Mid-March 1812

On the third day that he began courting Elizabeth, Darcy received a letter from Lady Catherine asking him to come urgently to Rosings with Richard, as Anne was very ill. Until then he had planned to postpone his annual visit to Rosings until Elizabeth returned to Longbourn, but unfortunately was not going to be possible.

Georgiana asked him to stay at Darcy's house with Mrs. Annesley since she didn't want to go back to the Matlocks', and he agreed. With regret, he went to the Gardiners to tell Elizabeth what had happened...

"...you can't imagine how sorry I am to have to leave right now." He smiled and took her hand, "I will miss you."

"Mr. Darcy, it's only a few weeks." She smiled, "Also, yesterday I received a letter from Mr. Bennet and for the time being I am going to stay in London for at least another month, and then I will go back to Sandstone to live there with them. Surely you will be back in London several days before I leave."

"I didn't know the Bennets were going to live in Sandstone."

"Mr. Bennet says they're only going to live there for a few months."

Darcy didn't like the news at all, but decided to change the subject, "Georgiana is staying at home…"

PPP

As Richard was still convalescing, Darcy opted to go to Rosings in his best carriage and slower than he was used to, and so they arrived three hours later than Lady Catherine expected. The housekeeper told them that Lady Catherine was waiting for them in her office. The first thing the Great Lady did was reproach them for being late….

"Darcy, Fitzwilliam, I am upset with you. You should have arrived at least three hours ago!"

"The delay was my fault, Aunt. We made more stops along the way and came slower. Remember I haven't fully recovered yet." the Colonel answered calmly.

"Ummm, you are here now; let's not waste any more time on useless talk. As I told you in my last letter, Anne has cancer and is dying. Two specialists examined her and both gave the same opinion; there's nothing they can do to save my poor Anne.", she paused for a few seconds, "The reason why I asked you to come urgently is that the two doctors said she will live only a few months… I want one of you to marry Anne urgently." she made a gesture to stop Darcy from protesting, "In another situation, I would have demanded that you, Darcy, do your duty and marry her, but after second thought and discussing with Anne, I have decided that Fitzwilliam should marry her."

The cousins were extremely surprised, neither of them even remotely expecting this turn of events. For several seconds Colonel Fitzwilliam was speechless, marrying Anne had never crossed his mind, and finally said, "Why?"

"Because it is the best solution. The last time you were in a battle, you almost lost your life. You are still recovering, but who guarantees that if you return to the front, you will have the same fate? There are already too many deaths and misfortune associated with the Fitzwilliam family. My sister Anne died young, I had several miscarriages and now I'm going to lose Anne. I can't let another member of my close family die if I can help it. Anne wants you to be the one to marry her and not Darcy. She wants you to inherit Rosings. What I ask in return is that you allow me to continue living in Rosings."

After several seconds of thinking about the proposal, Richard answered, "This is unexpected news, and I honestly have no experience managing an estate…"

She interrupted him, "You can learn. Rosings has a good steward, and Darcy and I are going to help you..."

After discussing the details of Lady Catherine's plan for nearly two hours, Richard agreed.

That day Richard had a long and honest conversation with Anne, and she assured him that she wanted him to inherit Rosings. Of all her cousins, he was the only one who didn't have an estate, and besides, he had always been kind to her. They agreed that he should return to London to resign his commission and buy a special license to get married as soon as possible…