The ladies were able to reach Portsmouth in a single day from Somerset as the weather that Thursday in October 1811 was ideal for travel, though it was full dark when they arrived. When they reached the inn that was their destination, the hired coach was dispensed with after the coachman was thanked, paid, and had transferred their belongings to a servant of the inn. With great efficiency, Sophia handled all the arrangements and in far less time than Anne expected, she and Mirabella Holmes were bid by Sophia to go to the rooms secured for their party while Sophia handled other arrangements.
Anne was pleased enough by what she saw. While the small set of rooms was probably usually reserved for a lady and her maid, rather than for three women and the furnishings were older, everything was in excellent repair and very clean. One bed was larger than the other. It was clear two of them would need to occupy it, but that did not trouble her. She had shared a bed with her younger sister before and the idea of sharing with either of the other women was not objectionable.
Sophia's economy and self sufficiency surprised Anne, although it should not have. Though Sophia was now an admiral's wife, she was obviously well versed in handling things herself in an expeditious manner and with a care to the funds expended in the effort. Anne knew she had no cause to worry about anything at least at this stage of their trip. She knew that she had placed herself in most capable hands.
Though the issue had not been discussed, it did not appear to Anne that Sophia or Mirabella had a maid. She assumed that Mirabella could not afford one and Sophia seemed to have no need for one.
Anne nominally had a maid in her father's house, but the rest of the staff seeing how little use Anne made of her (primarily for dressing and some help with her hair), found all manner of other tasks to occupy Jemima and ease their loads, and as Jemima was a cheerful girl she undertook them without complaint. Jemima's role was in stark contrast to Jenny's role in assisting Elizabeth.
Jenny must always be available at any time of day for Miss Elliot, and between such summons was to carefully check her mistress's gowns, shoes, stocking and other garments for the least bit of wear or stain and to make sure everything that possibly could was made new again. Jenny lived in fear of missing something and being scolded for her lack of industry, thus she would scan garments and shoes endlessly. If she had no task, Jenny was to sit and wait for her mistress to summon her.
While Anne had wondered how dressing was to be handled without a maid, it had never occurred to her to take Jemima with her. She had no illusions that she could hire Jemima to serve her on the Laconia with its almost certain lack of accommodations for a single woman servant, or that Jemima would have any desire to live such a life, nor would Anne ever presume to incur such an expense to be charged to Frederick, even if Jemima be willing and accommodations available for her.
Jemima may have been disappointed to not be departing on what she believed was a trip of pleasure, but Anne could do nothing else but leave her behind, confident that she would easily fall into another role at Kellynch Hall. She could only hope that Jemima would keep her own counsel about the fact that Anne had refused to let her pack her trunk (fearing what Jemima might think about what might be contained in all those small vials and other supplies for her future role) and that Jemima did not notice that Anne had left no jewelry, journal or correspondence of significance behind.
While it had occurred to Anne to wonder how she would dress herself without a maid, she was not too troubled about the matter. There was a freedom about now being able to speak about things with Sophia and Mirabella openly and not having to resort to telling any further lies or half truths, a freedom that could not be had in front of a servant. While Anne felt justified in the deception she had employed in order to leave without causing undue turmoil to her family and godmother, it was not in her nature to feel comfortable being dishonest with others.
She supposed that a woman servant in the inn might be temporarily employed to dress them. She even imagined that the three of them might help each other to dress and undress, something she had never had her sisters do for her, though she had occasionally aided Mary, both when she was a young child and more recently when she fancied herself ill, or for a time after Mary delivered her sons. The idea of helping the others dress and undress, and having the same office performed for her by Sophia or Mirabella, was only a slightly uncomfortable notion to Anne, given the easy camaraderie they had fallen into over the day's journey.
Anne's mind briefly strayed to the who would perform such an office for her once she was married and living aboard Frederick's ship. Sophia would be away with Admiral Croft and Mirabella would likely be back with her family, however unwelcome a prospect it was for her (it upset Anne's kind heart to picture Mirabella back with people who did not appreciate her, and for not the first time Anne wondered if there was anything she could do to help her). It had not occurred to Anne in deciding which dresses to take on this trip to see if any of them were ones that she could button herself, and the undergarments she wore certainly could not be managed alone.
It occurred to Anne then that the logical solution was that her husband (she felt an exaltation in connecting the word "husband" with "Frederick") would need to learn to perform such offices for her. Then she could not help but consider what it would be like to feel Frederick's fingers against her back, unbuttoning her dress, unlacing her stays and easing her garments off. Anne had rarely indulged herself with thoughts about any sort of marital intimacies, but since reading Frederick's letter, she had found her thoughts increasingly prone to traveling in such a direction.
When the door swung open with a loud squeak to admit Sophia, Anne was startled out of such thoughts as she searched Sophia's face for any word as to what their destination should be. Sophia had returned with a pensive look upon her face.
"Admiral Croft left word, but the word he left was only that he had no better intelligence then that which Frederick shared when we met in July, that he was perhaps bound next for the West Indies; my dear Henry is endeavoring to find out more, but I am not sure how long that may take."
"Should we set out to the West Indies then?" Anne inquired, confused when Sophia and Mirabella exchanged looks with each other.
Mirabella clarified softly, "The West Indies contain a great many islands. It is not a simple destination that we could sail to. Without an idea of the ship's specific route, mission or ultimate destination, it is a fool's errand to venture there, could we even find a captain bound for that general area willing to convey us hither."
Anne blushed, she was no fool and had studied a great deal of geography to better understand where Frederick might sail to; of course what Mirabella told her was correct, but in Anne in her eagerness to seek Frederick out she had not stopped to consider the enormity of the potential area where a ship bound for the West Indies might end up.
Mirabella added, "Additionally, many of the islands there are hardly civilized. It is all well for men running plantations to be there to oversee their workers in the sugar trade. . ."
"Slaves, Mirabella, slaves. You need not hide the facts from Anne."
Sophia turned to Anne. "There have been slave uprisings on some of the plantations. I think it only right that men forced into slavery should attempt to escape such bonds, but I have no wish to be in danger, stuck on land, with no one to protect me should an uprising come to pass while I am present. Or even if it be a peaceful time, on some of those islands anything might befall a woman. It is not as if the men willing to oversee slaves by any means, including torture, are known to have respect for the proprieties that we take for granted in England. Too, there are many loathsome diseases and contagions. I shall never take you hither unless I could be certain Frederick would be there to meet us first."