Anne has been convinced by her family and Lady Russell that it would be foolish to marry Commander Wentworth. No matter how much she loves him, he is not established in his career and has only his naval pay and a little prize money to support her and any children they have. She has broken the engagement, and both she and the commander have to suffer from her decision…
Commander Wentworth:
He could barely control his anger as he left Kellynch after Anne broke their engagement, and only by extreme self-control did he manage to close the door of the study without slamming it. He knew his face was frozen in a stormy glare as the footman opened the hall door and bowed him out…he could see the servant’s face blanch when he looked at his expression. So be it. The overdressed lackey was fortunate that he was not left in a bloody pile in the hall, victim of Wentworth’s disgust at the entire Elliot household.
He stormed down the walk towards the stables, his back stiff and straight and, he thought, his dignity intact. Not good enough! Not good enough for the high and mighty Elliots! He was not surprised at Sir Walter’s attitude, he had known within minutes of meeting him that the baronet’s only thoughts were of his own consequence in the world and the worth of any man not a peer would never be considered superior to that of a baronet. And the daughter of a baronet must marry at her own level(at very least!), or be thought to be degrading herself!
He had overheard Sir Walter talking to one of his cronies about how quickly a sailor turns brown and leathery…disgusting to behold. At the time Frederick had laughed to himself at the baronet’s attitude that a man should be as lily-white and pretty as a girl. Anne did not seem to think him coarse and unattractive…but then she had not had the strength to overcome the snobbish views of her family and friends and marry the man she said that she loved!
By the time he had gotten this far in his peroration, he found himself galloping down the road on his brother’s old nag. Obviously, Anne had not loved him well enough to take a chance on his future or to stand up to her family…or to Lady Russell, who was no friend of his, obviously! Perhaps Anne had not realized when she accepted him exactly what his financial standing was, and was appalled to find him much less forward in the world than she expected.When she found that she might have to live in a small apartment…without servants…her eyes were opened to his imperfections!
Perhaps she had only wanted to get away from her family, no matter who asked for her hand (and who could blame her?). But then, she realized that she would be trading one servitude for another- from unloved middle sister to wife to a lowly sailor who would be looked down upon…apologized for…blushed for when he made some coarse, unrefined comment in front of her high class friends…those few who would still speak to her after such a shocking drop in her social position.
Frederick pulled up the horse halfway to Monkford, the beast blowing and wheezing from being ridden so hard. He dismounted and led the poor beast…sorry that he had been so oblivious to his mounts distress as he wallowed in his own.
Suddenly he was overcome with profound fatigue, and his shoulders slumped dejectedly…no, Anne was not like her family, only caring about money and social position (and how pretty a man’s face was!). She had not looked down on him during their oh-so-short courtship, she had seemed to adore him and would light up when he appeared in the doorway. The blow to his ego was making him do her an injustice.
But, however good her intentions had been, however much she loved him, the simple fact was that she was too weak to stand up for what she wanted. She would weakly give up the love of her life rather than go against her family or Lady Russell.
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Anne Elliot:
After her painful interlude with Commander Wentworth, she had collapsed into a chair in the study and hidden her face in her hands. She had managed to keep her dignity intact during the commander’s astonished, then disgusted, expression as she broke their engagement. She had hoped that he would realize that all was not lost…in a few years, when he was established and made captain, they could marry on a respectable competence.
God knew that she did not care about luxury- her entire life had been a facade of luxury hiding the most superficial of interests. No intelligent conversation, no discussions of world affairs, no interesting friends…only comparisons of peoples’ appearance to ones own. Her own family thought that she was inadequate in that department. She was not handsome enough…tall enough…elegant enough to be of value to them.
Only Elizabeth was an adequate daughter to Sir Walter…Anne and Mary were inferior goods, hardly worth mentioning, except that they were Elliots, and therefore superior to anyone in the gentry class. It would not be too much to say that the Elliots were so superior that a marriage into the peerage would not only be right, but it would be an adornment to that peerage.
By this time Anne had managed to sneak upstairs without meeting anyone on the stairs or in the hall. She quietly closed her door and stared aimlessly around her room…the room that she had looked forward to leaving as a bride…the room which had been her refuge as a child when her sister tormented her and stole her toys…the room which now resembled a prison more than a sanctuary. After a few moments, Anne walked slowly to her bed and threw herself across it, her tears gushing until her face, her hands, and her coverlet were awash, and still they came, and unstoppable flow of misery. The only man she would ever love would not wait for her…
Hours later she awoke, shivering in the darkness from the tears saturating the bedding. What time was it? Her maid had not even lighted a candle since she came upstairs…it must have been hours ago. Then she remembered…she had locked the door, wanting to hide her pain away like a wounded animal and not become a subject for gossip downstairs. She must tell her father and Lady Russell that she had turned Commander Wentworth off…broken the engagement. A sob involuntarily broke from her lips, and she pressed them together. She must regain her poise before facing her family. They would not have any sympathy for her pain and would just make her feel worse with their comments.
She rose from the bed and pulled a fresh handkerchief from her night table and gently blotted her eyes. A gentle tap at the door distracted her from her efforts, and she unlocked the door. The maid she shared with her sister was outside, her nose tilted up.
“Miss Anne? Everyone is ready to sit down to dinner. May I help you get dressed?” Her dark eyes quickly ran over Anne’s crumpled gown and snarled hair and he lip curled slightly.
Anne thought quickly. “No…no. I am not feeling well. Please bring me a tray with some soup and bread and I will try to eat something. Please apologize to my father for my tardiness…I thought I would feel better after a rest, but I’m afraid I am ill.”
She could wait until tomorrow to tell her father about the broken engagement…
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Oh dear, these excerpts are so painful to read. I am sure they were equally emotionally hard to write!
You capture their reactions so well, I have an ache in my throat as I am reading! Poor Anne, poor Wentworth. Sigh…
Beautifully written. Both Wentworth’s & Anne’s pain are palpable. I wanted to cry with Anne. Glad Wentworth calmed down amd had pity on the horse after he was blinded anger, when trying to escape from the pain. This shoes how affected he was. Thank you for such emotional excerpt on both their sides.
Thanks Deborah…I thought that his hurt would be so deep that he would be unaware of his surroundings!
Yes, I agree. Sorry about the typos. My virtual keyboard is temperamental.
A difficult two scenes to write, I imagine. You wrote of their respective sorrows quite realistically. Looking forward to more…
Thanks Leslie! I tried to go by Captain Wentworth’s description of his feelings, which he tells us later in the book. Anne’s temperament is more to suffer in silence, but I’m sure that she was not with feeling!
What a difficult scene — it’s such a painful moment. No wonder Jane Austen preferred to present these scenes in retrospect. Imagine how many years it will be before they finally get together again. Nicely written C.Allyn!
Thanks Monica! It’s painful, but I enjoy the breadth of events we can imagine in our retelling…Persuasion has far more back story than any other of Austen’s books!
The two scenes you depicted are so poignant and touching, Carey. It puts things into perspective on how Anne react to the hurt she caused to dear Frederick and how he tried to vent his anger and frustration by slighting her character but came to realise it is unfair of him. Great job!
Thanks Luthien! I have enjoyed working on the backstory…there is so much material there!
You’ve really captured their misery well — and this is just the first day of their long separation! So painful, and so sad. To think they’ll be pondering this breakup, and all the reasons behind it, for years to come before they meet each other again. I was also struck by how Anne realized she wouldn’t get any sympathy from her family. It’s not even that they’d be happy that she came around to agreeing with her family and doing as they recommend; they would just dismiss how she felt about losing Frederick and wouldn’t be able to sympathize or comfort her.
Outside it is grey, foggy, cold (4 C), and raining….an appropriate backdrop for reading this story, I should think. It is so sad. I do feel badly for Anne, but I have to say I am still much more sympathetic toward Wentworth….it was, after all, her decision. I know she was influenced by others whom she looked up to, but still, I agree with Wentworth when he says (thinks) “she had not had the strength to overcome the snobbish views of her family and friends and marry the man she said that she loved.”
Thanks for this beautifully sad portrayal of their emotions.
I agree, Eileen, that Wentworth was put in a difficult position, but the book doesn’t tell us how she turned him down…we have chosen to indicate that she is too young and he is not far enough along in his career- we don’t really know how Anne worded her rejection, but if she indicated anything of this, then Wentworth should have realized that when he was established in his career and she was older and had seem more of life and society her family might not have been against the marriage- we find out at the end of Persuasion that if he had come back and asked her again after he was made captain she would have accepted him- he kicks himself for allowing his pride to prevent all those years of happiness. It would be difficult to leave and show up again, hat in hand, and ask her again, but if he had not been so angry with her he might have realized that she did love him and that turning him down at age 19 was not necessarily the wrong thing. Maturity was required for both of them to find happiness.
What beautiful writing! We all knew that the tales telling this part of the story would be heart-wrenching but you’ve done this so well. They both feel anguish at Anne’s decision and the way it’s expressed here, in their different ways, definitely brings a lump to the throat.
I can’t add anything else that others haven’t already said above, except to ask this. Will the point mentioned by C. Allyn about Frederick considering coming back after being made Captain be part of these tales? I do hope so, even thought it’s a whole load more angst.
Carey, I loved this-though it is so very sad-lovely writing!
Another beautifully written , though heart-breakingly sad installment. Poor Anne left to suffer alone, no sympathy, no shoulder to cry on…years of unhappiness ahead. While Wentworth, angry and dejected, still sees Anne’s worth but considers her weak for ending the engagement. If only they had communicated better,she only wanted to wait awhile, but his wounded ego only heard her ending the engagement. They may have found happiness much sooner.
You have written this so well. Wentworth’s pain and anger and Anne’s suffering over giving him up. I wonder while he is at sea, that he does not look back and kick himself for not seeing Anne’s position a little more clearly.
Anji: We certainly should include that, since he says that he considered it when he tells all at the end of the book!
And I keep thinking about how she spoke to Capt. Harville in Bath, “We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us.” All those years Anne will suffer, her only relief what she reads in the news or Naval lists about him. Also Anne said to Harville and how we may think Wentworth was occupied – “you are forced on exertion. You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately, and continual occupation and change soon weaken impression.
Well written even if it leaves me despondent.