Page 14 of Shields and Roses

"I will get the whole of the story from Charlotte," he said with an amused look towards his wife. "And I will send word of the apothecary's report to Longbourn later. Despite the circumstances, it is a pleasure to see you again, young Mr. Fitzwilliam. I may carry the news to Longbourn myself this afternoon so I can visit briefly with your father."

"I am here on my own, sir," Richard said with just a touch of pride showing in his voice and expression. "My father is still working with my grandfather in London. He allowed me to ride home ahead of him, including my traditional stop at Longbourn on the way."

"A mark of trust I am sure you have earned, young man. Well, I may drop by later or I may send a servant. Either way, I need to get Charlotte inside now and they are, no doubt, expecting you both at Longbourn."

"Thank you, Mr. Fitzwilliam," Miss Lucas said again, just as her father turned away to carry her into the house, followed by his flustered wife and the two servants who attended her. Lizzy waved farewell to her friend, who looked back at them over her father's shoulder. Richard bowed and then winked at Miss Lucas before turning to begin the short trip to Longbourn.

"I hope Lady Lucas will not forbid Charlotte to walk after her foot heals up," Lizzy said. "We both enjoy our walks together and need a little time away from our mothers and siblings."

"I would say her father is the one to convince. He did not seem too very upset by the accident."

"He was the one who convinced Lady Lucas to allow us to take our walks together in the first place. I suppose I should just trust Charlotte to deal with her family and wait and see what happens," Lizzy said philosophically.

"That sounds like the best plan," Richard agreed. They set off at a quick pace. Both were looking forward to washing up and putting on fresh clothing.

Chapter 9: Commendations

"So, you see, it was simply an accident, Papa. We had no way of knowing that the bridge supports were rotting. They seemed solid enough in the past and we were not doing anything unsafe like jumping or bouncing," Lizzy insisted after she described the events for her father.

"I believe you," Bennet replied. "I would have had someone check the bridge if I had realized you were going to be using it. In fact, I had forgotten it was even still there. Tom Grey and I put many hours of work into that bridge during the summer I was fourteen, before our fathers had the stone bridge built to link our two estates a few years later. We used to push each other into the water at the rock crossing, and our mothers became annoyed at having us come home wet all the time. My father challenged the two of us to research proper bridge-making techniques and come up with a structure that would be safe and keep us dry when we crossed. We did our best, but I am still surprised it lasted this long."

"It was a good bridge," Lizzy said. "I knew Mama and Miss Stanton would not be pleased if I came home wet, so Charlotte and I used it instead of using the rock crossing when we made a loop by walking down one side of the river and back the other. After Mrs. Hill told me that you built it, I appreciated it even more."

"Well, my bridge-building days are over now. Even if I had two good arms, I would not take on a project like that again. I think we should wait for Miss Lucas to heal and if your walks together are not permanently canceled, I will consider whether to hire someone to make a safe crossing for you to use in the future. Until she is able to walk again, I am afraid your own outings will need to be confined to the limits of our gardens unless you are walking with me to tend to estate business."

Lizzy nodded sadly. It was no more than she had expected. "Yes, Papa. I will stick to the gardens and remain in sight of the house. But please send for me if you do need to walk out to one of the tenant houses."

Bennet smiled at his daughter. "I will. Cheer up, dear. It will not be all that bad. I will also support you if Miss Stanton objects to your going out to the garden on your own. Now, Richard has agreed to play a game of chess against you. He won our match this morning. Do you think you are up to the challenge? You have time before tea and the remainder of your lessons with Miss Stanton."

Grinning now, Lizzy nodded again. "I will do my best to beat you, Richard."

"I would expect nothing less," he replied.

Although the study was beginning to warm up a bit, there was still a good breeze in the room. They decided to stay in the study, so Richard and Lizzy took seats and began their play. As Bennet had explained, Lizzy was not up to the same level of skill as Richard, but she was still a worthy opponent. All the same, when Sir William Lucas was announced while the game was still in play, it was clear both to Richard and Bennet that she was not going to win. Apparently, she realized it as well, because she conceded the game so they could give the visitor their full attention.

"Bennet, it is good to see you," he said, greeting his host first. "I suppose you have heard something of what happened to my Charlotte this morning?"

"I have. Although, I suspect the tale you heard might have been slightly different in perspective than the one these two told me," Bennet said with an amused look towards the two sitting by the chessboard.

Sir William smiled at them as well. "Possibly," he boomed in his loud, cheerful voice. "True heroes never like to toot their own horns. First, I should tell you that Charlotte is doing as well as can be expected. She has some very painful bruises, but no broken bones. Two of the cuts required a few stitches to close them properly, with the one on the side of her foot where a rock sliced through her shoe being the worst. All the same, the apothecary says it should heal properly if she stays off it for a while." He turned to Lizzy and said, "I am afraid that means no walks for a time, Miss Lizzy."

She nodded agreement with him. "My father and I had already discussed that. It is most important that Charlotte heals fully. Our walks together can wait until then."

"Good girl," Sir William said approvingly. "Good girl. And Charlotte assured me that it was simply an unfortunate happenstance. Neither of you suspected there was any problem with the bridge. I went out and took a look at it myself. The remains, anyway. I have walked by it several times myself in the ten years since we bought the estate, but I had never had any reason to cross there since we have that stone bridge on the more direct path between our houses. I always thought it looked well-built and I certainly would not have expected any danger for the two girls. It was only when I looked closely at the remaining support posts that I could see the signs of rot below the waterline."

"I probably would not have expected them to have any problem either," Bennet told him. "As I told these two, I had actually forgotten the wooden bridge existed. I built it so very long ago and I have had no reason to walk down that path by the river in the last ten years or more. I am not certain I would have thought to check it for rot either, so long as it still looked sturdy enough."

"Well, then, we shall say no more about it. No one was to blame and Charlotte will heal. All is as well as it can be," Sir William insisted. "There was another important thing I could see when I checked out what was left of the bridge. Charlotte told me how, when she fell and was caught in the rocks, Miss Lizzy kept her from being hit, probably knocked over and injured more, by a large chunk of the bridge. She also told me how young Mr. Fitzwilliam took Miss Lizzy's place so she could free Charlotte and that when the planks broke free, he made certain they did not hit the girls. I went looking downstream and found those planks caught in a snag by the bank. I would certainly not want to have been hit by them myself."

"They were heavy," Lizzy murmured.

"Yes, they looked it," Sir William confirmed. "You could have stepped away instead of holding them back, but you stayed even when you had no idea help would come. You had a choice, and you did what was right. I wanted your father to know that."

"I appreciate hearing your view of the situation," Bennet said. "I already suspected it from the explanation these two gave, but it means a great deal to have you confirm it. That is the kind of report a father wants to hear about his child."

"I agree. I was hoping you would pass on a message to Viscount Rand as well," Sir William said, nodding happily. "Mr. Fitzwilliam certainly proved himself today. Charlotte told me that she and Miss Lizzy think he should be called Sir Richard, because he came to their aid just like a brave knight in the old stories. I am also grateful to him because he brought Charlotte home as quickly as possible so she could be properly cared for. Will you tell his father for me? I do not know the Viscount well enough to presume to write to him."

"Oh, I shall tell him, but I doubt Rand would feel the least insulted to hear the story directly from you as well, should you choose to write. In fact, I would be happy to include a letter from you with my next to him if that would make you feel easier about sending it."