I feel like this really needs to be said somewhere, for those who write Sense & Sensibility JAFF and seem to have a happy trigger finger when it comes to Colonel Brandon...

Colonel Brandon has a higher five year life expectancy than Mrs. Marianne Brandon.

Colonel Brandon, by 37, has already outlived basically everything that is trying to kill him. He's already probably had or come in contact with most diseases, he's past the stage where boys to stupid shit and fall off cliffs; his main dangers are accidents and influenza. He has a good chance of living until 60 as long as he doesn't fight another duel.

Marianne Dashwood has survived childhood illnesses, but she's heading straight towards the second most dangerous time of her life: childbirth. The statistic I see most often is about a 2% chance of dying in childbirth for each child. Couples in love tended to have babies more frequently than those who weren't, and we know Marianne loves Brandon.

Life expectancy at birth is different than life expectancy through your life, the longer you manage to live, the better chance you have of living even longer. Colonel Brandon is not at death's door, so can someone please let him live, please?