If you could turn back time, would you? And if you did, what would you want to change? It's hard living a life with regret. Always having a spontaneous attack on the mind, filled with wonders over that dreaded little question. What if?
Frederick Wentworth was a successful young man. He had a good career, which gave him ample money to splurge on himself whenever he felt inclined to do so. He had a loving and supportive family, in his brother and sister and their respective spouses. He had great friends, who had stuck by him through his struggles and shared his joy through his success. But despite all this, Frederick still felt incomplete. Like a significant piece was missing from his life; the love of a woman. Whenever this occurred, inevitably his mind would wonder and think back to the only woman who had ever gotten close. Anne Elliot.
Frederick was smitten with her. Her mild but pleasing manners, her shy smiles and small blushes had beguiled him. He had met pretty girls before, but always felt like the conversation lacked proper substance. But with Anne, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that she was well informed on many subjects. And those that she was unfamiliar with, she posessed true intrigue and asked sensible questions, which allowed their conversations to follow endless paths. This ease in conversation left warm impressions upon each other, with a desire to meet again, and soon. And meet again they did. And again. And again.
With each meeting, Frederick became more and more convinced that Anne was the woman for him. He had proposed to her, promising her a life of happiness, and riches from a career that had yet to be ventured. But Frederick was confident that success would come his way. Some people may think he was being arrogant, but there is a fine line between it and confidence in one's abilities. But without understanding Frederick's character, it would be easy to confuse the two.
Caught in the emotions of a young love, Anne's heart was filled with joy after accepting Frederick's proposal. But that joy was shortlived. Without the support of her family, Anne retracted her acceptance. Frederick could not contain his anger and disappointment. He allowed Anne to complete her justifications for saying no, but was too angry at what she said. His anger and resentment blinded him from understanding how Anne felt about this. Had he managed to control his emotions, maybe he could have seen things in a different way. He knew he didn't have a lot of fortune, but hadn't he already told Anne his plans? Did she have no faith in him, to be so easily persuaded against his proposal? The mild manners, which initially attracted him now plagued his mind with doubts. A mild mannered woman would always be in danger of being inconsistent. And Frederick would not marry a weak minded woman. He was disappointed in himself, for not seeing that before allowing his emotions to run free. And each time he remembered Anne, he would remind himself that if he was mistaken about one thing, he must have been mistaken about all other things he had once thought he loved about her. It was with these musings that Frederick decided against seeking her out when the wealth came into his possession. Now that success had come his way, Anne did not deserve to share in his glory. But despite this, Frederick could not stop the pangs of longing. What if he was wrong about Anne? What if?