Thank you my faithful reviewers, ElizabethSoph, DimmDimms, ronaleem, and Guest. With this final part of the Epilogue, Tired of Waiting for You is finally complete.
Epilogue, Part 2
It was a tired but ultimately content Captain and Mrs. Wentworth, along with their children and a newly hired nursemaid, who arrived in Somersetshire on October 12, 1814, in a rented carriage. The nursemaid, a Mrs. Fox, had been recommended to them by Mrs. Croft as she knew that the Dashes would go their own way when off the ship.
Mr. Dash had prospects for employment in London, and naturally enough his wife and stepson accompanied him. Mr. Dash had always been kind to Edgar Holmes, but it was only after Edgar's close friend had been injured and Mr. Dash had fixed him up, that Edgar began to wish to spend time with his stepfather and wish to know more of the healing arts. Mr. Dash, finding much to admire about Edgar's keen mind, hoped that he might set the boy on the path to being a surgeon, a profession with more certain prospects than a life upon the sea.
Elizabeth Fox was another one of the captain's widows that Mrs. Croft knew and while her situation had not been as desperate as Mrs. Holmes had been (her sister liked hosting her and Mrs. Fox had a small pension), she did not enjoy being out in the country with her children all moved away. Her son had chosen a navy life and was in it still, as a first lieutenant on one of the ships patrolling the west coast of African to dissuade engagement in the slave trade, and her two daughters were married and living with their husbands' families.
Now that Captain and Mrs. Wentworth were in England again, with no new command arranged for the foreseeable future, it was an ideal time for visiting people. It was Captain Wentworth who suggested they first go see those that Anne desired, and later they could meet up with his brother and his wife, the Crofts, and then other friends of his.
Among these friends, Captain and Mrs. Wentworth were most eager to see the Benwicks. On Anne's urging, Captain Wentworth had recommended his friend and right-hand man for a captaincy not three months after the Wentworths married; Frederick likely would have delayed had his wife not urged that it was no kindness of his to hold Lieutenant Benwick back when he was ready. While she sympathized that Frederick could not easily replace a man such as him, she had heard about Benwick's love for Miss Harville and that the only thing that prevented their marrying was him not having his own ship. Knowing how keenly such a delay in marrying the one you loved smarted, she had urged her husband to do everything he could, and not another three months later, Benwick had been made captain of what turned out to be a much finer first posting than the Asp had been. From what they had heard, he had married Miss Harville right away, and by now based on his last letter, Fanny Benwick would have had their first child.
As for the Wentworths, the two of them had a surprise they had not written about to those they planned to visit in person, deeming it a fine thing to have it come out in person. The Wentworths, in planning their trip to Somersetshire, both wanted to see the Robinsons. Captain Wentworth had a warm spot in his heart for those seemingly ordinary people, Mr. and Robinson, the apothecary and his wife, who had granted Anne the privilege of learning their skills, been so generous with one that they had no reason to welcome into their lives. And then, they had loved her enough to want what was best for her, and let go of her when it turned out it was in her best interest that they do so. They had written letters to do for Anne what she could not do for herself. Yes, Captain Wentworth was prepared to like them very well for Anne's sake. Anne could not wait to see them herself, and have them meet her beloved husband and children.
Mrs. Wentworth wanted to see Lady Russell, and Captain Wentworth had no particular objection to seeing her for the sake of making Anne happy, although he had a niggling worry that Lady Russell would show him no great welcome. If that occurred, he would try his best not to let him bother him, for it was he who had triumphed in taking Anne to wife in the end, despite that lady's objections. As for Anne, she had exchanged two warm letters with her godmother after Lady Russell wrote kindly about the children and expressed a wish to meet them and see Anne again, once they should return to England. Anne wished to preserve her relationship with the woman who in her youth was the closest thing she had to a mother. Although Lady Russell had separated her from Frederick, Anne knew that Lady Russell had believed she was doing the right thing.
Mrs. Wentworth also felt that in being in the area, she should at least call upon her father and sisters (that indeed she should visit her father before those she most desired to see), although she thought that little pleasure was to be gained from doing so. It was more that it was her duty, and one she should not shirk. Anne was cognizant of the fact that her father had no respect for naval men, and would probably think that Anne had tarnished herself by marrying a man with a good tan and a scar upon his face. Anne thought Frederick looked very dashing and manly, with a visage earned from his work and a scar that he had earned saving her, but she knew that her father, who had never known a true day of work in his life would not view her husband that way. Additionally, her father would likely think her coarse and brown.
Naturally, Mrs. Wentworth had written to the Robinsons, her godmother, and father about her plans. She had received a return letter from the Robinsons, which had arrived nearly a fortnight ago while they were still in Portsmouth with the ship. But, oddly, she had received no reply from either her father or her godmother. This could only mean one of three things: (1) her letters to them had gone astray, (2) they had made no reply to her letters, or (3) their replies had been lost. If Anne had not heard from her father, she would have blamed it on him seeing no advantage in writing back to her, for when she replied to his letter, she had ignored the request for money entirely. As for Lady Russell, she was usually a faithful correspondent.
Uncertain of what welcome they might receive at Kellynch Hall, knowing that Lady Russell was unused to young children, having no great desire to stay with the Musgroves, and being aware that the Robinsons as much as they might wish it did not have the space to accommodate them, the Wentworths had arranged to rent out a suit of rooms at the closest inn. However, they were prepared to adjust their accommodations upon receiving an appropriate invitation.
Kellynch Hall looked much as it ever did as they approached, Captain and Mrs. Wentworth first, as the children remained in the carriage with the nursemaid. Anne took several steadying breaths, adjusted her bonnet, tugged on her gloves, and shifted from one foot to the other, before she told Frederick, "You may as well knock."
Frederick adjudged that his wife was nervous indeed, but a delay was unlikely to help things so they might as well get the meeting over with.
A manservant that Anne did not know opened the door and said, "Yes?"
Anne took another steadying breath and while she did, Frederick stepped into the breach. "Captain and Mrs. Wentworth to see Sir Walter Elliot and Miss Elliot if you please." He handed the servant his card, while clarifying "Mrs. Wentworth is, of course, Sir Walter's daughter, the former Miss Anne Elliot."
"Just a moment," the man replied, leaving them standing on the threshold rather than inviting them into the entryway or the parlor. In seeing him walk away, Captain Wentworth was almost certain that the man was a former sailor.
The man returned a few moments later with an elegant woman that Anne had also never met before. She said, "I am Mrs. Jones and Captain Jones and I are lately the occupants of Kellynch Hall, since Michaelmas this year. Will you not come in?" The Wentworths introduced themselves and soon discovered that Captain Jones was a passing acquaintance of Frederick's, but at the moment he was out shooting.
Once they were seated in the parlor, Mrs. Jones said to them, "I understand you have come calling for the Elliots and that Mrs. Wentworth was lately an Elliot." A slight wrinkle of Mrs. Jones's brown made Captain Frederick think she was not all that impressed by Sir Walter.
"Yes," replied Anne. "Sir Walter is my father."
"They are currently residing in Bath. Here is their direction if you please." She held out a printed card. "Mr. Shepherd has been forwarding any correspondence they receive here to there."
The Wentworths thanked Mrs. Jones most kindly and made arrangements to call in the next few days to see Captain Jones also.
"Well I suppose," said Anne when they regained the carriage, "that we must go on and see Lady Russell. I am uncertain whether to be relieved or concerned at their absence. My father and sister are used to their own self-importance and if they have gone to Bath and rented out Kellynch Hall, I feel certain that their finances must truly be quite bad, to retrench in such a manner."
"I am still prepared to help them if you now desire it," said he.
Anne shook her head. "Although you have done quite well in earning your prize money, Frederick, we do not know when next you will be at full pay and with our children and me to support, and likely more to follow, we ought to be careful not to spend more than we ought."
"Your point is well taken," he agreed mildly, "and while proud you might be of what your accumulated as a surgeon's mate, it is quite unfair that you do not get half-pay while we are ashore."
"I am not sure I even deserved those wages, for the both of us know that while I tended the men well before I had children, I was unfit for any duty for a couple of months afterwards and I could only work an hour or two at a time when I was first nursing them, and it would have been even less without Mirabella tending to them. And while eventually I could work for four hours at a stretch, I am also well aware that if the navy were to learn that Andrew Wentworth was actually your wife, I most likely would not have been paid anything at all."
"Nonsense," he replied. "I have not forgotten those long hours you spent at making tinctures, in rolling bandages, and many other things even while caring for the babies in our cabin. Or the time when a dying man was out of his mind, calling for his wife and children in his delirium, and you sat while eight months pregnant and held his hand through the whole of the night. Or how you stole out mid-battle, with only help from Benny, to doctor the wounded men who lay injured on the deck before dragging them down to sickbay (how well I am glad I did not know you were doing such at the time, for I would have died from fright for you). You earned those wages."
By then, they had reached Lady Russell's house. However, they were not met with any more success at her abode than they did at Kellynch Hall. The house was quite locked up, and it appeared that no one was in residence. Anne commented to her husband when they returned to the carriage once again, "Perhaps Lady Russell is in Bath, too. She has a fondness for the place. I suppose we must go to Uppercross Cottage and see if the younger Mr. and Mrs. Muskgrove still reside at there, although with the lack of success we have been having today, I rather have my doubts. Last I heard, they still only had the two sons."
To Uppercross Cottage they went, and here at last Anne was met warmly by someone she knew, namely the younger Mr. Charles Musgrove, her brother by marriage and her former suitor. He grasped her hand and bowed over it, saying "I am delighted to see you again Miss Anne, or rather Mrs. Wentworth. Mary is resting just now." He conspiratorially whispered, "She is fancying herself ill again," and raising his voice for the benefit of Captain Wentworth added, "but I am sure she should be glad to see you. Have you the children with you?"
When they indicated the carriage, Mr. Musgrove told them "You must all come in," and he walked back with them to the carriage. Anne retrieved her six-week-old by picking up the basket in which he slumbered, next to the nursemaid. To her relief, he seemed well and truly asleep. Frederick picked up their girls, who were a few months from turning two-years-old, one in each arm and settled them each on one side. The girls bashfully buried their faces against their father's chest.
"You have a third?" Mr. Musgrove half asked, half stated. He shook his head and mumbled to himself, "and you have been married for a year less than we have." Jovially enough, he asked "Is this one a son or another daughter?"
"A son," said Anne, "this is Frederick John, who we call Freddy-John."
Once Anne had entered the home, she excused herself with Freddy-John to seek out her sister. She found Mary abed, turned away from the door. Without looking up, Mary said "I told you that I wished to be alone. Get someone else to care for the boys."
Anne came up to the bed and sat beside it, setting her son down. "Do you truly wish me to leave?"
At the sound of her voice, Mary turned over and breathed out "Anne? Anne! Oh how I have needed you. You had no consideration of me in going so far away! I have been so terribly ill these last three years."
"I did merely what I needed to," rejoined Anne, "but I am here now for a few days and I shall see you well in that time. Should you like to meet my son? my daughters? I would surely like to see Little Charles again and to meet Walter."
At this pronouncement, Mary sat up and exclaimed, "You have three children now?"
"Yes I do," said Anne, mildly.
Mary gazed down at the slumbering baby with the dark hair of his father, "He is a handsome child, to be sure, and there is nothing better at that age then when they are sleeping or being tended by the wet nurse."
Anne made no reply. Having not employed a wet nurse and having no realistic means of doing so while aboard ship, Anne had planned on nursing her children as a duty, but once she mastered the art she rather enjoyed nursing her own children, seeing how eagerly they took their suck, something only she could provide, and feeling them grow full, content, and drowsy on her lap. She had not particularly enjoyed weaning her daughters as the birth of her son approached and seeing them turn to clinging to her husband when she was occupied with their brother after his birth. They had not taken to goat milk as well as she would have liked, although they certainly ate table food well.
Mary sat up and soon was calling for her maid to help her dress. With no sign of her previous illness, Mrs. Musgrove was soon come down and ordering her servants that they must make some food for the children and a goodly dinner for the Wentworths.
Mrs. Musgrove greeted Captain Wentworth warmly, before mildly scolding him for taking her sister away. When learning that Captain Wentworth had no new assignment, she began insisting that they should certainly settle in Uppercross, for "sisters ought to be able to see each other every day." She exclaimed over their daughters, calling them "quite pretty." Each had Anne's mild dark eyes, but Phia-Anne looked more like the Wentworth side, and save for her blonde hair resembled his sister Sophia, and was two or three inches taller than Bella-Anne, who was quite like a second Anne but for her curls.
Then Mrs. Musgrove called for her sons and a nursemaid brought them forth, only for them to pull loose and run about wildly. They did not seem to listen to a thing their mother or their nursemaid said.
The girls watched in wide-eyed wonder at such behavior (from the vista of their father's lap). After a few minutes of this, Mrs. Musgrove commented, "Let us take all the children to the nursery. My boys and your daughters shall enjoy playing together."
Although the twins were quite young, they understood the import of their aunt's proposal quite well enough.
"No go! No go!" said Phia-Anne, the bolder of the twins.
"Papa, papa," Bella-Anne said, holding tighter to her father. Emboldened by her sister, she added "Bad boys!"
"Why, I never!" Mrs. Musgrove responded. "Your cousins are good boys."
Bella-Anne put her thumb in her mouth, as if to keep herself from saying anything else that she ought not.
Although the Wentworths rather thought that Bella-Anne might have the right of it, Mrs. Wentworth did her best to appease her sister. "Our daughters are very tired and I simply think they are not ready for such play today. Perhaps we ought to take them to the inn where we are staying so they may have their naps."
"Very well," said Mrs. Musgrove. "Perhaps it is better if you leave the children there and then return for dinner."
Anne tried her best to be patient. "Although our nursemaid is very good, the children have only known her for a few days and Freddy-John cannot be away from me."
Mr. Musgrove, eager to salvage the situation, suggested "Perhaps your children can rest in our guestroom and then remain with us except for the meal itself. I see that they are gentle girls and living aboard ship cannot know what young boys are like." In the end, that is what they did.
Frederick and the nursemaid went with the girls to settle them down, but before five minutes had passed, Freddy-John roused and needed to take his suck. Anne knew that Mary looked down on her when she realized that Anne herself would nurse her son. Anne returned after Frederick, having to settle her son down to sleep again, leaving the children's supervision to the very capable Mrs. Fox.
Once Anne returned, she was eager to learn all she could from Mary about why their father and godmother were gone from their homes. Mary did not need much encouragement to tell all she knew. "Oh, our father's finances are poor. Lady Russell was trying to get him to engage in some economies, but in the end, he decided he would rather go to Bath and live more simply there while getting some income out of the house. He did not want to rent to a navy man, but Mr. Shepherd arranged it all and a particular mark in the Joneses' favor was them having no children. He, Elizabeth, and Mrs. Clay left a month or so ago."
"Mrs. Clay went with them?" Anne asked, astonished.
"Yes, you should have heard how both Elizabeth and our father praised how helpful she would be to them. I can tell you that Lady Russell did not like that arrangement at all. She suspects that Mrs. Clay is hoping that by and by our father will marry her. That is of course ridiculous, for he cannot abide her freckles, her long tooth, or her limp wrist. I certainly think I should have been invited instead of Mrs. Clay, for I could have used a holiday by the sea."
"But you have responsibilities here," interjected her husband.
"Yes, responsibilities." She sighed heavily. "It is so tiresome to be a mother and to have to care for a husband." Mary said carelessly. Anne could tell that Mr. Musgrove did not like that comment by his wife at all. "I am sure I should have soon been well if I could have gone to Bath and taken the waters."
"Is Lady Russell gone to Bath also?" Anne inquired.
"Yes, I believe so, or rather she was set to go after visiting some friends."
By and large they had a pleasant evening in company. However, no one had much eagerness to spend such a protracted period of time in company again. Anne because she did not like to be away from her children even if they were within the home, and Mary because she clearly saw that Anne tending to her was no longer going to be her sister's first priority.
Additionally, even though she would not admit it to herself, Mrs. Musgrove had a certain envy about how her sister's life had turned out. Mary had thought her marriage to the younger Mr. Musgrove made her more important than her elder sister Anne, felt all the honor of being selected over Anne, had mistaken Mr. Musgrove's diligent courting for love.
But it was not too many months after they married, when she was swollen and in her confinement with her first child, trying to nap but unable to get herself comfortable in any position, that she overheard the older Musgroves who had come to see her husband, commenting to each other their regret that Charles had not taken Anne to wife. He replied, "You know I asked her and was soundly refused, and later she suggested her younger sister as a most able substitute. In this matter, I am afraid I was sorely deceived, for when Mary is in good spirits she is pleasant enough, but she seems to have been in a snit ever since she fell with child and I cannot but think I acted too precipitously in determining to propose to Mary. Ah well, what is done is done, and she is certainly pretty enough, if not as comely as the eldest Miss Elliot."
Mary had hoped to see her sister Anne regret her decision to reject Mr. Musgrove, but Anne never showed any signs of remorse, not when Mary bragged about being the first of her siblings to be a mother, not when she discussed her husband's expectation to succeed to his father's place. And then Anne had up and gone, and had ever so many adventures with her bold captain, a man who now that Mary had met him, seemed even a better prospect than she had believed him to be. He was rich, handsome, and had the funds now to go anywhere and do anything and seemed to adore Anne and his children far more than her husband did. No, Mary did not want any reminder of her own relative insignificance and that she had been her husband's second choice.
Mr. Musgrove, having no insight into how his wife was feeling, eagerly applied to his parents the very next day that they certainly ought to invite the Wentworths to come to dinner before they went away again, for the Wentworths had tentatively stated they might go onto Bath in a week or two. While he regretted that Anne had not chosen him, Charles Musgrove was not one to hold a grudge and thought the Wentworths were most pleasant company indeed. If Captain Wentworth had been single, he certainly might have hoped to gain the man as a brother.
The next day, the Wentworths had a wonderful time with the Robinsons. Immediately all of them were welcomed as family and given the Robinsons' undivided attention. The children were enchanted by Mrs. Robinson, who seemed more of a playmate than an adult, and seemed as delighted in them as they were by here, with even Freddy-John gurgling in delight when she sang to them in her high piping voice.
Anne discussed with them various medical situations that had come up in her time aboard the ship, and once again Frederick was amazed at the breadth of his wife's knowledge. The Robinsons for the most part seemed to agree with what Anne had tried, but occasionally suggested something else that she might have tried if she had the right herbs at hand.
When Anne went into the backroom with Mrs. Robinson to nurse her son, Frederick expected that he might now be subjected to some awkward questions about his relationship with Anne, for Mr. Robinson seemed to have taken on the role of both father and mentor. But nothing could have been further from what occurred. Mr. Robinson said, "Mrs. Wentworth seems so very happy, and so you must be a very good husband to her. And you have also let her practice her craft, encouraged her, and given her those three sweet children. Yes, all seems to have worked out very well indeed. I am so glad she gave you a chance and that you have been proven worthy of her."
Mr. Robinson clapped Frederick on the shoulder.
"We have missed Anne tremendously, for she is the daughter of our heart, but like any parents, all we have ever wanted was for her to be happy. You cannot know how delighted we are to see that our best wishes for her have come true. I hope you will not mind if we appoint ourselves the honorary uncle and aunt of your children."
"I cannot imagine that their natural uncles and aunts could be more worthy of those titles and I am sure that Anne will agree," Frederick replied, feeling both honored and moved.
"Now that we have agreed to be family," Mr. Robinson added, "I hope that while you remain in Somersetshire that you shall know you cannot visit too often. We would surely host you if we had the room, and I do not doubt that my wife may be issuing such an invitation to yours despite us not having proper accommodations for your family. But if you please, we very much hope that so long as you remain in England that you might come to see us now and again."
The Wentworths visited the Robinsons almost every day of the two weeks they remained in Somersetshire and thought they could not have met with better company. Duty dictated, however, that they visit the younger Muskgroves occasionally, and that they accept the invitation of the elder Muskgroves and join the whole extended family for a meal at the big house.
Everyone was very welcoming to them, and the Miss Musgroves fussed over the pretty girls and handsome baby. While Frederick found them to be good-natured girls, they seem very young and somewhat silly to him, and it surprised him to think that they were close to an age with Anne when he had first proposed to her. Of all things, they thought Anne should play the piano forte for them, so that they could dance with him! It was inconceivable to him that his Anne should be relegated to such a role, and being quite out of practice gave her a good excuse not to oblige them. Still, they parted as friends and his wife promised to correspond with them.
The only awkward part of the evening was when the elder Mrs. Musgrove talked about her poor son Richard who had been lost at sea and had once served aboard Captain Wentworth's ship and written to them from there. Frederick talked most kindly to them about him, even though he knew Dick Musgrove as a good for nothing layabout who never finished any task unless being hounded the whole time, and who he had only been able to rid himself of him by sending that barely able seaman ashore on a useless errand, knowing he would never return before they departed from port (not because there was not ample time to accomplish his task, but because he had no diligence whatsoever and assumed that the ship would never depart without him). What had befallen the fellow after that, he neither knew nor cared, but he imagined that some other captain had taken him on when arriving in that port and soon learned to regret it. Captain Wentworth had no respect for men who would not work as they ought.
The Wentworths next made for Bath, with Anne writing to her father and Lady Russell on the very same day to tell them the Wentworths planned to come to Bath. Anne received an early reply from her godmother. Lady Russell was eager for them to visit, offered to help them arrange housing (regretting that she did not have room for all of them), and was warm in her affections in anticipating the happiness of their reunion and stating that she was most eager to meet Anne's husband and children.
The reply Anne received from her father a few days after, was not very welcoming at all. He seemed to think they had no reason to come and made it clear that they certainly had no room to host them. The bulk of his letter was devoted to discussing the rumor he had heard that their fine cousins, Lady Dalrymple and her daughter Miss Carteret, might come to Bath, and if they did so, his eagerness to be recognized by them.
Can it be remarked upon that with such contrasting replies that the Wentworths chose to accept Lady Russell's help in finding an abode and settling near her for a few weeks before they even reached Bath, and going to see her first once they did arrive and settled themselves in their quarters? That is just what they did, and the day after arriving they called upon her.
It was Lady Russell herself who answered the door, for she had been eagerly awaiting their arrival, and had been sitting at a window seat to have intelligence of when they came that much sooner. Mrs. Wentworth found herself pulled into her godmother's embrace the very moment after Lady Russell opened the door, and to her surprise found that her godmother was crying and shaking in her arms.
Thinking that her godmother might not want all of her neighbors to see this display, Anne managed to walk them inside the rented rooms and the rest of her party followed. Yet even then, her godmother made no move to let her go and Anne found herself rubbing at her godmother's back and asking "Lady Russell, why do you cry so?"
Lady Russell, not loosening her hold a whit, replied, "Oh Anne, my dear, dear, girl, I have missed you so! I am so very happy you are here, but also am remembering how dull life has been with you so far away., and how impossible the rest of the Elliots are, but feeling obligated to stay close to them, for the sake of your dearly departed mother, and you also, for someone needed to tell them a word of sense now and again, even if all of them are too headstrong to listen to me, even you."
Anne felt a prick of remorse about her long absence from England, even though she knew she would not have done anything different. She had a sudden insight then about another reason why Lady Russell had not wanted her to marry Frederick, and later wanted her to marry Charles Musgrove. The one would take her far away from Lady Russell, and the other would have seen her settled close by to Lady Russell.
Finally, Lady Russell's tears lessened and Anne was able to lead her over to a sofa and sit her down, telling her family to sit down also (a task that should have been Lady Russell's if she was not so overcome). Still, once they were seated she clung to Anne still, even as her eyes looked upon Anne's family. "Who is this little one?" she asked, spotting the baby in a basket beside Captain Wentworth.
"That is our son."
Very soon, Lady Russell had Freddy-Jon on her lap and was cooing over him as she swayed, even as she also said admiring things about Anne's daughters. "Ah, they are handsome, handsome children, and I can see how much your son and Phia-Anne resemble Captain Wentworth, but Bella-Anne, why she is you and your mother come to life again. Please say that I might be their godmother, too!"
When Anne saw that her daughters were needing their nap and could tell that her son would want his next meal soon, she regretfully told her godmother that they needed to go. Lady Russell nodded in acknowledgement but then asked in a pleading voice, "Could I perhaps go with you?"
Thus they were obliged to invite Lady Russell to join them, and Anne was happy enough with the arrangement even if her husband had some doubts about it. Mrs. Fox took the girls off to their room and Anne was excusing herself to nurse her son, when Lady Russell said, "Surely you do not need to go away from me to do that? Let me go with you so that we may continue to talk, or if you do not mind your husband seeing you do that, well might the three of us not remain here?"
Anne was amazed at her godmother's willingness to see her nurse her child, for it was not a thing done by people of their class, but did what she would have done aboard the ship, and unbuttoned the front of her short gown and settled her eager son at her breast, trying not to be self-conscious as her godmother watched.
"Ah, he is a good eater," Lady Russell exclaimed, "and I do not doubt that he shall grow up as tall as his father."
Considering Captain Wentworth then, Lady Russell noted "I believe I owe you an apology, Captain Wentworth, and you, Anne."
They remained silent, which Lady Russell interpreted as permission to continue. "You must understand that I have known little of sailors, and I feared what I did not know. I recalled rumors I had heard, and remembered only the bad and not any of the good. I worried about what should happen to Anne aboard a ship, and that if she found herself unhappy she would be stuck there, without any family to even lend her a listening ear about her troubles. I was determined to keep her near me by any means necessary, and so did you both a great evil. It would have been far more prudent for me to urge a long engagement, so that you, Captain Wentworth, could gain some fortune, and you, Anne, could make sure that this was indeed the life you wanted."
Lady Russell sighed, heavily, and was still as she considered the gravity of what she had done. In that moment Anne saw her godmother's age, a matter that was often concealed by the animation in her face. Yes, she had prominent crow's feet, but anyone in her company (save Sir Walter and Elizabeth), seemed to forget these things when she was in motion. "I was selfish and I used Anne's good character against you both, arguing that she would hamper your success if you remained engaged. What would I know of such things? I was wrong, so very wrong, and it is a wonder to me that you are even willing to countenance being in the same room as me now."
Anne was stunned by these confessions, but credited Lady Russell with having good character to admit where she had erred. But for Frederick, his transformation in how he perceived Lady Russell had altered even more. He understood that it was only her love for her daughter (albeit a somewhat selfish love) which had caused her to act in such a manner. Yes, he had suffered in being away from Anne, but would he have taken the risks he had, to which he owed much of his success, if he had been married to Anne this whole time? He would not have taken the Asp, of that he was certain, for it was not a proper ship upon which to take a woman, not at all, and likely as not they both could have ended up at the bottom of the ocean.
Frederick also knew that his biggest triumphs had occurred when he was single and thought he had nothing to lose. He was more cautious now, which was perhaps no bad thing, but he had not won as much prize money since marrying Anne. He did not regret the lack, for he did not think he could have lived with himself if he had taken on unreasonable risks and thereby lost Anne or one of the children.
So he replied, "My character is nothing like you told Anne, and yet some of my success undoubtedly resulted from being free to take the risks that caused me to rise. I cannot say how all of it would have turned out if we had married when I had little to my name, but I am happy enough now that I can forgive you for the pain you caused us both. As Anne loves you so, I shall try to do likewise."
From then on, Lady Russell treated Captain Wentworth as a beloved son, and he found much to admire about her as well. This reproachment made Anne quite happy.
The meeting with Sir Walter and Miss Elliot was much less joyful. While Sir Walter was pleased they had a son, once he found out that the child was not named for him, he lost interest in Freddy-John. Elizabeth treated Anne rather coldly, which Captain Wentworth rather thought stemmed from some envy that she was still a Miss and not a Mrs.
It was not long after that, when Frederick proposed they ought to repair to Shropshire. He was longing to see his brother Edward who had a good living there, to meet his new wife, to introduce them to Anne and their children, to see the Crofts (who were visiting there), and to meet their son. Anne did not like to leave Lady Russell so soon, but the felicity that awaited them soon decided her. Thus they bid Lady Russell and Anne's family goodbye, and Lady Russell made Anne promise to write frequently and that she would do likewise.
The two sets of Wentworths and the Crofts settled on one neighborhood and they were quite happy there. In the two and one-half years they lived there, Anne bore two more children, Edward (named for his uncle, of course), and Matilda (named for Anne's godmother). The other Mrs. Wentworth in that same span of time had one child, and the Crofts had none more.
Anne was surprised to learn from Lady Russell, not six months after settling in Shropshire, that her sister Elizabeth had gone from being Miss Elliot to Mrs. Elliot on account of marrying their cousin, Mr. Elliot. As Lady Russell related, part of the stipulation in the marital settlements was that Sir Walter would not marry again, and that Mrs. Clay had to be sent away. Lady Russell suspected that Mr. Elliot married Elizabeth to secure his inheritance rather than risk that Sir Walter might marry and father a son.
In between having children, the Wentworths were able to visit Captain Harville and the Benwicks. Anne Wentworth and Fanny Benwick became fast friends and were sad to part.
By the time Captain Wentworth was once more set to a ship, in 1817, things were changing. He still had a sailing ship, but steamboats were becoming more common. He could not like such vessels, even if most still had sails at that time. It was also much more difficult to sail now that they had a full brood, and he was obliged to house all three of his lieutenants together and paid them for the privilege of gaining the extra two cabins (one for his daughters, and one for his sons, although of course the youngest was always housed with them (for they built another inner cabin as they had on the Laconia). Among the cabin boys duties, Captain Wentworth paid them to accompany his older children.
By the time the oldest Wentworth children were nine years of age, Phia-Anne and Bella-Anne were as quick to climb aloft as any midshipmen and were just as agile, and wore slops under their dresses (tying their skirts up when they climbed). Freddy-John was forever trying to follow them, and Edward was trying to follow him. Thus it was that when Edward was only five-years of age, he broke his arm when he fell off the ropes. Fortunately, it was a simple break that his mother was able to set with ease; however, she worried that he would not keep his splints on long enough for the bone to knit properly.
Only Matilda was a biddable child, who did not keep her mother up with worry at night. She was Anne's little shadow until she reached her teenage years.
When Anne had her sixth child, Cassandra, her husband Frederick thought that was certainly enough, but the problem was that he could not want to not be with his wife. They tried to do other things to give each other satisfaction, but the one thing the could not do ended up being the thing they wanted to do the most. And what should have happened for their trouble, when they finally gave into temptation, was to be blessed with twins: Peter and Louisa. Fortunately, Matilda enjoyed helping to tend the babies.
When the Wentworths were finally turned to shore again, Frederick resolved that he certainly should not return to sea. While all their children were hearty and hale, which he credited to the good sea air, and always having a good supply of food for them, he could not like to put them at risk during times of conflict. He also expected there would be more children before Anne went through the change of life. In the end, they had ten in total, adding Richard and Mary to their brood. Frederick used to say he had passed his luck onto his children, for none were lost to accident or disease, which was quite a rarity in those times.
Lady Russell, who was quite elderly by this time, came to settle near them although she occasionally ventured to travel to her old neighbor for a few weeks, often taking her namesake Matilda with her. Peter and Louisa were inseparable, and much closer than anyone would expect twins of opposite genders to be. Peter was the leader, but anything he did, Louisa wanted to do also, and she never took kindly to being told that she could not do everything he did, because she was not a boy.
It did not surprise the Wentworths that the Croft's son and their own two older sons went to sea when they were able. Fortunately, Admiral Croft was able to place Jonathan Frederick with a captain who was a friend of his. He eventually became a captain, and finally an admiral; the Crofts were very proud of their son. He never married, and his parents thought he was married to his work, but the truth was more than content with the very close relationship he had with his first lieutenant. As much as they would have liked to have been grandparents, they certainly had enough great nieces and nephews to dote on, eventually.
Freddy would not go to sea until his father would let Edward go likewise, when Freddy was eleven and Edward was nine. Fortunately Captain Wentworth was able to place them with Captain Benwick, a man who he trusted to see that both boys were properly protected. They both became captains in due time. They took their wives aboard with them, but Edward's wife was never able to adjust to life aboard a naval ship and he was finally obliged to settle her in England.
It also did not surprise the Wentworths that their eldest daughters, Phia-Anne and Bella-Anne married captains and sailed with them. It was a little surprising, however, that the captains they married were identical twin brothers. If the twins both still wore slops under their skirts on occasion, so that they might work like any other members of the crew, no one told their parents. Fortunately for their husbands, they did not prove as prolific as their mother, only having three children a-piece.
When Matilda was sixteen, she met the younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hayter, who was named James (his mother Mrs. Hayter was of course the former Henrietta Musgrove), when taking a trip to with Lady Russell to Somersetshire. Mr. James Hayter had made the church his living. He recommended himself to Mr. Edward Wentworth as a very affordable curate, with the sole purpose of courting Matilda. Mr. Edward Wentworth took pity on him, and by the time Matilda was nineteen they were married. Not long after their marriage, he secured a living only twenty miles away. They went on to have six children.
Peter also ended up going to sea (which frustrated his twin Louisa to no end, as she wanted to go to sea as well, she tried to get onto his ship by dressing as a boy, but her parents caught her before the ship set sail). She contented herself by writing stories of seafaring adventures which she shared with her siblings. They were inspired by the letters she received from her twin.
Peter eventually served as second lieutenant under his older brother Freddy. Peter was very impressed with the first lieutenant and they became fast friends. When they were next turned ashore, he brought Mr. Hemsworth home to meet his family. Mr. Hemsworth fell in love at first sight with Peter's twin, Louisa, and they married after he gained his first captaincy. Louisa continued to write her seafaring adventures, which were even better with her first-hand experience. She wrote a very popular series about a girl who dressed as a boy so that she could go to sea, which she published under the pen name Andrew Worth.
Peter did not marry until he was in his forties. He thought he was in love with the wife of one of his friends, until he met her older widowed sister, who was ten years his senior. She had no children, so once they married it was easy for her to accompany him to sea.
Richard became a very successful merchant and married a local seamstress. When his brother Edward had enough of naval life, Richard employed him to transport his goods. This suited Edward well, as he could see his shore-wife more often.
Mary became fascinated with the medical arts, having learned many remedies at her mother's knee. She entered into a correspondence with Elizabeth Blackwell, who was originally from England though she settled in the United States and was the first woman to ever earn a medical degree. With such a mentor, Louisa eventually traveled to live in the United States and followed in her footsteps. She dedicated her life to her career. Although Anne was sad to have her youngest child so very far away, she was also very proud of her.
A/N: That's it. I could go on and on, but I had to end this someplace. Thank you for sticking with me.