After their initial meeting, Anne hears from her sister that the captain has slighted her, and yet she must steel herself for seeing him again and again: From this time Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot were repeatedly in the same circle… Whether former feelings were to be renewed, must be brought to the proof. (Persuasion, chapter 8)
Altered beyond his knowledge!
So Captain Wentworth had said of her, according to Mary’s report. After consideration, however, Anne perceived there was more behind that devastating charge than what first appeared. The true import of Captain Wentworth’s expressed disregard for her was something far more damaging than a critique of her appearance. It was just as she had feared. He was saying he had not forgiven her, and that he had no intention of forgiving her… ever.
In the swiftness and certainty of this conviction, Anne soon learnt to take some small comfort, for the knowledge was of a properly sobering tendency, leaving no room for false hope. It thereby allayed her earlier agitation over what the captain’s feelings toward her might prove to be. The plain truth, she reasoned, no matter how brutal, must ultimately leave her more composed than constant conjecture.
This admirable philosophy was to be tested beyond what any person should reasonably have to bear, however. For the object of Anne’s every painful sentiment remained firmly lodged before her notice, continually looming up like the hind end of a donkey ahead of the person driving a cart.
Captain Wentworth was for her inescapable. From the time of her first meeting him again at Uppercross, Anne was repeatedly thrown together with him as they both became absorbed into the Musgroves’ social commonwealth. They all dined together, sat together of an evening, and it seemed the others could barely conceive of an excursion where any one of the group should be excluded.
By unspoken agreement, they had almost no conversation together now, nothing beyond what the commonest civility required. It seemed neither of them possessed the forbearance nor the self-command it would have required to renew their acquaintance on so changed a footing.
But whereas Anne was seldom called upon to speak to Captain Wentworth, she was very often obliged to listen to him. His profession had supplied him with tales to tell, and his disposition made him willing to tell them at the encouragement of his other companions, who obviously delighted to hear him talk. But the listening was for Anne a kind of torment – a penance he exacted from her day by day. For at those times, when he fully lost himself in the storytelling, she heard the same voice and discerned the same mind as the man she remembered from the past. That was the man who had won and still held her heart, not the cold, seemingly detached version she usually met with at present.
The captain now regaled the company at the Great House (which on this occasion had been enlarged to include the Admiral and Mrs. Croft) with his escapades aboard the Asp and the Laconia in turn. The others, especially the Miss Musgroves, eagerly hung upon his every word whilst Anne was forced to sit by in abject silence. She must see Captain Wentworth universally admired, hear him eloquent on every topic, and acknowledge him commanding in presence, all without any power to join in. And when the evening turned to dancing, she must observe him happy as well – happy with the company of everybody but Anne Elliot.
“Surely, by frequent repetition I shall soon become inured to this form of torture,” she told herself as she played for their pleasure. “I must and I will.” But in the next moment, Anne could not help remembering that, had things turned out differently, it would have been to her Captain Wentworth returned after each adventure, to her he directed his animated accounts, and only with her he should desire to dance.
Want to refresh your memory with Jane’s Austen’s original work? Read Persuasion on Austen variations HERE.
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When Wentworth saw Anne at Charles Musgrove’s he was determined to ensure that she knew he held no regard for her any longer. He most definitely wants to make sure she knows he HAS NOT FORGIVEN her for refusing him by passing on the information she was so changed.. The pain he is causing himself, but refuses to admit, must be acute.. Poor Anne, trying to convince herself that his attitude is for the best for her…..I love your description that Wentworth is “continually looming up like the hind end of a donkey ahead of the person driving a cart”. I truly feel for Anne. To be constantly thrown together with him and she cannot refuse to go otherwise questions will be asked. To have to listen to him and watch him enjoying himself is excruciatingly painful. How Anne could endure this daily, I don’t know. She had to be a very strong woman. Beautiful writing Shannon. You really got me in Anne’s head
Author
Thanks so much, Deborah. As you know, I’ve spent a lot of time with Anne and Cpt. Wentworth the last year or so, writing The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen. I enjoy drawing on that experience for these P200 posts, including borrowing the “hind end of a donkey” illustration. 😉
Yes, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved the “hind end of a donkey” illustration in both pieces of writing. 🙂
How sad. While I was reading I thought “why couldn’t this community acceptance happen 8 years ago”? What a pity that when they were close they were outside of the group and now when Wentworth is accepted Anne’s place is even further out of the “commonwealth”. I had never seen a group of people called a commonwealth before but by definition it is very appropriate…won’t have to do my vocabulary lesson today. Shannon, I always enjoy your writing and this was exceptional.
Author
Thanks for your kind words, Maggie, but I can’t take credit for your vocabulary lesson. It comes to you straight from our dear JA. In Persuasion chapter 6 she writes, “She acknowledged it to be very fitting that every little social commonwealth should dictate its own matters of discourse; and hoped, ere long, to become a not unworthy member of the one she was now transplanted into.” Lovely, isn’t it?
Poor Anne! Shannon, can’t you have Wentworth injured in some way and the Croft’s ask for Anne for help in nursing him?
By the way, my maiden name is Elizabeth Hollis Croft and we have traced family back to a John Croft in London.
Author
Yes, your name sounds directly out of a Jane Austen novel… or maybe I’ll use it myself one day!
I agree with Hollis…how sad…to sit in abject silence! And he must know he is rubbing salt intp her wounds. How could he not know? I have to think that he does it knowing that he is affecting her or why would he do so? He has to see how silent she is and know that in all those 8 years she never found anyone else. She sits and doesn’t participate in dancing nor in the conversation. And he does know how her family, the family which “persuaded” her to give him up, has been brought low in fact and in the eyes of the society and neighborhood in which they move. My heart cries for her!
You brought it all so sharply into words here, Shannon. Well done.
Author
Yes, Sheila, the ones we love have the most power to hurt us, it’s true. And once hurt, we tend to strike back. I have to think Cpt. W. was acting out of his own pain, not that he is cruel by nature.
Shannon, thank you for this new scene! 🙂 This line resonated with me especially:
“But whereas Anne was seldom called upon to speak to Captain Wentworth, she was very often obliged to listen to him.”
**ohhh, heartbreaking sigh**
Like Anne, I would find that to be a torment, too… The voice of someone we love is so personal and recognizable that I can remember it, in some cases, even better than how that person looks. That was actually true for me with my husband. I recalled his voice more clearly than his appearance in the days after we first met. Poor Anne.
Author
Thanks for sharing your insights about this, Marilyn!
Yes, “poor Anne!” We’ve been saying that a lot, haven’t we? At least we know that things will eventually turn around for her.
The sadness engulfing Anne at this time is heartbreaking. Her strength of character and mind are being tested to their limits. To put on a front each and every time she is in Captain Wentworth’s presence must not only be exhausting but painful. I’m sure the Captain is suffering as well but he has to entertain the others as he is the center of attention and he too is putting on a front. He just hasn’t admitted to himself yet only Anne can soothe is soul. Anne, in the meantime, is only required to play the pianoforte so others can dance!
Author
They should just stop pretending and admit that they need each other already!!! Haha! It would be a lot shorter book then, wouldn’t it?
Thank you for this chapter, so wonderfully written and so touching! No matter in what society she finds herself in, with our without her family, Anne ends up sitting on the sidelines, and is there to make sure everyone else enjoys themselves. This part is sad that despite the Musgroves genuinely appreciating Anne much more, they’re guilty of not really making sure she’s happy.
After what Anne is forced to endure with these social evenings, I hope that after their HEA, Frederick makes it up to her for all of this time he’s spending making her suffer in silence! I hope P200 has a satisfying epilogue to that effect!
Author
Good idea, Kathy! I think the original novel does a pretty good job of letting Wentworth admit he’s been a dolt, but I’m sure we can add a little something fun to it. 😉
Thank you for your well-written chapter, Shannon! You do have a gift for getting inside the head and heart of the characters. I loved the illustrations from the best movie of Persuasion too! The scene here where Anne is listening at the table to Frederick’s tales, is very poignant, and I heard an English professor also express his high regard for Jane Austen’s ability to make so much going on inside Anne’s head without really having her speak! You do that also!
Thanks so much, Carol. Jane Austen is, of course, my model in all things!
This is so poignant, Shannon. Anne thinking that this is a form of punishment exacted for her because she erred on the side of caution. She is so much tougher and stronger from her timid and complying self that I do envy her resolve.