Thank you for all your kind words. I confess I cannot help myself when it comes to Frederick and Anne, I just can't seem to stop writing about them. This story, and this chapter in particular, may leave some of you thinking I am going completely off track, and that some things are a little OOC, however please stick with me. There will always be a happy ending with these two for me, so rest assured they will find a way back to each other no matter what. I like to build angst, so there will be plenty of twist and turns. It is also important to remember that, anyone, given the circumstances -locked in a enclosed dark space with your ex- is going to experience a lack of patience ...

Chapter Four

Anne could not speak if she wanted to.

"You would not have suited." He elaborated. "He would have been pleased beyond reason and you would have made him incandescently happy and content, I am sure. But you; you would have been miserable in that life."

"Captain I do not think we should discuss this, it is private."

"Yes you are right, I apologise, it is not only not my place, but none of my business."

She looked into his eyes but something had shifted again, the tenderness that had been pushing its way through the hatred only a few minutes ago, had all but disappeared again.

With time the rain lessened to drizzle and they were able to move apart once more. Anne was becoming more and more anxious. They had been here for over two hours and still no alarm had been raised. What would happen if no one came? When it grew dark! They could not spend the night together, it would ruin both of them. She bit her thumbnail absentmindedly. "What is the matter?" His words startled her. She looked at him puzzled. He gestured to her thumb in her mouth. "Your thumb. You only bite your nail when you are worried."

She frowned internally at his ability to read her so well, even after all these years. "I am worried that time is pushing on and we are yet to be discovered."

"I believe at this point, you should be more concerned over what will happen when we are."

Her head snapped up, her eyes meeting his. They both knew the consequences of such a compromising situation to be found in, and the only possible outcome for it. A fresh pain struck her deep inside, she always knew marrying Frederick was the one thing she wanted in life. The only thing she had ever regretted was parting from him, yet to be forced into a marriage, for him to offer for her just to quieten the gossips, was abhorrent to her. She did not want him to resent her even more than he did already, she had ruined his life once, but to do so again and more this time, as it would be binding – forever. She would not allow it of herself, and she certainly would not put him through it. "I will speak to Louisa" she blurted out.

"What?"

"I will make her see, it was all a misunderstanding; an accident. There is nothing between us." She paused, waiting –for what? A contradiction? She knew deep down he could no longer hold the same feelings for her. Those which had remained steadfast in her own heart for the past eight years, were long absent from his. Suddenly the rest of her speech was forgotten and she felt the need to sit down. She returned to the upturned crate they had used earlier.

"Miss Elliot?"

"I am fine, I just …" she trailed off again. "It is hopeless is it not?" she drug a hand down her face. "Our situation."

"Yes I rather suppose it is." he agreed quietly.

Neither admitting or even sure, if it was their current entrapment, or the matter of their shared past, they were referring to.

Anne pushed aside her fear and managed to ask: "Would you have offered for her? Louisa? If it wasn't for our current fix?"

Silence.

"I believe that is private Miss Elliot."

"You are right. It is not my place to ask, and none of my business." She repeated back to him. He greeted her with a half-smile and shake of the head. She was just about to return his smile when a rumble of thunder startled her. Jumping from her spot, she automatically went to him, clutching at his shirt sleeves. In a second she realised her folly and fell back mortified. "I am so sorry." There wasn't time for Frederick to react, before she let out a moan and began trembling again, hanging on to him, this time using him for leverage as she hoisted herself up on to the crate, to a standing position. He looked up at her puzzled and then down at the floor wondering if she had seen a rat, and that was when he saw the water gushing in under the door and pooling around his boots. "The meadow must have flooded," answered Anne. "It will all run downhill. To us."

He held on to her as she swayed upon her perch. Her hands squeezing his. Oh how good it felt to have her touch again, it had been eight years since he had held her in his arms, since he felt needed by her and for a moment he forgot the reason why. Slowly coming out of the fog of the past, he came to his senses and backed away, holding both of her hands in one, he crouched down before her.

"Captain! You will get wet."

"It is alright madam. I have on my boots, whereas you," he leaned forward and she almost jumped again as she felt his hands at the hem of her dress. "I can just make out, are wearing slippers."

"I was not intending spending long outside, as I have already explained. I barely had time to collect my cloak before Walter dragged me out here."

"That maybe so, but the fact is they are hardly suitable. Are your feet wet?"

Anne struggled once more with the decision whether or not to tell him the truth. In the end though, it was pointless lying. She sighed, "Yes."

He leaned forward again, letting go of her other hand; pausing to ascertain she was steady, before he took her slipper in his hand. The contact of his other hand as he steadied her ankle, made her reach out and hold on to the side of the building for support. He looked up at her, the light shining off his eyes, making them appear bigger and brighter than ever. "May I?"

He was seeking permission to help her. She nodded once, fascinated to see what he would do next, he smiled back reassuringly before removing each of her soaked slippers. He shook his head and after a brief look around, found some hooks on the wall to hang them on. She thought he was done and breathed out a sigh of relief, when he returned to his position and took her foot back into his large hand. "Captain?"

"Do not be alarmed Miss Elliot, but you really need to remove these," he tugged at her stocking covered toe, "they are wet also, we could be in here for some time, you may as well attempt to dry them."

"But will it not worsen matters, should we be found?"

"I doubt it at this point." He said regretfully.

Anne hastily did as he suggested and removed them, reluctantly handing them to a bashful Frederick who had turned his back to allow her privacy, despite the fact he could barely see her in the dark. To her horror he still was not finished. She gasped as his ice cold hands came in to contact with her equally cold feet. He held them one at a time and rubbed briskly until his hands and her foot were back to normal temperature. "Sir please!"

"Nonsense, we have to keep your circulation going, and mine. This we do encounter on a ship, and believe me when I say this is the best remedy to get you warm again."

Anne smirked. "You would have me believe you and your fellow offices rub one another's feet to keep warm." She tried to keep the sarcasm from her voice.

He chuckled. "Well no, not exactly, but ... it does work."

She had to admit she was certainly feeling warmer.

Once he was convinced she was warm enough, he moved away, allowing her to crouch back down and tuck her feet under the bottom of her dress to prevent them from becoming cold again. As she did, her dress caught on a splintered piece of wood and snagged. She heard it rip and moaned.

"Is it ruined?" he asked, stepping back close to her again.

"Most likely no, but I doubt I shall wear it again after today anyway. It was not a favourite."

"You used to prefer to wear bright colours: blue and yellow, if I remember."

"Yes." she was shocked he remembered something like that.

"Yet I have not seen you in either since my return."

"No. I find my inclinations have now changed."

"Oh. Oh I see." There was quiet before he spoke again. "I suppose that is also the reason behind you no longer dancing."

"I suppose. In a way, yes. I find now I prefer to observe the merriment of others, and I enjoy to play."

"And what of your own merriment? You used to love to dance."

"Times change."

He waited for her to continue and when she did not, he grew restless and angry. Frederick was losing patience fast, he had hoped this situation would give them the opportunity to finally air some of the things that should have been addressed long ago, but Anne was not co-operating. "How can a family not miss its sister?" he almost growled.

Shocked at the turn in conversation and more so his tone, Anne hesitated before answering. "I told you, I informed the housemaid I was going to lay down. Captain, I feel we really ought to be discussing something else." Finally he whispered to himself. "Like what is going to happen in the future." Anne finished.

Frederick let out a frustrated dry laugh. "The future? That is what you wish to discuss! What about the past?"

"I do not see the point in discussing things we cannot change." Anne replied quickly.

"I disagree." he said almost immediately. "Furthermore, I believe this is the perfect time to discuss it. There are only the two of us here, when else would we have been presented with such an opportunity?" Captain Wentworth was down to his last nerve. The closeness of the air seemed to be all around him, constricting his thoughts. He wanted to be out in the open, so that her scent was not surrounding him, so that he could think clearly. He wanted her to know what it had been like, how she had broken his heart.

"Captain please, I really think we should be worried about-"

He let out a strangled cry. "Oh please do not worry yourself Miss Elliot. Your petty excuse for a father will not be able to turn me down a second time." He growled. "Not even your precious Lady Russel will be able to prevent this union from taking place. Not when they know it is the only chance of ever salvaging your sullied reputation. When once I was undeserving, they will be begging for me to take you off their hands. What chance have either got, marrying you off to someone superior, when the goods are apparently already spoiled!"

Anne's hand flying through the air apparently intending to strike him, was the first thing to break his flow, before he caught her eyes, her face; the tears streaming down, and he realised the last time he had seen anyone so sorrowful, so devastated, was when she was telling him goodbye. The pain she was feeling shone out between the tears and he knew he had gone too far. He had allowed his anger to overpower him. "How can you be so heartless? Are you so changed from the man I knew? The Frederick Wentworth I knew, the man I fell in love with, would never have been so cruel to even an enemy, let alone the woman who he once professed to love. Do not concern yourself Captain Wentworth," she hissed, "sullied reputation or not, I would rather die alone, a penniless spinster, than burden you with my spoiled goods!"