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"Not at all. I suspect I have never been so efficiently managed by anyone outside my own family."

With the assistance of local men, Lord Matlock was conveyed to a nearby house while arrangements were made for a more comfortable journey once the surgeon approved it. Mr. Bennet offered the help of Longbourn, which was close enough to provide whatever his lordship required. The Earl accepted with gratitude.

By evening the news had traveled through Meryton. Mrs. Bennet was certain that Elizabeth had been reckless, improvident with good linen, and extraordinarily fortunate to have encountered a nobleman rather than an ordinary traveler. She repeated the story three times at supper, changing the order of events each time until Mr. Bennet begged her to permit Elizabeth to explain how she had single-handedly overturned the carriage.

"Uncle!" Elizabeth protested, laughing despite her fatigue.

"You must confess that your methods are vigorous, Lizzy."

"I found it overturned."

"So you insist. I should like to hear the horses' account before deciding."

Jane asked quietly whether Elizabeth had been frightened.

"Not while it happened," Elizabeth admitted. "Afterward, a little. When his lordship closed his eyes, I thought he might die."

Jane took her hand beneath the table. Elizabeth squeezed it in return.

Elizabeth had not noticed her own trembling until the excitement of supper subsided. She went out to the small terrace behind the drawing room, where the evening air was cool enough to restore her composure. She had washed the blood from her hands, but an ugly brown stain remained at the edge of one cuff. The sight made her stomach tighten. A quarter of an hour earlier she had been laughing about a horse; now she remembered how still the injured gentleman had seemed when he closed his eyes.

Jane followed her carrying a shawl. "You ought to come in," she said. "You have scarcely eaten."

"I shall in a moment," Elizabeth answered. "I keep wondering whether I ought to have done something differently. The groom was frightened, and I was impatient with him. Perhaps I should have sent for help sooner."

"You sent for help at once," Jane said. "Mr. Harris told Papa that keeping the dressing pressed against the wound may have saved his lordship’s life."

"Mr. Harris was kind enough to say so. He did not see how much I was afraid after the gentleman stopped speaking."

"Perhaps courage does not mean never being frightened," Jane suggested. "Perhaps it means doing something useful before you allow the fear to have its turn."

Elizabeth looked at her cousin. "That sounds more like a remark of Charlotte's than your own."

"Then I must be growing exceedingly wise," Jane answered, settling the shawl around Elizabeth's shoulders.

The two stood together until a light came on in the library. Their uncle's silhouette crossed the window. Elizabeth considered the many times Thomas had spoken of Henry's unflappable nature in difficult circumstances. She had always wished to be like her father. Tonight she would have exchanged every scrap of resemblance for the certainty that the stranger was safe.

The next morning Mr. Bennet invited Elizabeth to inspect a letter he had written to the surgeon. It contained an offer to provide whatever was required for the Earl's recovery, but he had added a postscript commending the groom for securing the horses and the footman for assisting an injured stranger despite his own bruises.

"I did not do it alone, Uncle," Elizabeth said, relieved.

"No," Mr. Bennet answered. "That is why I have taken the liberty of mentioning them. There is an unfortunate tendency to turn an accident into a story about one hero and a dozen spectators. It does everyone an injustice."

He set the letter aside and studied her. "Did you sleep, Lizzy?"

"A little. I dreamed that I could not find the surgeon."

"Then I recommend you find something less alarming to do today than saving an earl. Your aunt wishes for someone to help sort ribbons, a task which has reduced stronger minds than yours to despair."

Elizabeth laughed, and the sound loosened the tightness in her chest. She agreed to help with the ribbons. She also asked whether Mr. Bennet thought she might send a short inquiry after the driver's health. He approved, and she sat down to write it herself.

Three mornings later a letter arrived at Longbourn, written in a strong, slightly impatient hand. The Earl thanked Elizabeth for her assistance, reported that his leg was not broken, and informed her that the surgeon had forbidden him to travel for several days. If Miss Bennet could spare a little of the time she ordinarily devoted to disciplining injured strangers, he would be pleased if she and her uncle visited him.

At the foot of the letter he had added a line:

I have been a most obedient patient. I trust you are satisfied.

Elizabeth read it twice before passing it to Mr. Bennet.