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    After the Letter: A Persuasion Continuation
    After the Letter: A Persuasion Continuation
    After the Letter: A Persuasion Continuation
    Ebook120 pages1 hour

    After the Letter: A Persuasion Continuation

    By Meg Osborne

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    About this ebook

    "When any two young people take it into their minds to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point…"

     

    Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot's wedding was once prevented by the interference of friends and family. Now fate has afforded them a second chance, will fresh obstacles derail their happiness?

     

    With one letter, their love story was settled, their happily-ever-after decided upon, but matters are rarely so easily resolved and more than one person has a hand to play in keeping this couple together - or forcing them apart...

     

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMeg Osborne
    Release dateAug 16, 2016
    ISBN9781536535617
    After the Letter: A Persuasion Continuation
    Author

    Meg Osborne

    Meg Osborne is an avid reader, tea drinker and unrepentant history nerd.  She writes sweet historical romance stories and Jane Austen fanfiction, and can usually be found knitting, dreaming up new stories, or adding more books to her tbr list than she'll get through in a lifetime.

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      Book preview

      After the Letter - Meg Osborne

      Chapter One

      The rooms Lady Russell had taken in Bath were slightly smaller than those occupied by Anne Elliot’s family. The furnishings, though modest by comparison, still spoke of her friend’s prosperity and good taste. Despite having grown up surrounded by such wealth and, in her father’s case, fashionable excess, Anne suddenly felt out of place.

      Frederick Wentworth stood beside her, a pillar of calm in the storm, though the storm was entirely of her own making. Marriage? To Captain Wentworth? Anne and Captain Wentworth? After obtaining Sir Walter’s surprised consent – reluctant, but consent nonetheless - they had made the announcement to the rest of her family, as was customary, and little by little the news had filtered out. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see her godmother’s invitation to call, yet her hand had shaken slightly when she received her card that morning.

      Lady Russell, I’m quite sure you didn’t invite us here to stand in silence, Frederick commented.

      Of course not, Anne’s friend said, smoothly. Won’t you sit?

      Frederick glanced around at an elegant chaise, two empty upright seats and a third which held an open book left when its owner had risen to greet her guests.

      No, thank you, he said. I believe you did not intend to keep us long.

      That’s quite correct. Lady Russell smiled at Anne. My dear, I wanted to be among the first to congratulate you and to ask if you still intend to join us this evening for the party. It is in your honour, after all.

      The party? Anne asked, raking back through her memory to find any recollection of such an event being mentioned previously.

      "Well, perhaps party is the wrong term, Lady Russell said. A dinner, a small gathering. She flicked her eyes from Anne to Frederick. Of friends."

      And why, pray, would you want to go to such trouble for us? Frederick Wentworth made little attempt to hide the dislike he felt towards Anne’s oldest and most cherished friend, nor the suspicion with which he viewed her sudden desire to be hospitable.

      It’s hardly a trouble. Lady Russell waved away his concerns with a twirl of her elegant wrist. Why, I had first conceived of this long before you made your announcement. Your news merely gives us further reason for merriment. Sir Walter answered on Anne’s behalf that they will all be attending, as will the Musgroves, of course, as a compliment to Mary. Her eyes lit on Frederick. And your sister, as well. I have spent some time with admiral and Mrs Croft while they have been in Bath and found them to be most...interesting people. With your engagement, it seems like the perfect occasion for a celebration.

      Anne glanced at her fiancé and then back at her friend. Lady Russell certainly seemed genuine. Surely enough had passed between them by now that they need not stay mired in the past. Indeed, Lady Russell undoubtedly felt that she had much ground to make up with Frederick, if not with Anne herself, for her attempts to separate the pair eight years previously and latterly in her intention to see Anne engaged to another young man entirely. Mr Elliot. Anne swallowed, remembering how close she might have come to following Lady Russell’s advice yet again and making a decision that could never be reversed.

      Frederick did not falter and Anne felt some unspoken battle of the wills raging between him and her godmother. She could practically see the wheels turning in Lady Russell’s mind as she contrived to find a way to persuade him into agreeing to the event. Frederick’s grey eyes were set like flint, and he would not give ground easily.

      Anne slid her hand into Frederick’s palm and squeezed, forcing him to look down at their interlocked fingers. A reflexive smile edged onto his chiselled face and he nodded, almost imperceptibly, accepting her silent plea.

      Forgive me, Lady Russell, he said, although it took him a full minute to meet her gaze again. I have so recently won back my bride I’m sure you can understand my hesitancy in letting her go once more.

      You would hardly be letting her go, Captain Wentworth. Lady Russell clucked her tongue. "I do anticipate your attending my little soiree as well. Surely both bride and groom-to-be will grace my home, as I will now be hosting this gathering in your honour."

      Indeed? Frederick somehow managed to lace his one word reply with all the disbelief it was possible for a person to muster, and Anne deployed the only weapon she had in her arsenal and squeezed him again. Her pinch would have barely registered on his weather-beaten hand but it had its desired effect and gently he reached over with his other hand, sliding her grasp up to the crook of his elbow, where it nestled quite contentedly.

      In that case I’m sure we will both be delighted to attend. Now if you don’t mind, Anne and I had intended to take in the circus while the weather holds. And with a decorous, if not entirely friendly nod, he swept them both away from Lady Russell and her elegant lodgings and out into the bustling streets of Bath.

      You oughtn’t to be so gruff around her, Anne said, lightly, as they walked.

      She oughtn’t to force my hand, he replied, his voice just as gruff as it had been a moment before. When Anne glanced up at his face, however, his features had relaxed into an amused half-smile and she got the impression he was teasing her.

      I know you don’t like Lady Russell... Anne began. She heard a growl, low in Frederick’s throat, and ignored it. But she is very important to me. You know that my mother died when I was young, and Lady Russell practically helped to raise me. She has always been a close confidant and adviser -

      An unworthy confidant, Frederick interjected. And a poor adviser. My dear Anne, surely you realise if it were not for Lady Russell’s interference... He laid a heavy emphasis on her name, barely concealing his dislike. If not for that, you and I would have been married eight years ago, when first we decided upon it. So much hurt could have been avoided. What else will she steer you wrongly on?

      Not a thing, Anne replied, swallowing a sting of defensiveness that sprang up at his assessment of her. Now that I have you to correct my course.

      She wished the comment did not sound quite so bitter, for truly she meant it. She was grateful to have Frederick - her own Frederick - back once more and hers forever. Yet the fact that he placed so much blame for their parting and separation at her door still weighed heavily upon her. True, she had been too easily persuaded not to consider him a suitor, too easily convinced that their union would be one of error. But he had only too quickly abandoned her too and without any Lady Russell to lay the blame upon. He had disappeared to sea and washed his hands of the whole affair without a moment’s hesitation. Was he not at least equal in a share of the blame for their delayed reunion?

      They walked a few paces further in silence, while Anne turned the matter over in her mind. She ought to say something, surely, to try to explain to him how his throwaway comment had stung. But what? Where could she find the words to make him understand when she could barely understand herself?

      I fear I have upset you, Anne, he said, in a low voice, which jerked her out of her thoughts and back to the present. Pray, forgive me if I have blustered along and made everything uncomfortable somehow. His dark eyebrows knit with concern.

      No, she said, after a long pause. No, it’s alright. I was just thinking.

      About what?

      They walked on in silence a moment, and Frederick smiled. Ah, I have it. You were trying to decide which dress would be most suitable for the evening’s entertainments. Quite right too, the woman of the hour should be properly attired. After all, she has the other Elliot sisters to outshine... His eyes twinkled, as she knew, without asking, his opinion of her sisters.

      You know it won’t only be my family that are there tonight, she protested, returning his grin with a smile of her own.

      No, indeed, and for that I must be grateful. God bless my sister for so effectively winning over all of Bath. Though I’m sure she and the admiral have only secured an invitation as a courtesy to me. That friend of yours is determined to win me over somehow.

      And why shouldn’t she be? Anne asked. She has a lot to make up for. Oughtn’t we to let her?

      Quite right, Frederick said. As ever, you are far wiser than I give you credit for. Come, let’s take one more turn before we head back.

      Frederick attempted to tie his new cravat once more, before cursing the wretched scrap

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