Reacquainted: Love Remains, #1

Chapter One

C harles, please stop fussing. Honestly, I don’t understand why you cannot be better behaved at the breakfast table.

Leave him be, Mary, he isn’t causing any harm.

No harm to you, I don’t doubt, for it’s not your plate he’s upsetting - Charles! Stop that!

Anne leant over and retrieved the item little Charles Musgrove Jr. had been reaching for and placed it into his pudgy hands. Thus occupied, the rest of the table could continue with their meal unmolested.

Do you see, now, why I insist upon the children eating in the nursery? Mary asked as she returned to her breakfast with a hearty appetite. They are always so badly behaved, and around company too!

"I am hardly company, Mary! Anne laughed. Surely the boys need not put on manners around their aunt."

"They ought to behave well always, without the need for putting on manners, Mary said. I do not know why they play up, so. I’m sure it is all the time they spend at the big house, for you know Mrs. Musgrove does spoil them so much with sweets that when they are here I can hardly control them."

I am sure they are just excitable. Anne took a sip of her tea. You know, it is a change for them to have me still so recently arrived, and to be allowed to eat breakfast with the grownups is a treat. Besides, a little high spirits is no bad thing for me at the moment. She smiled, sadly. It had been a difficult few days. On account of Sir Walter Elliot’s need to retrench, he and Anne’s eldest sister, Elizabeth, had removed to Bath a few weeks previously, leaving Anne at Kellynch Hall with the task of packing away the last of their belongings and readying it for the arrival of Sir Walter’s tenants, an Admiral Croft and his wife. That task in itself had been difficult enough, without the added anxiety Anne felt about the identity of Sir Walter’s tenants, for she had a connection with Mrs. Croft she had not yet dared to speak of to anyone.

I do not understand why you waited so late to come, Mary said. I can’t imagine what you had to do that was so important that it required you to delay your visit here. She paused a moment, considering. Or was the delay Lady Russell’s doing? I saw it was her carriage that brought you, although she could not be persuaded to stay and visit even for an hour with us.

No, in fact, it was quite the other way around. I delayed her, Anne said. Mary’s expression darkened, and Anne hurried to clarify her meaning. For, you understand, there were a great many tasks to be completed before I was able to leave Kellynch, Mary. I had to ensure all of our belongings were packed away safely, and that the property was fully ready for the arrival of Father’s tenants.

I still don’t see why that would take so very long, Mary countered. When do they arrive? He is an Admiral, is he not?

Yes, Admiral Croft and his wife, Anne said. There, she had managed that quite normally, with no indication of any feelings one way or another. They have arrived already, I am sure. They were due to take possession at Michaelmas, but I had removed to stay with Lady Russell before then. Anne did not say: and I would much rather have stayed with her if only she had not been called away. It wasn’t that she disliked visiting her sister, but staying at Uppercross kept her far closer than she would like to Kellynch Hall and its new inhabitants. Unlike Lady Russell, Mary had little inkling of Anne’s past connection to Mrs. Croft, and thus would not understand her reluctance to meet them, so Anne was hardly surprised by her sister’s next comment.

They will wish to call on us, of course, Mary said, brightening. You did tell them that you were to be here, didn’t you? Although I don’t doubt they would wish to pay their respects to me in any case, if you were not.

I expect they will need some time to settle in and look over the property, first.

Well, we shall see how long they wait to make a call. It speaks to manners, of course, and Father will be most upset to hear if his tenants’ manners are in any way lacking. Michaelmas is already quite a few days past. Mary’s sharp eyes sought out her son, who had finished with the amusement Anne had offered him and was fidgeting once more to be released from the table. Charles if you cannot sit still, you had better not sit at all. She called imperiously for the boy’s nursemaid. Take him back to the nursery, Walter too, and amuse them both, will you? It has been quite a tax on my nerves having to watch them so early in the morning, and with company to see to as well.

Anne noticed the flash in the nursemaid’s eyes as she hurried the boys out of the room, and turned back to her sister, who was gulping down the last of her tea.

Mary, you oughtn’t to send the children away so readily. They were doing nothing really very wrong. Only, remember, it is a long time for any little boy to sit still and behave, with nothing to occupy him. They could scarcely be expected to take an interest in our conversation -

Oh, Anne, do not lecture me! Mary said, crossly. You are just like Mrs. Musgrove. Charles’ mother seems to think I am completely incapable of governing my own children, for she constantly comes to me with advice or criticisms that are absolutely unwarranted. I am sure if my boys were better behaved I would not have half so much trouble managing them, but they so often disregard me and run to their father. She paused. And that is where the real problem lies, for Charles indulges them so that they have no desire to do as they are told. She glanced out of the window. Now, what shall we do today? What a pity it looks like it might rain, or I would suggest a walk. She sighed. We shall be cooped up in here all day without a single visitor, I dare say, and Charles is out seeing to his own errands. If only Lady Russell could have been impressed upon to stay with us a few days, she always has interesting and thought-provoking ideas to add to the conversation...

Anne did not respond, but the morning stretched long before them if she could not think herself of some amusement for her sister.

Did Father and Elizabeth say anything about where they are staying in Bath? Mary said, after a moment of silence. I do wish Charles would see the advantage in removing to Bath for the winter, for it gets so bleak here once the weather turns. An idea struck her. Perhaps your Admiral and Mrs. Croft will bring some interest to the area. Do you think they will socialise? I know he is a Naval man, but some of them are not so very dull. Perhaps they will host a dinner, as a way to get to know the neighbours. At the very least I expect they will be invited to Uppercross...

Mary’s imagination caught and she chattered on quite happily. Anne was relieved that they would not be forced to sit in silence, though she could think of several topics she would rather discuss than Admiral and Mrs. Croft. At least Mary did not go so far as to speculate on the Crofts’ own plans for the winter, for they might well have their own guests to entertain. Anne forced the thought away. No, there was no indication he would visit, so she oughtn’t to worry about it. As far as she knew, he was still at sea, if not married and settled somewhere else entirely. Still, having his sister so close by would keep Anne’s thoughts turning in a direction she rather wished to avoid. She tried to smile and look interested in Mary’s words, though as soon as her sister paused for breath, she seized on the chance to intervene.

"Mary, look, the clouds are starting to clear. I believe it will be quite dry enough for a walk later if you