Noble deer reconsidered and answered (9)
I believe the answer is:
countered
'answered' is the definition.
(countering is a kind of answering)
'noble deer reconsidered' is the wordplay.
'noble' becomes 'count' (count is a type of aristocrat).
'reconsidered' indicates anagramming the letters.
'deer' anagrammed gives 'ered'.
'count'+'ered'='COUNTERED'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for countered that I've seen before include "Opposed" , "Contradicted" , "returned" , "Answered a chess move" .)