Persuasion 200: Anne Learns Wentworth’s Sister is in the Area by Marilyn Brant

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When Anne Elliot learns from her father’s lawyer that Frederick Wentworth’s sister and her husband are interested in renting Kellynch Hall, Anne can’t help but be overwhelmed by thoughts of the man she’d had to part from eight years ago…



Anne simply could not believe what her ears were hearing.

“And who is Admiral Croft?” her father asked of his lawyer Mr. Shepherd, unable to disguise his suspicion at the idea of a naval officer as a potential tenant.

Mr. Shepherd provided some general details about his being a married gentleman without children, and further observations about the Admiral’s wife, adding that he had seen Mrs. Croft in person, as well as her husband.

“And a very well-spoken, genteel, shrewd lady, she seemed to be…” he informed them. “And moreover, Sir Walter, I found she was not quite unconnected in this country, any more than her husband; that is to say, she is sister to a gentleman who did live amongst us once; she told me so herself: sister to the gentleman who lived a few years back at Monkford. Bless me! What was his name?”

After this, the snippets of dialogue that followed did little more than swim in odd and somewhat frantic spirals inside Anne’s head. They existed feebly alongside a sudden rushing noise in her brain, one that flowed like a river rapid, threatening to drown out every other sound.

From the additional details given by Mr. Shepherd, Anne believed she knew the answer to his question. “You mean Mr. Wentworth, I suppose?” she whispered, working to keep her tone even.

Mr. Shepherd was both delighted and grateful. “Wentworth was the very name! Mr. Wentworth was the very man.” And on he spoke, continuing his discussion with her father as if he hadn’t just completely disrupted any existing peace in her world, however mundane, or any hope of equanimity.

Anne attended as best she could to the remainder of the conversation — the Wentworth of whom he spoke was the former curate at Monkford, the brother of the Wentworth she’d known and loved — but the memories that followed paid no heed to such minutae. They came to her in relentless waves, crashing one after the other on the shores of recollection. Her mind’s eye saw them in vivid detail. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, but all she could see was his face. All she could hear was his voice.

'PERSUASION' FILM - 1995Frederick.

Oh, dear God. What would she do if he came here? If she saw him again?

Mr. Shepherd was soon bestowed with the power to act on her father’s behalf in regards to extending an invitation to Admiral and Mrs. Croft to visit Kellynch Hall. If all went well on both sides, the Crofts would likely move in within months, if not weeks.

Anne forced herself to breathe — siphoning the air into her lungs with great care. She feared she would be inclined to gulp it or, perhaps, to forget to draw breath altogether, especially if she let her racing thoughts take precedence over any body function that might be deemed voluntary. As it was, she could feel the blood rushing to her head, the heat in her cheeks making her feel feverish. She would not be able to remain in this room much longer.

Never had she been more grateful that her father and her sister Elizabeth paid such scant attention to her. Mrs. Clay was hardly interested in her thoughts or actions, and even Mr. Shepherd was too preoccupied with soothing her father’s ego and plumping up his vanities to be aware of her discomfort.

In truth, few would notice an alteration of her expressions in any case. Only someone with Frederick’s keen eye would be observant enough to recognize changes such as these. And he, of course, was not here.

Not yet.

However, it was as if the mere mention of his two siblings could conjure his corporeal self in her family’s sitting room. Though not another soul currently inhabiting Kellynch Hall would see her with clarity, Anne felt herself to be an audience of one to Frederick Wentworth’s spirit. Alive and well as he surely must be (albeit elsewhere), to Anne, he was a ghost looming large and imposing in her mind. He sat before her now, eyeing her every jerky motion, every blink of her eyelids and every one of her insufficient inhalations. 

She could all but feel him watching, listening and judging her. He pierced her with his gaze — one minute with a spark of passion so hot it seared her and further spiked her fever, the next with a bolt of anger so intense that it zapped her with its force and left her trembling. Frederick had the gifts of brilliance and confidence, of wit and fearlessness on his side — but he did not have subtlety. He could hide neither his adoration nor his fury.

Anne rose abruptly. “If you will all excuse me,” she murmured, although her words seemed not to register with the others in the room, excepting Mr. Shepherd, who stood briefly as she departed. She took measured steps to the hall, snatched blindly for her bonnet until she’d grasped it and then slipped outside to seek whatever coolness the summer air might possess.

Once she was firmly on pebbled ground, Anne raced — as if in pursuit of the wind itself — searching for the solace of her favorite grove.

Oh, how her face burned at the memory of Frederick’s expression when she had to break their engagement! How her heart, even these eight years later, still ached from missing him.

A couple of pigeons pecked at something on the lawn, and Anne’s pace finally slowed. She swiped at the tears in the corners of her eyes. Ridiculous emotion! Why could she not overcome her heart’s attachment to that man? Was not nearly a decade of suffering sufficient pain to endure?

But, she dearly hoped that if one walked long enough and hard enough, some semblance of sense would have to be restored. Some calmness of mind and soul. She could hear Lady Russell’s reasoned arguments against her match with Frederick, as if echoes from seasons’ past, and she replayed them in her brain. Much as she wished she could have reversed a decision that had led only to wretchedness on her part, she placed no blame on her mentor and family friend. Lady Russell had guided Anne to the best of her ability. And Anne, who had long believed in giving deference to those who were not only older but wiser, could no longer blame herself either for allowing Lady Russell to persuade her to end the engagement.

gravel walkNone of this, however, changed how much she still wished the final outcome had been different.

She walked some more — determined as ever to be level-headed — then kicked at a few pebbles and watched them scatter. How she loved this particular path! She sighed. A few months more, and he, perhaps, may be walking here…

Anne was unsure of the balance of her feelings. The very real possibility of Frederick’s sister living at Kellynch Hall — and this being the means by which he might finally return — left Anne with a combination of hope and dread, though in unequal measure.

And that was what she wrestled with as she turned and slowly began the walk back home. The degrees of her emotions kept shifting. Did the thought of crossing paths with Frederick again bring with it a sharper sense of pain…or promise?

***

AV Friends ~ As most of you know, I’m primarily a writer of contemporaries, so your feedback is especially important to me when I write anything that takes place during Austen’s time! I’d love to know your thoughts on this scene, and please don’t hesitate to let me know if there were any Regency- or Georgian-era mistakes that I made… I did my best to keep it accurate, but I’m used to the 1970s and 1980s being about as “historical” as I get, LOL, so if I inadvertently made an anachronistic error, I sincerely want to know. 🙂 Regardless, I hope you liked it!

xox Marilyn

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34 comments

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    • EvelynTost on July 18, 2014 at 3:47 am
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    I enjoyed your chapter very much. I only noticed one thing, the description of Mr. Monkford as “curator”– I believe that should be “curate”, hopefully others could confirm this. I think you had Anne’s emotions very well, poor thing to finally appreciate how they ignore her all the time, so she can make a quick getaway and they didn’t even notice her state of mind and emotions.

    Thank you!

    1. Evelyn, thank you!!
      I’m delighted you enjoyed the chapter, and yes (!!), it definitely should have been curate! I just fixed it in the text above — so glad you caught that 😉 .
      I appreciate your taking the time to read it all and share your thoughts!!

    • Deborah on July 18, 2014 at 6:24 am
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    Beautifully written. How you make us feel Anne’s pain as it comes fully back to her mind… “the memories that followed paid no heed to such minutae. They came to her in relentless waves, crashing one after the other on the shores of recollection. Her mind’s eye saw them in vivid detail. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, but all she could see was his face. All she could hear was his voice. ” And “Anne forced herself to breathe — siphoning the air into her lungs with great care”. It was agonizingly beautiful. I enjoyed, in a painfully, sad way, reading it. I’ve already read it 3 times. I also loved the details, such as the pigeons. Thank you for the heartrending excerpt. 🙂

    1. Oh, Deborah, thank you so much! 😉
      I’m truly pleased to know that you enjoyed the scene and by your description of it as “agonizingly beautiful”… *hug!* I’ve always loved that deeply emotional aspect of Persuasion — there’s so much heartache for both Anne and Frederick — that their reunion at the end of the novel is especially powerful. Jane Austen’s genius in setting up the story this perfectly makes it so easy for all of us to feel Anne’s shock and turmoil at this revelation…

    • Maggie Griscom on July 18, 2014 at 7:28 am
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    The curator stopped me. It is curate. I just accepted it as a typo or a spell check forcing a spelling I don’t want. I loved this. The use of the water images to reflect Anne’s emotions was compelling: “relentless waves, crashing on the shores of recollection” ; “a rapid river threatening to drown”; “siphoning the air” as if she were drowning. I could feel those emotions as the world around her faded and the essence of Fredrick overwhelmed her. All of this drove me on and I couldn’t stop. What a wonderful excerpt. Thank you so much.

    1. Maggie, yes, that was definitely a typo!! Thank you so much for picking up on it! I just corrected it in the text above 😉 .
      As for the water imagery, I’m thrilled you enjoyed those lines and the emotions they conveyed. I’ve felt that way myself when receiving very surprising news. I always imagined that Anne would associate her feelings for Frederick with the sea, almost no matter what the nature of the emotion, but especially when overwhelmed…
      Thanks for taking time to read my scene and for all of your lovely comments!

  1. An excellent episode, Marilyn! So ironic, too, that it’s Wentworth’s sister who is taking their place at Kellynch. How humiliating and devastating at the same time. You did a brilliant job showing how totally self-absorbed her family is. Poor Anne.

    1. Oh, Monica, thank you!!
      I’m so glad you enjoyed the chapter 🙂 .
      As for the self-absorption of Sir Walter and Elizabeth, the two of them (AND Mrs. Clay, for that matter!) irritate me greatly every time I reread scenes from Persuasion, LOL. Anne is too kind to have the thoughts about them that *I* would have, but I love the way Austen lets the reader know just how vain and myopic they are…
      xox

    • Eileen on July 18, 2014 at 12:01 pm
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    So sad and so beautiful. Anne’s emotions just flowed off the page. Thank you.

    1. Yay! Thank you so much, Eileen!
      I’m really glad to know that you enjoyed it! 😉

  2. Beautiful job, Marilyn! You brought so much emotion into this brief snippet. This section made me hold my breath: “Only someone with Frederick’s keen eye would be observant enough to recognize changes such as these. And he, of course, was not here.” You may not write Regency much, but you bring all your strengths as a writer with you when you do!

    1. Abigail, thank you…it means the world to me to hear that, especially from you! I always fear I’m going to let down my fabulous historical-writing Austen Variations friends by slipping too much of a modern vibe into a JA scene… Or that Jane herself will rise from the grave just long enough to smack me for messing with her characters 🙂 . xo

    • junewilliams7 on July 18, 2014 at 4:23 pm
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    Poor Anne! Her emotions and her feelings of devastation flow from your words. Well done, you!

    Do you think Mrs Croft knew of her brother’s failed proposal? I wonder if she chose Kellynch because of that knowledge, or because of her brother’s curacy at Monkford. Seems like a huge coincidence that of all the estates available for lease, she and the Admiral would choose the one belonging to her brother’s potential in-laws.

    Thank you for writing!

    1. June,
      Thanks so much!! I’m glad you thought I was able to get those emotions across… I feel for Anne!
      As for your question, it’s something I’ve always wondered, too. My guess is that Frederick would not have told her directly — too much pride and hurt on his part — but Sophia struck me as a very clever and observant woman, and I think she’d always suspected there was an attachment there. So, perhaps she did know… 😉

        • junewilliams7 on July 18, 2014 at 11:29 pm
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        Cool. If you get to write another installment in this series, perhaps Sophia could be sleuthing around Kellynch and getting her brother to ‘fess up. She and the admiral are very underused in fics.

        1. Oh, June, that would be fun! What an excellent idea 😀 .

  3. Don’t sell yourself short, Marilyn. While reading this, I didn’t think once about the fact that you usually write contemporary. Good job!

    1. Shannon,
      *Grin* Oh, thank you!! I’m relieved my contemporary sensibilities didn’t peek through ;).
      And I’m truly delighted that you liked the chapter!! xox

    • Carole in Canada on July 18, 2014 at 7:34 pm
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    Oh Marilyn, I had to take some deep breathes after reading this beautifully written chapter! The photo of Ciarin Hinds was perfect for the scene! Anne’s anguish was so real. Thank you!

    1. Yay!!
      Carole, thanks SO much!!
      I’m thrilled you enjoyed it…thanks for taking the time to read the chapter and to share your thoughts! I so appreciate it 🙂 .

    • Stephanie Carrico on July 18, 2014 at 9:36 pm
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    A heart rending chapter..once again poor Anne is overwhelmed by feelings with no one to turn to..in that house no one even noticed..you captured her emotions so very well..Contemporary or Recency era you did a wonderful job

    1. Thank you, Stephanie!!
      I’m so glad you felt I’d gotten at her emotions — and stayed reasonable well within the era ;). Poor Anne! Every time I read through those early scenes of Persuasion or watch one of the films, I get anxious right along with her…

    • Kathy on July 18, 2014 at 11:02 pm
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    Very enjoyable! The part I really liked was your description of Frederick – that he had no gift for subtlety and “He could hide neither his adoration nor his fury.” That is such a compelling description, and must be one of the aspects of his personality that fascinates and attracts Anne, who has to constantly hide her emotions.

    The only word that made me wonder if it was of the era was “zapped.” That strikes me as a “modern”-ish word, but honestly I don’t know.

    Thanks for this chapter!

    1. Kathy, thank you! I’m so glad you liked the description of Frederick, and I love what you wrote about how Anne would be fascinated by his boldness/lack of subtlety, given her need to hide her feelings so often. What an wonderful observation!

      As for “zapped” — ah, you’re probably right about the word!! In fact, that entire sentence was likely too much a walk on the contemporary side 😀 . A “spark of passion so warm” (rather than “hot”) might have been more likely…and I was trying to evoke lightning with the word “zapped” but maybe “struck” would have been a bit more in keeping with JA’s language. Always fun to play around with these phrases!

    • Sheila L. M. on July 19, 2014 at 10:27 am
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    As others have stated your descriptions are very powerful and I, too, loved the connection to the sea and Frederick. Sadly, for Anne, the memories of his responses to her, even subtle, changes of emotion make her so much more aware of her feelings…knowing that of all people he would have seen how she was affected. Lovely.

    1. Sheila,
      Thank you for your kind thoughts and for sharing your impressions of the scene with me!
      I know what you mean about Anne and her memories… I think it’s this reaction that makes that later scene (with Capt. Wentworth overhearing her while writing his letter) especially poignant. She’d reached a point where she’s actually willing to confess aloud how the memory of love still haunts her 😉 .

    • Jane Odiwe on July 19, 2014 at 11:46 am
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    Beautiful writing, Marilyn-your historical ‘voice’ is just fabulous!

    1. Jane!!
      Thank you, my friend. Sending you a big bear hug from across the pond!
      😀 xo

    • Stephanie L on July 21, 2014 at 9:28 am
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    Well done! I’m not one for noticing the time period things. I get mentally involved in the emotion of the writing and unless there is a typo to kick me out of my trance, it’s all lost to me. LOL My issue with Persuasion is I tend to think like Frederick “It is the worst evil of too yielding and indecisive a character, that no influence over it can be depended on. You are never sure of a good impression being durable; everybody may sway it.” I can acknowledge that he may not have been the best financial choice at the time, but when you love that strongly… LOL well anyway…

    Lovely chapter Marilyn!

    1. Stephanie, thank you so much!!
      I’m delighted you enjoyed the chapter and weren’t mentally booted out by anything too strange in the text 😀 .
      Loved what you wrote about thinking like Frederick and the quote you shared! It’s his strength of character that I appreciate so much about him in that novel. I guess the one thing that keeps me feeling understanding about Anne’s initial refusal is that it wasn’t Frederick’s lack of money or even her family’s disapproval that most fueled her decision, but it was her fear that by marrying him, she might be holding him back somehow in his career. If I’m remembering correctly, Lady Russell presented that angle to Anne as part of her argument in trying to convince her to break the engagement… But, yeah, I always want to scream, “He doesn’t care about any of that! Lady Russell is wrong! Just marry him anyway!!” LOL.

  4. Marilyn, that was superb! I’ve told you before I think you write Regency beautifully, but I’ll reiterate it!

    This was incredibly moving, you had me right there with Anne, feeling all she was feeling, so much so I was having difficulty breathing myself.

    This was so lovely:

    “but the memories that followed paid no heed to such minutae. They came to her in relentless waves, crashing one after the other on the shores of recollection. Her mind’s eye saw them in vivid detail. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, but all she could see was his face. All she could hear was his voice.”

    Sigh – sad and happy combined 😀

  5. Forgot to say – is the photo of the Georgian Garden in Bath? It looks very like it!

    1. Sandra, in regards to the picture – yes!
      What an excellent eye you have!! 😉
      And thank you so very much for your sweet comments about the chapter — how you’ve made me smile! I’m delighted you enjoyed it…
      *Hug!*

  6. This is brilliant, Marilyn. Your depiction of Anne’s roller-coaster of emotions is well-written that I feel her pain and suffering. I’m eagerly awaiting your next instalment in this project.

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