At the wedding of her eldest sister, Anne Elliot attempts to avoid the man that she once was engaged to marry. Although it appears that Frederick has fully moved on with his life, Anne cannot help but remember the love that they shared.
A NIGHT IN SAVANNAH
It was a beautiful night in Savannah. Spring in Georgia can be tricky, with storms coming in quickly along the coast or temperatures soaring causing a walk down the street to feel like a stroll through a sauna. However, today had been a perfect sunny Spring day leading to a pleasantly warm evening.
Anne was currently leaning against the ballroom wall with a glass of wine in her hand. As she scanned the crowd, she smiled watching her eldest sister dancing and laughing with her best friend. Anne's younger sister, Mary, had been quite upset when Elizabeth announced that she asked her best friend, Roberta Clay, to be her maid of honor for the wedding. Mary felt that it was just one more way that she was slighted and not given her due as an Elliot sister. Anne attempted to point out that Mary was already married anyway and shouldn't the 'maid of honor' be a single woman? Unfortunately, this only caused Mary to accuse Anne of trying to take the position herself since she would now be the last single sister.
In truth, Anne could not have been more relieved to hear that she would not be required to give a speech at the reception. It was quite torture enough to wear this revealing bridesmaid's dress. Also, Elizabeth and Anne had never been particularly close.
Recalling Mary's words, Anne stole a glance to another area of the dance floor. He was dancing, of course. He had always loved to dance so, apparently, that had not changed. Unfortunately for Anne, his choice of partner did change.
Drinking the last of her wine, Anne decided to begin saying goodbye to her friends and family. If she was going to become sentimental over the past, best to do so in one's own home. Spotting her father and Godmother, she made her way towards them.
"Anne, darling! You looked positively beautiful today!" gushed Mrs. Russell, Anne's Godmother.
Anne leaned in to kiss the old woman's cheek before responding.
"Thank you, auntie. I am glad to find that I can always count on your bias to lift my self-esteem."
"Oh hush! All three of you girls are beauties and everyone knows it." Mrs. Russell said with a smile.
"Well, of course they are all beautiful! They are Elliot's, are they not?" Anne's father blustered.
It was difficult for Anne to contain her eye roll but years of practice helped her to ignore her father's pride in their old family name. The Elliot's had been in Savannah since the city was first settled. Apparently, her father felt this fact caused some effect on their attractiveness.
"Well, I only wanted to wish you both a good night before I leave."
"Sweetheart, don't you want to stay for the rest of the dancing?" Mrs. Russell asked with a slightly concerned face.
"No, I think not." Anne replied, schooling her features to appear less melancholy.
Her Godmother was not fooled. The shrewd old woman's eyes immediately went to the dance floor where a certain handsome gentleman was dancing with one of the Musgrove girls. She turned her attention back to Anne with the intention of persuading her to stay but was immediately stopped by the look on her sweet Goddaughter's face.
"Truly, auntie, it has been a very long day and I wish to get some sleep." Anne said almost pleadingly.
"Okay, sugar, but you stop by my house tomorrow."
Anne nodded her head before dropping a quick kiss upon her cheek. Her father barely made eye contact when wishing her a good night before he resumed his conversation with the older gentleman next to him.
Next, Anne made her way to the Musgrove's table to say good-bye to her sister Mary who was currently talking incessantly to her husband, a very bored looking Charles Musgrove. Charles' parents, Old Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove were also at the table speaking with a pleasant looking woman who appeared to be slightly older than Anne.
As she approached, Old Mrs. Musgrove smiled widely and called out to her.
"Now, here is our Anne! Where did you run off to? I have scarcely seen you since the reception began."
"I have been here the entire time, I assure you, ma'am." Anne said with a smile.
"Why aren't you dancing? I tell you youth is wasted on the young!" Laughed Old Mr. Musgrove along with his wife and the other woman at the table. This finally caught Mary's attention and she whined to her sister.
"Anne, do tell Charles that he must dance with me more! I don't know why I married so young just to sit at a table all night. Why, I never sat down at a party when I was single and this is the first night out we've had without the kids in forever!"
Anne glanced at Charles with a quirked brow. They all knew that Anne kept the kids every Friday night so that the couple could go out on a date night. What a shock that Mary's memory was so faulty as to forget only a week ago!
"Mary, stop badgering me! I told you that I only wanted to rest a bit before we go out there again." Charles said exasperated.
"I don't see why you need to rest like an old man. You don't see Freddie resting! Why he's had Louisa on the dance floor all night and he's the same age as you!" Mary complained.
Anne's chest constricted tightly at the reminder that Frederick was with her young friend. Before she could fully recover, Old Mrs. Musgrove called her attention again.
"Oh, Anne, I didn't realize that you had not yet met Mrs. Croft."
Thankful for the distraction, Anne moved to the other side of the table to shake the woman's hand and had a seat before Mrs. Musgrove continues.
"Sophia and her husband are here visiting. She is Freddie's sister."
Anne slightly startles at this news before smiling again.
"I hope that you are enjoying your visit."
"It has been wonderful actually. I miss my youngest brother dreadfully." Sophia replies.
"Yes, I can imagine." Anne says with a little laugh.
"It is so good to see him light-hearted and out having fun." Sophia says to the ladies.
"Oh, he has been a joy to have at our gatherings." Old Mrs. Musgrove says before lowering her voice so that only Anne and Sophia can hear, "I don't have to tell you that our Louisa is quite taken with him."
The women glance at the couple on the dance floor, only to find that the gentleman is staring right back at them with a look of surprise on his face. Anne quickly looks down to her hands, embarrassed to be caught looking at him.
This exchange was not lost upon Sophia and she asks Anne, "Did you meet my brother through the Musgrove's Anne?"
Anne could not help the slight blush that rose on her face as she replied, "Um, no. I actually met your brother many years ago when he was visiting the area one summer."
A look of recognition passed Sophia's face before she asked, "Would that have been about 8 years ago? Before he left for the Naval Academy?"
"Yes, I believe it was." Anne said in a small voice before rising from her seat.
"Well, it was lovely to meet you Sophia. I hope that you all enjoy the rest of your evening." She addressed the table.
"Bye, Anne. We'll see you on Friday, right?" asked Mary.
Anne just nodded with a laugh before turning towards the door.
Stepping out into the night, Anne decided to decline the hired car and walk to her townhouse since it was only a few blocks away from the reception. It was a beautiful night and she could use the fresh air to help clear her head.
After walking a block, she heard hurried footsteps behind her. Glancing behind her, she was surprised to look into a very familiar pair of green eyes. She could not hold his gaze long so she just turned back to continue walking. He was immediately by her side, keeping step with her. Minutes passed before either spoke. Anne could not make sense of him being there and truly did not know what to say so she said nothing.
"You left early." He said.
"Yes."
"Without saying good-bye." He said, this time with something new in his voice.
Anne stopped to look at him.
"Oh, I had not realized that we were friends again? I seem to recall several times in recent weeks that you scarcely acknowledged my presence. How cruel of me to not interrupt your dance to wish you good night!"
Anne did not know what had come over her. As she spoke, all of the emotions that she had attempted to push down over the past two months came rushing to the fore.
Frederick tentatively touched her hand, "Oh, Annie…"
She quickly snatched her hand away and continued to walk.
"No, no…do not Annie me. You have made it quite clear that I am nothing to you anymore."
"Please, can we just sit down and talk for a moment? Please?" He pleaded.
Anne stopped walking and closed her eyes. She knew that she wanted to speak with him even if it hurt to hear what he had to say. She slowly nodded her head and they walked to the nearest bench.
Frederick cleared his throat before speaking.
"When I arrived in town months ago, I wanted to see you."
She gasped and looked at him in total surprise.
"Yes, I know. I was too much a coward to approach you after all of this time so I sought out Charles. I honestly thought that you might have married him when I left. What a surprise to see Mary as his wife. Anyway, he was happy to help me get settled in town and invited me over to family dinners, as you know, so I was able to see you at last.
I know that I have not been kind but I was not expecting to feel so much bitterness when I saw you Annie. As soon as I saw you, all of that hurt and rejection resurfaced. I couldn't handle it. You seemed totally unaffected by me and that hurt even more."
"How could you say I was unaffected? I have been miserable watching you these months!"
"How could you throw me away, Annie? I don't understand it. Even after all of these years, I know what we had was real."
Frederick was burning holes into her with his stare. Anne saw so much hurt and confusion there. She did not even think twice before reaching for his hand.
"I never threw you away. You went away."
"I asked you to marry me. You said yes, and then changed your mind! What did you expect me to do?"
"I never changed my mind about loving you. We were 19, Frederick! You were leaving for the academy in a few weeks. When I said that I didn't want to get married right then, I didn't mean that I never wanted to marry you. I loved you with my whole heart…"
Frederick stood and began pacing in front of the bench. So many years wasted because his pride was hurt. And now he had hurt her again with his shameless flirting with a girl he barely tolerated. As he felt the first raindrops, he glanced down to find Anne staring back at him. Even after all of these years, she still managed to take his breath away.
As the rain continued, neither wanted to leave. Frederick reached his hand out to Anne.
"Dance with me?"
"Frederick, it's raining." She said with a small laugh.
"Annie, please dance with me?" He asked again.
Rising up, she placed her hand in his and they began slowly dancing. There were no more words, no more accusations or painful reminders. There was only the soft swaying of two people in love, dancing in the rain on a Spring night in Savannah.
A/N: I wrote this as submission for the Spring Fling contest over at . It was a lot of fun to write and my first attempt at a Persuasion FF. I hope that you enjoyed it…hit that 'review' button and let me know! : )