he righted himself, then copied his cousin who had turned to peer out the window.

Even though the skies had cleared somewhat, the drizzle that had accompanied them out of London must have been a full-on torrent here, Darcy thought. The road was awash with both water and mud. Then he spotted the source of the problem - one of the ditches had been blocked with the debris from a wall that toppled where a downed tree had fallen across it. The water in the ditch had diverted from the channel and flooded out into the road. The branches of the downed tree extended well into the thoroughfare.