After the Letter - A Persuasion Variation

Part 18

"Anne how lovely to see you, and in such pleasing company!" Lady Russell was all welcome, standing to greet her guests as Anne and Mr. Elliot were ushered into her sitting room.

"I wanted to apologise if my behaviour seemed a little short the last time we met," Anne said, crossing the room and embracing her godmother briefly.

"Not at all, dear," Lady Russell said. "I could tell there was something important on your mind." Her eyes danced between Anne and Mr. Elliot. "Come, let's all sit down and I shall order us tea and we can talk, for it seems to me you both have news to impart."

Anne glanced at Mr. Elliot, wondering if his thoughts matched her own. Evidently Lady Russell had drawn her own - false - conclusions from their decision to call together. It was something she had borne a concern over, but only for a short time. There had been no way to refuse his offer of company without causing offence, and she decided that he might as well hear what she had to say - it was as necessary for his hearing as for Lady Russell's. This way she need only gather her courage and say her piece once, and for that she was grateful.

The tray of tea things arrived, and once everyone was equipped with a drink, Lady Russell turned to Mr. Elliot.

"Well, am I to be kept in suspense? What news do you have to share?"

"It is merely to inform you I plan to leave Bath rather sooner than I had previously intended. In fact I had called on Sir Walter this morning to bid him goodbye, as I plan to travel to London directly." His voice seemed laden with a meaning that Anne could not quite fathom, although Lady Russell seemed instinctively to understand it.

"Indeed," Mr. Elliot continued. "I merely imposed my company upon Anne when I heard she intended upon visiting you this morning. I wanted to thank you for your hospitality and support, and pray that we may continue our acquaintance when next our paths cross."

Anne was watching Lady Russell as Mr. Elliot spoke, and noticed the light in her friend's eyes dim just a fraction.

"Well, naturally I am disappointed to hear this," Lady Russell said. "Naturally I had hoped that you were coming to share news of an altogether different nature. But perhaps things will change on that score in the future." She turned to Anne. "Now, Anne, what did you wish to discuss, for I gather from your face there is something you, too, are holding back."

Anne took a sip of her tea, and tried to still her nerves, reminding herself just what she wished to say herself. She might lack the confidence and easy eloquence of Mr. Elliot, but that did not mean she would struggle to speak. She had spent half the previous evening planning her words, so that she would not be rushed, or muddled, but able to speak clearly and succinctly and - she hoped - put the matter to rest while still preserving something of their friendship. A little after midnight, stripped of the desire to continue to appease her godmother, she had given up that hope entirely. If Lady Russell had truly interfered in Anne's happiness to the extent Anne suspected - without admitting to it - and continued to do so, Anne no longer had any qualms about dissolving their close friendship. She wold not, out of loyalty to her mother, cast her godmother aside, far from it, but this point marked the end of their closest connection, a severence that Anne did not feel likely they would easily repair. She took a deep, fortifying breath, and looked up at her friend.

"Lady Russell, I have been turning over our conversation from yesterday for much of the evening and wanted to revisit a word or two you said in order to clarify their meaning." She glanced back at Mr. Elliot. "You do not mind?"

"Of course not!" Mr. Elliot said. "In fact, I think I may peruse your library a moment, Lady Russell, if you do not mind."

Lady Russell nodded in acquiescence, but Anne could tell that Mr. Elliot's departure from the room, leaving the ladies alone, was further still from her desired outcome. She let him go because she had to, not because she wished to.