Chapter 60 Anne
Within a few weeks of residing at Matlock House, Anne had gained enough weight that her new gowns had to be altered.
Lady Helen noticed it first.
“You are eating better,” she said one morning at breakfast.
Anne looked down at the remains of an egg and a slice of dry toast on her plate. “I am eating considerably more, though my dear Maria would never have permitted me to stop eating altogether. She used to bring simple food to my room without Mama knowing.”
Mrs. Jenkinson looked across the table at her, and winked.
Anne smiled. “You see? Even now she is considering whether she ought to encourage me to eat more.”
Lady Helen laughed. “I had no idea you ate so little at Rosings.”
“Mamma's French chef is very accomplished, but he seems to believe that no food should be permitted to reach the table until it has been covered in butter, cream, or both. It tastes wonderful, but my gallstones do not appreciate French cooking nearly as much as Mamma does. I learned long ago that if I ate very little at dinner, I was much less likely to be ill afterward.”
Lady Helen glanced at Mrs. Jenkinson.
“It is true, my lady,” Mrs. Jenkinson said. “Miss de Bourgh has always done better with plain food.”
“Then she shall have it.”
“Your cook has already solved the difficulty.” Anne reached for another piece of toast. “I have eaten more since coming here than I have in years.”
Lady Helen studied her niece. Anne's face was no longer quite so thin, and there was more color in her cheeks.
“You look much better, my dear.”
“I am also becoming expensive. Mrs. Allen informed me yesterday that the blue gown she fitted only two weeks ago must be altered again.”
“I am pleased to hear it.”
Anne laughed and glanced down at herself. “Mrs. Allen did not seem at all pleased to be making more alterations in such a short period of time.”
Richard entered the breakfast room and wished them good morning.
Anne was pleased to see him. “Good morning, Richard.”
“Good morning, Annie.”
He went to the sideboard and filled his plate. When he came to the table, he took the chair beside Anne.
“You are looking better, little cousin. There is more color in your cheeks, and you do not seem nearly as tired as you did when you first came to us.”
“I feel better, Richard. I had become so accustomed to feeling unwell that I thought it was simply how I was.”
Richard looked at her for a moment. “I am glad you came to stay with us, Annie. I have enjoyed having you here.”
Her expression softened. “I am glad I came too.”
* * *
Several days later, Lady Helen mentioned the Worthingtons' ball while they were taking tea.
“It is a large gathering every year, and I thought you might like to go with me, Anne. Shall I send our acceptance?”
“I would like that very much, but I have never attended a ball. I learned several dances when I was a child, but after I became ill, Mamma did not allow me to dance.”
Richard looked up from his newspaper. “I can practice with you. Mother can play for us, and we can dance in the ballroom.”
“I would like that, Richard.”
“We will begin tomorrow morning,” Lady Helen said.
The following morning, Lady Helen sat at the pianoforte while Richard and Anne took their places in the drawing room.
Richard held out his hand. “We will begin with something familiar.”
Anne placed her hand in his.
They practiced the country dances first. Anne remembered more than she had expected, and after Richard led her through several of the figures, the steps began returning to her.
“That was much better,” he said when they finished. “You will have no difficulty at the ball.”
Lady Helen began another piece.
Richard recognized the music. “Do you know the waltz?”
“I learned the steps, but I have never danced it with a man.”
Richard grinned. “Then we should practice.”
He came nearer and took her hand. Anne rested her other hand where he indicated, and he placed his hand at her waist.
“Follow me, Annie. Do not watch your feet.”
They began slowly. When Anne lost the rhythm, Richard showed her the step again, and they continued. Before long, she was following him across the drawing room without difficulty.
“You are doing very well,” he said.
Anne smiled.
Richard's hand remained at her waist as Lady Helen continued playing, and they completed the dance together.
When the music ended, Richard released her.
“If you are willing, I should like the first dance at the Worthingtons', and I hope you will save the supper set for me as well.”
“I will.”
“And the waltz.”
Anne met his eyes. “I shall save that for you too.”
“Thank you, Annie.”
Lady Helen began another piece, and Richard offered Anne his hand again.
“One more?”
Anne put her hand in his. “Yes.”
* * *
By the week of the Worthingtons' ball, Anne's new evening gown required another fitting.
The modiste had completed it only three weeks earlier, but Anne had gained enough weight that the bodice no longer fit comfortably. She stood before the mirror while the seamstress adjusted the fabric at her waist and bust.
Elizabeth, who had come to Matlock House for the afternoon, watched from a nearby chair.
“You have a lovely figure, Anne,” she said after the seamstress had finished.
Anne beamed at her. “Thank you, Elizabeth.”
She touched an errant curl. “I wish I knew what to do with my hair. Mamma always insisted that I wear it long, but my hair has never been easy to manage.”
Elizabeth came to stand beside her and lifted one of the blond curls. “You have lovely hair, Cousin. Let someone who understands curly hair cut and dress it properly for the ball.”
“I would like that. Aunt Helen should know a good hairdresser.”
Lady Helen arranged for a hairdresser to come on the afternoon of the ball. He trimmed and shaped Anne's hair before dressing it for the evening, leaving soft blond curls around her face and neck.
When he finished, Anne studied herself in the mirror for a long moment.
“I hardly recognize myself, but I like it very much.”
Elizabeth smiled at her reflection. “He did a fine job. You look beautiful, Anne.”
That evening, Anne came downstairs in the pale blue gown she had chosen. A simple gold chain lay at her throat, and her newly cut curls framed her face.
Lady Helen looked up as Anne entered. “You look lovely, my dear. The blue gown is an excellent choice.”
Anne smiled. “Thank you, Aunt Helen. I am very pleased with it.”
Richard entered a moment later, already dressed for the evening. He came several steps into the room before stopping.
Anne looked at him.
Richard crossed the remaining distance between them. “You look beautiful, Annie.”
“Thank you, Richard.”
He offered his arm. “I hope you are ready to dance.”
“I am.”
Anne placed her hand upon his arm. Richard covered it briefly with his own, and they left for the Worthingtons' ball.
* * *
The Worthingtons' ballroom was already crowded when Anne entered with Lady Helen and Richard.
She paused just inside the room. Hundreds of candles burned in the chandeliers and wall sconces, and ladies in evening gowns filled the room with color while the musicians prepared for the first dance.
“It is beautiful,” Anne said. “I have never seen so many people gathered in one room.”
Lady Helen introduced Anne to their hosts and several acquaintances before Richard claimed the first dance.
Anne placed her hand in his and smiled up at him.
The musicians began, and Anne followed her cousin’s lead. Whenever they came together in the dance, Richard smiled at her. By the time the music ended, Anne's earlier nervousness had disappeared.
“You did very well, Annie.”
“Richard, I find that I enjoy dancing very much.”
A gentleman Lady Helen had introduced earlier drew near and asked Anne to dance, and another sought an introduction afterward. By the time Richard claimed her for the supper set, her dance card was full.
Richard led her into the set. “You have not sat out a single dance, little cousin. Are you enjoying your first ball?”
His fingers closed a little more firmly around hers before the figure separated them.
After the dance, Richard escorted Anne into supper. As they spoke with Lady Helen, another gentleman approached and asked Anne for a dance later in the evening.
“I am sorry, sir, but my dance card is full.”
* * *
Anne's current dancing partner escorted her to a chair along the wall of the ballroom before going to fetch her a cup of punch. As she waited for him to return, she heard two gentlemen speaking nearby.
“Miss de Bourgh is Lady Catherine's only daughter,” one said. “Rosings Park will eventually be hers, and I am told she has thirty thousand pounds of her own.”
“Thirty thousand pounds and Rosings? No wonder every fortune hunter in the room is falling over himself to secure her attention.”
Anne looked down at the dance card hanging from her wrist and moved away before either man saw her.
Anne saw Richard across the ballroom and made her way to him.
“Annie, what is wrong?”
“I overheard two gentlemen talking about me. They were discussing Rosings and my thirty thousand pounds.” Anne looked at him. “I thought they liked me, Richard. I thought perhaps they found me pretty, or amusing, or simply pleasant to be with.”
Richard took her hand.
“You are a beautiful woman, Annie, and you are good company. You cannot help it if you are also an heiress. Never mind them. They are not worth your notice.”
Anne looked down at their joined hands. “I wanted people to like me for myself.”
“It is rarely that simple, Annie.”
Richard drew her hand through his arm and stayed beside her.
Lady Helen joined them a few minutes later, followed by the Darcys.
Elizabeth took one look at Anne and asked, “Has something happened?”
Anne told her what she had overheard.
“I suppose I was foolish,” she finished. “I knew my fortune would make some difference, but I did not expect to hear gentlemen discussing it as though Rosings and thirty thousand pounds were the whole of me.”
“You were not foolish, only unprepared for the realities of the marriage mart.”
“I was so enjoying myself. That is what makes it so disappointing.” Anne glanced toward the dancers. “For a little while I thought I had suddenly become very interesting.”
Richard pressed her hand.
“How can one ever know whether a gentleman truly cares for her when he has so much reason to care for her fortune?”
“I imagine time reveals a great deal,” Elizabeth said. “A man may be interested in your fortune before he knows you. What matters is what interests him after.”
Anne considered this. “That is sensible, although not particularly convenient.”
“No. Courtship seldom arranges itself for our convenience.”
Anne glanced around the ballroom and noticed two ladies watching Elizabeth. Both were frowning, and one leaned toward the other to whisper behind her fan.
“Do women do the same thing?” Anne asked.
“Certainly. Do you see the lady in green near the musicians? She has disliked me since Fitzwilliam brought me into the room. The woman beside her has disliked me since dinner.”
Anne looked at her. “What have you done to them?”
“Married Fitzwilliam.”
Darcy placed his hand over Elizabeth’s.
“I trust I have been worth the trouble, darling.”
Elizabeth was caught by her husband’s expression and the rakish grin that accompanied it. “Yes, sir, you are worth every bit of gossip and every disapproving look I have endured this evening.”
The musicians began preparing for the waltz, and Richard offered Anne his hand. “I believe this one belongs to me.”
As they moved onto the dance floor, Darcy and Elizabeth followed close behind.
Richard’s hand settled at Anne’s waist as she rested hers on his shoulder.
Richard guided her into the first turn.
The crowded ballroom passed around them as they moved through the dance.
Anne had danced with several agreeable gentlemen that evening, but dancing with Richard pulled at her in a way the others had not.
She was conscious of the pressure of his hand at her waist and the familiar scent of his cologne.
When she looked up, her gaze traveled along the curve of his jaw until she found him watching her.
Anne held his gaze as they moved into the next turn.
* * *
In the weeks that followed, Richard and Anne spent more and more time together.
One morning Richard was sitting at breakfast when Anne entered. She filled her plate at the sideboard and took the chair beside him.
Richard reached for her hand. “I was waiting for you.”
Anne smiled at him.
He held her hand across the small distance between their chairs. “I wish we did not have to part at night, Annie.”
A soft flush colored her cheeks.
“I love you, darling.”
Anne squeezed his hand, her eyes bright.
“I think I have been falling in love with you for weeks.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. “I love you too, Richard.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “Then marry me, Annie. I want to wake every morning knowing I shall find you lying beside me. I do not want to say good night and watch you go upstairs knowing I cannot follow you.”
Anne’s cheeks grew warmer, but she did not look away. “Then I think we had better marry, Richard.”
Richard rose and drew her to her feet.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes. I will marry you.”
He slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her.
When he lifted his head, Anne wrapped her arms around his neck. “I have loved you for longer than you have loved me.”
Richard smiled. “Have you?”
“Yes. I simply did not know what it was until you began looking at me as though I were someone other than your cousin.”
He touched her cheek. “You are very much more than my cousin, Annie.”
She leaned into his hand. “Kiss me again, dear cousin.”