Guest, this is for you. I was working on this chapter yesterday, but you "persuaded" (ha, ha) me to complete it, even if it is on the short side.
Life is throwing me a lot of curve balls, but at least I will never be bored. Things seem to be imploding with my daughter just as I prepare to fly out and see my dad who just had surgery. But you all and our beloved characters are here to help see me through it.
Frederick was very quiet as he considered. The visage of Anne was before him, she was saying, "Come to me Frederick. I am still yours. I am waiting for you. All is in readiness, you need simply appear and nothing shall prevent our marriage." Yet he knew that he could not simply appear, no matter how he might want to do so. His life was not his own to command, he was a captain entrusted with a ship with a duty to protect his country from the French and serve his King in any capacity the navy could.
Frederick thought he had mastered himself before he spoke and was then surprised to hear the catch in his voice as he said, "It seems I erred gravely in not seeking to renew my addresses when my consequence rose to better match Miss Anne's station, when I was awaiting my current assignment. I must let her know how deeply I value her thinking and planning for our future when I have as yet done nothing to reassure her of my continued feelings and plans. A mere letter seems vastly insufficient to repair the breach I caused and I cannot even know if I sent one whether it would reach her (both from the general difficulties in sending letters from here, and the possible machinations of her family). What a noble woman she is to continue on in her efforts to prepare herself to assist me, regardless of the lack of encouragement she received which was her due! Tell me sister, brother, what now I ought to do?"
Sophia and her husband were both astonished that Frederick would seek their advice. Usually he had a course of action decided upon easily. It was truly a sign that he was overwhelmed and flummoxed with how to proceed that he would shown the vulnerability of uncertainty.
"Surely you will still pursue her hand through all means available to you!" Captain Croft offered. "If she is half the woman my Sophie is, you would be blessed indeed."
"Yes, that is not the question. Anne is among the best of women." There was a softness around Frederick's eyes and a slight upturning of his lips. "I wronged her greatly when questioning her fidelity when it seems she was simply exercising the prudence I did not, when seeking to secure her hand on nothing further than my own faith that I would soon rise further. I simply know not how best renew my addresses, not knowing when I will be again bound for England and have the time to seek her out. How can I marry her as soon as can be if she is willing to act now, given our physical separation?"
"If the world worked as lending library novels suggest," Sophia offered, "when your coded missive reaches her, she should fly to the nearest port, secure passage to you disguised as a man and once her identity was revealed one of your fellow captains could marry you, or barring that you could marry by proxy and then under the authority of your name she could be conveyed to you."
"While such stories may captivate, we all know that such courses would not only be ill-advised but have no legitimacy under the law," Captain Croft replied with a slightly dark look, a crease appearing between his brows. "Such stories undoubtedly do damage."
"Even if she could make her way to the port my ship might eventually dock, it would hardly be advisable or prudent. I would never dream of asking that of her." Frederick added. "And how could bans be published in such event?"
"Scotland would certainly be a better place to meet, or someplace else where marriages can easily be arranged," Sophia added, "but a woman can hardly elope by herself."
"It is too bad you are not acquainted with her," Captain Croft commented to Sophia. "Much could be accomplished if she could accompany you to your brother as your guest."
"Then all that need be accomplished is for me to become acquainted with her, so that we may then together travel with her to an appropriate locale." Sophia stated in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Oh, is that all dear wife?" Captain Croft asked, raising an eyebrow. "You must simply travel unaccompanied to a place you have never been before and form a new friendship and then set off for a convenient port for a stay of unknown duration? Nothing too difficult for your talents, I suppose."
"Do you doubt my talents?" Sophia asked with mock outrage. "Can I not plan full provisions for our meals for more than a year at sea, hire servants and a cook for us on board your ship, negotiate wages, secure the land you inherited and pay its taxes during our brief stints ashore and when on board ensure the men have sufficient lime for their health and tend to all the things that would yet be neglected without me?"
"I never doubt you, my dear," he responded, leaning in to plant a benevolent kiss upon her brow, "but this is an undertaking that might take months or more than a year. Are you prepared to be parted from me that long? It would certainly be a trial for me, but I shall not stop you from being of service to Frederick."
She considered, "It is true that I have been most miserable when separated from you for any length of time, but when that occurred I had no useful occupation and was consumed by worry for your welfare. Surely now that your promotion is at hand," looking at Frederick she mentioned as an aside, "he is soon to be an admiral," then continued, "if in the midst of action you shall have many ships at your disposal and be well safeguarded. There is also the advantage that we are soon for England. I shall not go alone, I shall likely persuade one of the shore side wives or widows to accompany me."
"Would you indeed do such for me?" Frederick cried out. "Sophia, I do not deserve it, that you would sacrifice your time and effort to correct my foolish errors . . . I know it is asking too much of you, too much of my brother to do without you for so long, and yet I am not of a mind to refuse you."
"Write to her," Sophia told him, "hold nothing back. I will deliver your letter to her myself and then we will see what can be arranged."