I make no claim on being as brilliant and Ms Austen and take this opportunity to borrow the characters from her wonderful story Persuasion. I will care for them and look after them although I will also mould them and make them do what I wish for the foreseeable future. They will always remain her property and I shall return them when I have used and abused them appropriately!

The Incident in Lyme

"All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one; you need not covet it), is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone."

Chapter 1

We had been only one day and night at Lyme and whilst the weather was not at its best it was suitable enough to go out for a walk along the Cobb.

Everyone had arrived in the dining room for breakfast. I noticed that Anne had taken a seat as far away from me as she possibly could and to be honest, I did not blame her. I had treated her badly over the last few days; my anger would not permit me to treat her otherwise. I have tried on more than one occasion to step back from Miss Louisa but she prevails at all costs and manages always to involve me in her chattering and actions. Much to my dismay. I have only myself to blame for trying to alienate Anne by my actions.

I turned to look out of the window and spotted the man from yesterday who we had seen walking along the Cobb. There was something in his demeanour that unsettled me and I was not sure of what this could be. I already knew that he stirred a jealousy in me, I had after all seen him staring openly at Anne in admiration and I did not like this, not one bit.

I could not blame him however for his reaction to her countenance. She had a glow about her; her cheeks were pink with health and her skin as fresh as a daisy. The outing to Lyme had greatly improved her countenance and only now I realise that her youth, her beauty had been there all along. She had a sadness around her however, a sadness put there because of my actions I think and I would do anything I could to lift that sadness and replace it with happiness if she would only let me.

As I looked at the gentleman outside the Inn I realised that he wore a black crepe ribbon around his hat, he was in mourning, as was his coachman, from the loss of a close relative it would appear. He was in the midst of speaking to the coach man and as he did so I asked the Innkeeper the question "Who is that man?"

The Innkeeper was standing alongside me looking out of the window and immediately replied "Oh Sir, that would be Mr William Elliot, he is on his way to London and then to Bath I believe to meet some relations he has not seen for a long time, he is mourning after the death of his wife and has recently came into a substantial amount of funds, or at least that is what his coachman had told me"

"I see" was all I could reply as I then realised that this man was a relation of the Elliot's.

Before I could say any further Mary spoke with near excitement in her voice, "Oh Anne dear, that gentleman must be our cousin, did you not hear, a Mr William Elliot, he is so handsome and it such a shame we were not introduced to him"

Anne answered her in a no nonsense tone "Now Mary, we cannot be sure if he is related to us and in any case if he is the William Elliot you speak of, I doubt if father would approve of us being introduced, he made an ill match in his marriage, so father says, and they have not spoken these 10 years or so"

"Oh fiddlesticks Anne, he is our cousin, and it looks to me that he is recently widowed so what would the harm be? Anyway, it is too late now, he has boarded his carriage but I urge you sister, please let father know our good fortune to have seen him when you next write to him in Bath"

"Indeed Mary, on the contrary, I will do no such thing!" replied Anne.

Yes, I was happy that Anne was not influenced by the gentleman and this pleased me.

Mary was almost as bad as her pompous father at times, putting more onus on a person's station in life and how rich you were rather than who you were and what you achieved in life. I was glad that my Anne did not think this way; this was one of the reasons why I loved her so much. My thoughts were getting beyond me, Anne is no longer "my Anne" and I would have to remember this. She may no longer care for me the way I care for her still. Perhaps, I thought I could make her "my Anne" again soon…..

Breakfast continued and once we had all finished everyone rose to return to our respective rooms. As everyone was departing Captain Harville spoke, "ladies and gentlemen, I propose we take a trip along the Cobb this morning to at least work off our breakfast, is everyone in agreement?"

There proceeded many replies of "yes, we would be delighted"

"Well then that is settled" replied Harville and looked at his clock "I suggest we all meet at the entrance way then at 12noon" Everyone agreed and moved to return to their rooms.

I removed myself, not to my room, but to the parlour where I was joined by Harville.

Harville and I had been best friends for a number of years; we confided in each other on many things and grew exceptionally close in our times at war. He knew me like no other, he knew of my anguish after losing Anne, he was the only person who knew this.

We each took our seats and before long began a companionable conversation.

"Well Wentworth, there is something troubling you these days, you seem out of sort. Would this be to do with a certain lady being in our company?" asked Harville.

"Me? Out of sorts? No, Harville there is nothing wrong with me" I replied but I knew Harville was not going to leave it there.

"Come now Frederick, I know a man in love when I see one and you my friend fit the bill, am I not correct?" said Harville.

I knew I would not get away with this so I replied on a sigh "Is it so obvious? I thought I had managed to conceal my feelings. If you can see them then so can she" I said.

"I doubt it my friend, she is too shy and distraught to see your true feelings, and she is already feeling awkward and no doubt unwanted in our party. She is a lovely girl but what I cannot understand is why you let her go eight years ago?"

I looked at my friend and realised that he was a very astute individual although I felt I should correct his assumptions. "I let her go? No, my friend I am afraid you have the wrong of it, it was she who let me go, I asked her for her hand, she agreed to it and then had a change of heart and told me she could not and would not marry me, so you see I did not let her go"

Harville sat for a moment and thought about my words then replied "I am sorry my friend, I had not realised and I see that your feelings have not waned over these past eight years, is there no hope of re-attachment?"

"I doubt it Harville but I am going to try as best I can"

"Good man" said Harville as he slapped me on the back in an effort to offer me his support.

"Tell me Harville, do you see the way her family treats her? It is as though because she has never married they feel that they have the right to treat her as though she were not a worthwhile member of their family. I must be honest Harville, I am a patient man but I am becoming less patient in this respect, I cannot, no I will not tolerate this treatment of her, she is a sweet girl of good and strong character and deserves to be treated with love and respect"

"Yes Frederick, I agree with you, although I doubt if there is anything you can do until you make her aware of your feelings as you cannot defend her without causing her undue concern"

"I know Harville, indeed I know this". I replied. "I want to tell her how I feel but this is not the time nor is it the place to do this. I wonder if she realises just now much I love and care for her, do you think she knows."

"Frederick, if she is the woman I think she is then I think she may know, your eyes follow her everywhere, you are always near her and I feel you do not even realise this. Both Benwick and myself have seen this and I am unsure if anyone else has noticed but as they ignore Anne most of the time I doubt it"

"My God, I must save her from her family, she deserves so much more in life" I replied with determination.

"Well my friend, I urge you to speak with her at the earliest opportunity. Why do you not speak to her when we are out for our walk, take her aside and speak with her, I am sure this can be done" advised Harville.

"Yes, I will try however it may be difficult as Louisa is always looking for my company. I am not a vain man as you well know my friend but I feel that I had led the girl to believe that I may be interested in her and I must make a conscious effort to deter her so perhaps taking Anne aside to speak to her may be the solution"

"Indeed, Frederick, capital" was all Harville replied.

We sat in companionable silence for a few moments before we heard a ruckus outside the parlour room door. It was the rest of our party gathering for our walk along the Cobb.

Before we rose to leave the parlour I detained Harville yet again "Harville, I must say quickly if I am to try and speak with Anne can you please try and keep the others back, I know this will be a difficult task but I must do this as I cannot bear seeing her being treated like this for much longer. Why only yesterday on the Cobb Louisa and Henrietta walked down the steps before her, leaving her at the tail end when she, as the most superior woman in the party, should have been at the front, not even her sister nor indeed Charles Musgrove can see this" I replied in disgust.

"Of course Frederick, I will do what I can and also employ Benwicks assistance. I can see you have a lot of disdain for her family and I do not blame you Frederick but and I am sorry for saying this you must apportion some of the blame to yourself, and whilst she ended the ended the engagement between you, you are after all the one who walked away from her"

"We have discussed this Harville, I have made every offer of explanation to you. I did not want to walk away from her, I had no choice in the matter, was I to remain and plead for her hand when she would not have me, I have my pride. I could remain and watch her family laugh at me and think I would cause a degrading match within their family, I am better than that or at least I thought I was. Did you know that not only did her family reject the notion of our marrying but a close family friend also had a hand in the plot, a Lady Russell from what I recollect. I did blame her for making the choice she made, I felt that she was of a weak mind and did not have the strength to stand up for herself and took on board the wishes of her family instead of her own but now, now I know the truth, she is a much better person than I. She alone could realise that for us to marry eight years ago would have been a bad move, I had nothing to offer her other than a bed in a sloop, no money to live on, no money to buy her the things she deserved and worst of all, no real future. No Harville, I have been remiss in my thinking and have been somewhat selfish in thinking of what I had lost and how lonely I would be, I did not think of how she would manage living on the high seas at such a tender age".

I looked again at Harville as I continued my speech "I was angry and hurt but now I understand; now I love her more than ever and want to be with her, now I can do it, now I have my fortune and can offer her a much better life than what she has or indeed what she had before"

"Well then, onward Captain into the fray?"…

I smiled broadly then and we embraced in a brotherly hug.

We moved towards the door and on opening same found the Misses Musgrove standing excitedly waiting to go for our walk. Charles and Mary Musgrove were also waiting, as was Benwick.

I quickly realised that Anne was not amongst the group and wondered silently where she was. I could not remain silent for long however and asked "Ladies, is Miss Elliot not to join us?" looking around for her to appear.

Mary looked around as though I should not be asking such a question and replied "Why of course she will be joining us, no doubt she will join us forthwith Captain"

"It is not like her to be tardy, might I suggest you …" I tried to reply.

Mary interrupted me before I could finish my request, "Indeed sir surely you do not expect me, in my fragile state, to run after my sister?" cried Mary in indignation.

"No madam, I am sorry I did not mean to offend" I said softly and bowed to her.

Mary smiled and nodded and I would have taken great pleasure in putting my hands around her neck at that point.

Instead I replied with "Well if no one objects, I shall go and see how she fairs"

It was Miss Henrietta who spoke next, "Oh Captain Wentworth, you should not venture to a lady's door, I shall go and find her if you please"

I smiled and bowed to her, she was a kind girl really, "Thank you Miss Henrietta"

Henrietta went off to find Anne and we all waited patiently in the entrance way.

"Oh where is she, I cannot stand here in this draughty entrance way, it is not good for my health, perhaps we should just set off without her, she can after all follow behind us" chattered Mary in her usual selfish tones.

"Now dear, we need to wait on Anne, have patience she will be here in a second. I say Wentworth, I have never known Miss Anne to be tardy I do hope she is okay" replied Charles and trying in vain to ignore his wife.

"I did not think she would be tardy, oh here is Miss Henrietta now" I replied.

"Oh Captain Wentworth, Miss Anne is not in her room and neither is her coat or hat, she must have gone out herself" said Henrietta in a fluster.

"Gone out herself" screamed Mary, "how selfish is she and we are here waiting for her, I will give her some of my mind when we see her"

"Now Mary, it is not the end of the world, Anne is seven and twenty and can venture out herself if she so wishes"

By this time I was getting rather annoyed at the conversation, they seemed only worried about the fact that they were inconvenienced by having to wait for Anne and not the fact that she was not there.

I was concerned as I thought she had looked quite sad these past days. I know she appeared unsettled at the sight of a long lost cousin's appearance but worse than that I knew I was guilty of causing her concern with my carelessness in paying my attentions to Miss Louisa. "No" I thought to myself, "Anne is not so shallow to feel jealous of Miss Louisa, or was she"

"Well, I think we should still venture out for our walk, don't you Louisa and Henrietta? Charles, you too of course" said Mary

"My dear, we simply cannot go about as normal without Anne, we do not know where she is, we must find her and make sure she is safe. Surely you are not concerned for your sister Mary?"

"Indeed, indeed, Charles but she has not shown us any consideration, she could have let us know she was going out alone, what a selfish girl indeed"

I could feel my anger brewing at Mary's harsh words, the woman was so self-absorbed and only ever thought of her own needs.

I barely controlled my temper when I next spoke, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a plan, Charles, why do you not take Mrs Musgrove, Miss Louisa and Miss Henrietta on the walk down to the Cobb and myself, Captain Harville and Captain Benwick will look for Miss Anne"

"Oh, no Captain Wentworth, you should come with us" said Miss Louisa in a breathless tone.

Captain Harville spoke then "Miss Louisa, the Cobb is relatively safe for a walk however the rest of the shore line in Lyme is not as good and I feel that you ladies and Mr Musgrove would be better to continue on our pre-arranged walk so that we can concentrate on finding Miss Anne. It may well be that she has gotten lost and myself and Captain Benwick know the area very well, as does Captain Wentworth. Mr Musgrove I am sure will provide you each with protection"

None of the ladies answered, although Mary and Louisa seemed most displeased at the new plans however Henrietta was quite happy to fall in with them.

Hopefully Charles and Henrietta would convince them that our presence was needed elsewhere so they each deigned to nod and smile and make their way outdoors in the company of Charles Musgrove.

I could hear Mary Musgrove's mutterings could be heard all the way down the street. Would there be no end to their hostile treatment of Anne.

Harville, Benwick and I discussed the best options of where to look for Anne. She did not know the area very well and I truly hoped that she simply went down to the Cobb for a walk and if this were the case then we would find her quickly and I would no doubt feel silly for having raised everyone's concerns.

We made our way towards the shoreline and the Cobb and decided that we should split up and look in other parts to speed up the process.

I took the shoreline as I felt that Anne would not venture onto the Cobb alone however I could be wrong.

Benwick took the Cobb and Harville decided to walk along the pier road on the off chance that she may have walked into the village shops. I doubted this as Anne was not one for shopping, especially as her family had fallen into financial difficulties.

As I made my way along the shorefront I realised that the weather was beginning to deteriorate and the wind was rising very quickly indeed. It started to rain quite heavily and I began to fear for Anne as she did not have a heavy coat with her and if she did not take cover soon she would become soaked and end up with a chill.

I was about halfway along the shoreline when I noticed the rest of our party in the distance having made their way from the Cobb, no doubt because of the deterioration in the weather. They seemed to be making their way back to the Inn. Charles Musgrove spotted me in the distance and waved his acknowledgement to me, I returned his wave.

I spotted another figure in the distance but I was unable to determine who it was. I could see however that it was a gentleman dressed all in black making his way away from the shoreline and onto the Cobb. No doubt he too was feeling the turn in the weather.

I also noted that Benwick was still on the Cobb but I doubted once again that he would have any success in locating Anne. I was glad to see that the inclement weather was not preventing Benwick from his task.

I at least had decided to wear my greatcoat along with my beaver hat and gloves and must have been walking, against the wind and rain, for at least a good ten or fifteen minutes. There was no sign of Anne and I did not know whether to feel relief or concern at this point. I hoped against hope that she had the good sense to return to the Inn.

Suddenly I heard voices shouting in the distance and I turned to find Benwick and Harville making their way towards me through what was now exceptionally heavy rain.

As they approached it was Harville who spoke, his words almost carrying in the wind.

"Wentworth, I have been all over the village and I have not been able to see Anne anywhere, Benwick here has scoured the Cobb, also to no avail. I have asked Charles Musgrove if he can check the Inn on the off chance that she may have returned. Have you had any luck?"

"No" I replied. "I am becoming very worried now Harville, this is not like A….Miss Elliot at all" I did not want Benwick to know how familiar I was with her.

"Indeed Wentworth, never fear we will not give up my friend, we will find her" said Harville as he laid his hand upon my shoulder.

"Thank you Harville"

We turned and all three of us made our way along the shoreline.

We had not walked far when Benwick spoke with urgency in his tone.

"Look Wentworth, look over there, what is that?" he shouted through the wind whilst pointing to what could only be described as a small mound in the sand.

I looked in the direction that Benwick was pointing to and saw a huge rock with a smaller mound alongside it.

"Yes Benwick I see it, come, let us hurry" I replied urgently. I could feel a chill surround my heart and nit was nothing to do with the weather. If this was Anne then I was lost, she had to be alright, there was nothing else for it.

I ran faster than I had ever run in my life and was near the rock before I knew it. I fell to the ground as it was then that I realised that it was indeed my Anne.

Benwick and Harville, even with his limp, were close behind me.

"What is it Wentworth" asked Harville breathlessly

I was unable to speak; I must have been in shock, it was all I could do to think.

Her eyes were closed, her face as pale as death and there was a nasty gash on her forehead. She was ice cold as I reached out to touch her gently, and her clothes were drenched. "Oh my God Anne, what has happened to you" I cried heartbroken.

"Oh my God" said Benwick, "it is Miss Elliot"

"Wentworth, Wentworth, are you alright my man?" asked Harville.

"um…er…what, er yes, yes I am fine, Harville what happened to her, who did this to her?"

"I do not know my friend but we need to get her into the warmth and get a surgeon quickly. Once we have done this we will contact the Constables to look into this, she has clearly been attacked"

"Yes, get her into the warmth" I repeated dimly and immediately removed my great coat to wrap around her. I lifted her small light body into my arms and as I did so I then realised that there was almost nothing to her, she has lost weight these past eight years and I was not surprised in the slightest. She must have suffered dreadfully and all I seem to want to do is hurt her for my own selfish reasons. Once I had her secure in my arms I hurried as fast as I could back to the Inn. Benwick made his way to find a Surgeon whilst Harville made his way to the Constables office to report the attack.

On my arrival at the Inn I was met with Charles Musgrove and a look of horror on his countenance.

"My goodness Captain, where did you find her and what has happened to her? I will get Mary to nurse her, has someone gone for the Surgeon"

"I found her unconscious on the beach, she has been attacked and whoever has done this will pay dearly for their actions" I said in anger.

Charles Musgrove looked surprised at my outburst but I did not intend explaining myself, not to him nor to anyone, my main concern was Anne.

I made my way to her room and heard Mary running behind me "Oh goodness gracious, what has Anne gotten herself into now, she does not think of my health at all, wretched girl"

I stopped just outside Anne's bedroom as I could not believe that her sister had made so disparaging remarks about her.

I turned again in anger and said "Madam, I would thank you to think of your sisters health at present, it is no fault of hers that she has been attacked and thus wounded and I would be pleased if you would remove yourself from her presence, you do nothing to help her and I will nurse her myself so if you could excuse me I have more important matters at hand. Charles could you please ask Miss Henrietta to assist me"

Charles was sorely affronted at his wife's indignant comments and said "Indeed Wentworth, I will send Henrietta to you forthwith" and quickly ushered his wife away. I could hear her protests from a distance but I was not minding what she was saying although I could hear her husband telling her to be silent.

I laid Anne gently on top of the bed and removed my greatcoat from around her. I sat on the side of the bed and took her small, cold hand in mine. I could not believe that she had been hurt and I had not protected her. She needed protection, if not from the demons surrounding her then from her family at least. She was such a gentle person, and had a sweetness of nature, caring and lovely and basically perfection itself. How could I ever think ill of her now or ever? I loved her and should have told her of my feelings sooner and perhaps this would never have happened. What an idiot I was. We needed to be together, I was sure she felt the same as I, she had to, and if not then I was done for.

Miss Henrietta arrived and behind her stood Miss Louisa.

"Ladies, thank you for coming, I wonder Miss Henrietta could you help Miss Anne into her nightgown so that she is ready for the surgeon to visit?"

"Yes Captain Wentworth I will but I may need Louisa to help me, would that be permitted?"

"Louisa, oh yes of course, I was not thinking, yes Miss Louisa should assist you also. I shall be downstairs awaiting the surgeon please let me know when she is ready"

"Indeed Captain we will" and moved to prepare Anne for the surgeon.

I went downstairs and spoke with Harville and Benwick "Gentlemen, what do you think has happened here, I have a feeling but I do not wish to apportion blame when there may be none"

"Oh" said Harville, "Whom do you suspect then"

"Well, I noticed a gentleman leaving the shore by way of the Cobb just as I approached but he was too far away from me to determine his identity. Did either of you see the same gentleman by any chance?"

Benwick spoke first "Well I cannot say for certain Frederick but I did see a chap pass us on our way to meet with you but as you say I could not say that I could name him"

I nodded; at least he had seen him. I wondered to myself if this gentleman was indeed Mr Elliot and if so why had he returned. He had left the Inn earlier in the day unless he had discovered that the Elliot sisters were staying at the Inn and wanted to make their acquaintance. I would have thought however he could have made himself known to them.

I may however be getting beyond myself, it may not have been him at all.

I looked at Harville and said "Do you remember the gentleman from this morning who Mrs Musgrove said was her cousin, Mr William Elliot?"

Harville nodded and said "Yes, indeed, the gentleman who is the Elliot heir and who will be one day a Baronet"

"Indeed yes, but do you recall meeting him, fleetingly yesterday as we were leaving the Cobb? He was eyeing Anne intently"

"To be honest Frederick I only recall that there was someone standing at the stop of the stairs, other than that I took no notice of the man" replied Harville.

"I spotted him, he was quite interested in Miss Elliot" said Benwick.

"You say him James? Do you agree that he seemed over interested in Miss Elliot?"

"Yes I agree his attitude gave me that impression" answered Benwick.

"That is as it may, Frederick but you surely cannot blame Mr Elliot for this travesty?" asked Harville.

"I honestly do not know Harville but I feel that there is something not quite right with him, I feel it in my bones, I cannot explain it"

Mary must have overhead our discussion and said in an agitated tone "I can assure you Captain Wentworth that our most esteemed cousin Mr William Elliot would not in any way harm my sister, he is a most respected gentleman"

I looked at her with disdain, would she never put her sister first, not even now!

"So you say madam, but he is not estranged from your family for no reason and his attentions towards Miss Anne I feel would have been unwelcome, she did mention that she would not be letting your father know of your seeing him"

"How dare you say such a thing about a member of my family" retorted Mary

"I say this against a fleeting relative Madam but I would have thought you more protective over your sister than an estranged cousin"

"My sister does not communicate easily Captain Wentworth and she does not involve herself with others outside the family much at all, I feel that Mr Elliot has a high regard for Anne and wished to court her, there is no danger in that regard surely"

"Court Miss Anne Elliot, really? I do not agree with your sentiments madam, your sister is quite amiable with people and she is a good judge of character and I do feel that she has no preference towards your cousin, it is a pity he does not show reverence towards her" I said with contempt.

Mary huffed a little and puffed a little and strode from the room.

"How dare that woman defend a man who is all but a stranger to her, she is more like her father than she realises. I always knew that Anne was made of sterner stuff than either of her sisters or indeed her father"

"Never fear Wentworth, Anne will be okay, the surgeon will make sure of it"

"Yes you are right Harville. I must go to Anne now as she will be ready for the surgeon"

The task of finding out the culprit for this odious offence would lie with the Constables and it was my only hope that Anne would be conscious soon and able to tell us who her attacker was. If it was Mr William Elliot then he would pay dearly for his crime, I would make sure of it.