The morning came too early, the hours of sleep had been too few and the tiredness had not been able to disappear. The shouts of joy from the Miss Musgroves reached Anne's ears like stabs in living flesh.
"Is coming! He is coming!"
"Hurry, hurry, he is here!"
Mary immediately complained:
"I say, what do they have to scream like two strangled chickens?"
Anne did not have time to formulate some answer, Louisa and Henrietta had already entered, shouting all excited:
"Captain Wentworth is here!"
"He just arrived in Uppercross and immediately asked for us!"
"For you?" Mary asked huffily.
"For the Musgroves" Henrietta replied dreamily.
"Yes, Charles is accompanying him here" Louisa echoed entranced "He is the most attractive man I have ever seen!"
Anne only managed to run a hand over her chignon from which some unruly tufts emerged. Behind the shoulders of the two sisters, framed in the space of the open door, the unmistakable silhouette of the one who had populated her dreams for the last eight years was approaching, with his usual confident and elegant gait.
She felt her cheeks burning and turned to the window. Praying to be able to look the slightest presentable at least, she ran her hands over the modest and wrinkled dress she had worn in the rush of the night before, and instinctively grabbed the small key that hung from her neck.
That key opened the treasure chest that contained all the memories of him, his letters, his poems, everything that was most dear to her in the world and everything that, until then, had represented their bond.
Charles's voice reached her like a distant hum, while the warm and deep timbre of the other male voice gave her a shiver that ran down her spine, making her leap.
"Allow me to introduce you to my wife, Mrs Mary Musgrove, Captain" Charles Musgrove's obsequious voice and the gesture of his hand indicated a woman on whom Frederick's gaze fell only for a moment. Automatically, out of politeness, he bowed at her, yet, his eyes never left the other woman present in the room.
Her slender figure, from behind and with her back slightly bent as if were really she, alone, to support all the weight of the tension that, at that moment, seemed to envelop the entire universe.
Frederick saw her tremble. The very light fabric of her gown could not hide the bones of her shoulder blades and he was lost in mentally tracing the outlines that had once been so familiar.
Then, suddenly, she turned and the forest green of her eyes landed on him, framed by the whiteness of her skin, her dark hair that seemed to want to rebel against the constriction of the hairstyle. Her rosy lips hinted a nervous smile as the beloved, sighed and long-regretted blush he had always adored, was suffusing her cheeks.
It was at that moment that Mary, following the Captain's gaze, remembered that Anne had not been introduced.
"Oh, and this is my older sister, Anne" She said with utter nonchalance, unaware of the magic unfolding in front of them all.
"We are acquainted" Frederick muttered slowly.
He would have liked to take a step towards her but was still waiting for her answer and could not indulge to approach if she had not consented; he no longer trusted himself.
His Annie, so close, so reachable.
Would he have had the strength to leave that room without first holding her in his arms?
She was there trembling and vulnerable. With one hand she held something hanging from her neck as if her whole life depended on that object.
Like a buzz, Frederick heard Mrs Musgrove's voice asking for an explanation.
And then, the miracle: Anne's sweet and warm as a caressing voice, gently replying:
"It was a long time ago; you were away at school"
And a smile.
One of her beautiful, bright smiles.
She looked him in the eyes and with the magic of that green forest, underlined by the gown of the same colour and always continuing to fiddle with her pendant, she nodded slightly, in a way perhaps imperceptible to the others, but clear enough for him that could finally push away the tension and smile back.
Never ceasing to look her in the eye and smile at her, Frederick moved slightly closer.
"Nonetheless, the time has been generous with you, Miss Anne," He told her enchanted "You are even more beautiful than I remembered"
Anne let out a little laugh, she knew very well that she was in the greatest possible disorder, that morning.
He, on the other hand, was really even more beautiful. The handsome angelic-faced boy he had been, had given way to a man more mature but also more virile, more confident. Even his shoulders seemed wider, his nimble and athletic figure appeared even more imposing.
Around them the voice, almost hysterical, of Mary who kept asking for explanations, now accompanied by those of the two young ladies and the gentleman.
Only then, Frederick realized that everyone was trying to get his attention, one way or another, but nothing could distract him from her. For eight long years, he had longed for the vision of the one who possessed his heart.
One more step and he came in front of her.
Anne held out her trembling hand that had hitherto remained hidden behind her side, and he took it gently but also with determination; savouring the touch of her bare skin, his thumb ran along its smooth and softback, before softly taking it to his lips.
Behind Frederick, someone snorted, reminding the two lovers that they were not alone.
"Will you allow me, Mr Musgrove, to have a word with Miss Anne, in private?" Frederick said, forcing himself to look away from her and turning to Charles, but not before letting himself to bask in the new blush that his kiss had aroused in her and smile back to the beaming smile that had followed.
"With Anne? In private?" It was Mary's sourly voice that answered, before her husband's "And why on earth?"
"To end a conversation that has been pending between us for too long, Mrs Musgrove" He replied politely, but with a firmness that convinced Charles to finally take a stance:
"Of course ..." He stammered confused.
And a few minutes later, Anne and Frederick were in the garden, alone, though perfectly aware of the stares watching them from the window; there were the shocked ones of the Misses Musgrove and the astonished ones of Charles and Mary. Although the latter, sensing the let-down of the young and not exactly loved sisters-in-law, began to hope for an act of revenge on them, at the hands of her sister.
"Anne" Frederick began in a strangely trembling voice "Have I been too impetuous presenting myself to you, like that?"
"No" She whispered softly, trying to normalize her laboured breathing.
"I hope my letter has preceded me" He murmured, and seeing her nod in silence he could not help but impatiently ask:
"Well? Your answer…?"
"My answer is the same one I gave you eight years ago" She affirmed with sudden confidence and looking up at his face "My feelings have never changed, Frederick"
"Never, not even when I thought it was right to let you go" She added in a whisper.
"So, I just have to ask for your hand?" He asked, with that lovely rascal and almost impertinent expression that Anne had always adored.
"Yes, if you are really willing to do it" She replied in the same impertinent tone, completely leave him caught off guard.
She had felt tears come to her eyes and had decided to indulge him in his game; there had been too many tears in those long eight years of separation.
Frederick laughed, happy as ever; that new version of Anne, more mischievous and ironic, fascinated him even more.
But reason took over again and she felt the need to clarify:
"Perhaps, there are further explanations you need to understand the past, Frederick"
"All I need to know, for now, Anne, is that you still love me"
She nodded:
"I have never stopped doing it"
And then, hesitantly, she added:
"And you?"
"I foolishly thought I did it" He shook his head "But, luckily a friend forced me to look deep inside my heart. And I realised that you had never abandoned it, Anne; it has always and only belonged to you"
"Commander Benwick?"
"Yes, it only pains me that he had to lose his love so that I felt sympathetic enough to share our story with him"
"And isn't there the possibility that he too can regain his loved one?"
"Not that" Frederick shook his head again "Unfortunately, his betrothed died three months ago"