Chapter Eight
When Anne was outside, she saw Lady Russell walk towards the house. Although her godmother undoubtedly had other business and was not coming to find her, Anne wanted someone to like her after Mrs Croft had been so unexpectedly stern. She felt herself nearly crying. There was no one she could depend on to act predictably any more.
Lady Russell was so surprised that she had hesitated a second before comforting Anne, who was holding out her arms. This was quite unusual for both of them. "What is wrong? Why?"
"I do not know."
"Oh Anne!" Lady Russell squeezed her a little tighter.
Anne supposed she had last hugged Lady Russell after her mother died and perhaps not even then. She could not remember. It was so long ago, but she found she had desperately needed such close contact. She did not want to let go.
"It pains me to see you so unhappy, Anne," Lady Russell whispered. "Perhaps I have made mistakes, but I have always tried to make you happy. What is wrong now? Is there anything I could do?"
Anne wanted to find something else to cry about too, because she was no ready to lose this attention. She settled for a repetition when she could in all honesty not find anything life-threatening to complain about. She had merely been silly. "I do not know."
"What happened?"
She spoke reluctantly. "Mrs Croft gave me a sort of reprimand." She did not want to blame Mrs Croft, but she had to be honest about what had unsettled her.
This surprised Lady Russell. "Undeserved?"
"Not entirely; that is the worst."
"I cannot imagine you deserving a reprimand."
"She asked me a question and I did not answer it," Anne recalled. "And then I asked a very impertinent question. She had every right." Nobody could be blamed for not liking it. She did not know why she had asked it.
"Come with me," Lady Russell decided.
Anne tried to hold her back. "You are not going to speak to her about it, are you? Because really I --"
"No."
Lady Russell took her inside. Anne had no desire to see Mrs Croft again so soon, but they were shown into a room where Admiral and Mrs Croft were speaking earnestly in low voices. After greeting their visitors, the admiral took Anne's arm. "I have something to show you," he said jovially, as if he did not know what had transpired earlier.
She glady allowed herself to be taken to the greenhouse, where he showed her a plant.
"Pretty, is it not?" he asked, examining it from all sides.
"Rather,"Anne agreed, but she did not understand why he showed her a plant. They had never before spoken about plants and she had never known him to have any interest in potted plants. There were a few flowers, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Apparently the admiral had simply not been able to think of another excuse to get her out of the room. "Afraid of Sophy, were you?"
"Yes."
"There is no need. She is concerned about you."
"Concerned?" Not angry? Anne tried to review the conversation in that light.
"Someone gave Mrs Clay a thwack on the head," the admiral remarked as if such things happened every day.
She was surprised, having thought that only she and Captain Wentworth had bothered to think about the accident at all. Apparently two others knew what had happened too, for if the admiral knew, so did Mrs Croft. "Oh, you know."
"And," he lowed his voice, "I cannot bring myself to care."
She nodded, not shocked at all. "Because she was a temptress. I hope you did not ask Captain Wentworth to sort it out. Mrs Croft reprimanded me for asking that."
"Good grief," the admiral said in amusement. "One does not ask stupid young men to sort out temptresses. The dangers are too great."
"But he is not a stupid young man, is he?"
"A stupid not so young man, if you will."
"Oh." Anne felt like a stupid not so young woman.
"Always being at sea with no women around does that to a man. If one has not a wife to explain all the intricacies of women..."
"Intricacies? Admiral, I assure you I see very little difference between women and men."
"Well, do not tell him. You would take away half our fun."
Before dinner, Anne sat on her balcony again. She would soon have to get dressed, but Lady Russell sometimes took a little nap after they retired, giving Anne more than enough time to do as she pleased. Today she did not feel like reading, writing letters or rearranging her closets.
Her decision to sit outside was rewarded, for she could see the figure of Captain Wentworth approach. It was increasingly unsettling, for he came straight at the Lodge instead of simply taking an innocent walk through the park. She forgot about her tea and then he stopped under her balcony. She had to see what he came to do, because this was hardly the time for a visit. They ought to be dressing at the Hall as well.
"I have something to say," he said.
Anne waited, but he was not planning to say it there. He started climbing. She was very glad Lady Russell was on the other side of the house and so was the dining room. What would the servants think if they saw him climb past the window? And clearly he did not think he could fall. She had best not suggest the possibility either.
"I went to see Mr Ingleby, as you know," Captain Wentworth began after he had climbed up to the balcony and caught his breath. Gentlemen on the wrong side of thirty did not do these things so easily any more. "You think he is a boring old...er...bore."
Anne sat down. Evidently he had found something that indicated the contrary. She could not begin to imagine what it was. Mr Ingleby not a bore? It was hardly possible.
"Well, I too ask myself how he ever managed to get Mrs Ingleby to be interested in him, but that is irrelevant to our investigation. What is relevant is that Mr Ingleby knows a lot more than we thought --"
"We had not given any thought to what he might think," Anne cut in to regain some control over the situation.
"Because we did not think he might know anything, but he does and a lot of that is relevant as well."
"And he told you about it?"
"No, he did not."
She was confused. "Then how would you know?" And what had he come to tell her? It had to be of some importance, but he was not agitated, nor in a hurry.
"Ah," Captain Wentworth said with a smug, superior smile. "I am good at those things."
She would not argue that point with him. Very likely he would not let her win. Still, it puzzled her. "But it cannot have been too important, because you went to see him a few days ago and you are only telling me about it now."
"Ah, yes. I first had to ascertain whether you would be able to accept the news in a sensible manner. Or if it was even relevant enough to share with you in the first place. You see, most of what Mr Ingleby said is not fit for a lady's ears."
Anne could not believe it. "Mr Ingleby? He seems so dull!" She was now curious about the information that was not fit for a lady's ears and hoped Captain Wentworth would share it with her. He appeared to be willing.
"Oh, he is, terribly dull, but he has certain ideas about women that -- well, I know some women who would throw their teacups at his head. For example, he would think you too delicate to be sitting out on a balcony on a November day."
She gave him a defiant look. "I have a dressing gown, a blanket, gloves and a cup of tea."
"Yes, yes, so I see and it is not my place to argue with you. If you were locked out by accident, I should kick in the door, but now, no." Captain Wentworth perched himself on the ledge where Anne's cup of tea was standing. He did take care to place himself between her and the cup, in case she was going to throw it at some point.
"But you did not talk to him about me."
"No. But from what he said about the place and the role of women, and the needs of men, I concluded that I knew some women who would throw things at his head. Most of the conversation was actually about the needs of men. I told you I did not trust clergymen."
Anne understood very little and she certainly could not predict what he was going to tell her.
He took a deep breath. "I have reasons to suspect Sir Walter married somebody -- in Bath, or another place away from here."
She gasped. "Who?"
"Not Mrs Clay; that much I can say for certain. The first question is, who was this woman? The second question is, was the marriage consummated? Evidently Mr Ingleby thinks it was, because men have needs," he added in an emphatical whisper.
Anne clutched her hands to her chest and looked embarrassed. "Why would you want to know?"
The captain gave her a patient look. "It is all very mortifying and improper, I am sure, but if there was a wife, Sir William can only be sure of his title in several months. Do I need to explain why?"
She shook her head.
"Precisely. Because there may be an heir, born or unborn."
"But I know nothing of this. I was not told."
"No, the only people who know are the woman in question and Mr Ingleby. I am not sure Mrs Clay's death was connected to this marriage. I cannot see why someone would want to get rid of her if she knew about it. Unless..." he said with a thoughtful look, "she lied and said Sir Walter had actually married her and no one else knew. She would of course have been cunning enough to consummate the marriage and get herself with child. Sir William would then consider her a danger to his position."
Anne felt sick.
"If it was someone else, the question is: has she borne him a son?" he concluded. "Or is she going to?"
She wanted to laugh hysterically, but she had to keep her voice down. "This is too much for me."
"Yes," he said with something akin to sympathy. "I thought you would be able to take it, but I spoke too soon, I see."
"I want to throw myself into the pond."
Captain Wentworth raised his eyebrows. "Why? What would that solve?"
She raised trembling fingers to her temples. "It would get these images out of my head!"
"I will have you know that the pond is cold."
"I told you so. You did not seem to believe me at the time."
"Women do not suffer the cold as well as men."
"Ten years ago I would have challenged you to a water duel. Now, I let you keep your faulty opinions."
Captain Wentworth looked almost appreciative of a water duel. He struggled visibly with its attraction and pulled a straight and serious face. "I am sorry I had to speak of this. The story would not be complete without it. The consequences of his possibly having had a wife are too important."
Yes, she understood that and she tried to pull herself together. It was difficult when it involved her father. She would feel betrayed if it was all true. "How will we find out? We must find out that this is all a big fabrication."
"I shall need to talk to Ingleby again. He would not tell me everything, because of course being unmarried at my age means I am up to all kinds of immoral activities due to my needs and my not being susceptible to his religious talk did not help much to establish a bond between us. He would tell me something out of some feeling of superiority, but in order to hear everything I must agree with him. And I cannot. There, I have shocked you. Do not prove Mr Ingleby right. Take it like a man." He swung a leg over the balcony. "I must dress for dinner."
Anne did not know if she could do the same.
"Is anything the matter, Anne?" Lady Russell inquired. "You were late for dinner and you are so distracted."
Anne could hardly tell her that Captain Wentworth had climbed up to her balcony to converse with her. And about what! That was even more impossible to say. She could not even come up with a lie. She could only look utterly bemused.
"Is it still Mrs Croft?"
It was perhaps wisest to say it was. "A bit." If she forced herself to think about Mrs Croft right now, she would not even be lying. But it was difficult to get her mind away from her father's possible marriage -- and the consequences of that -- and challenging Captain Wentworth to a water duel.
"But I told you what she said to me."
"I know." And thankfully Mrs Croft had said nothing at all about Mrs Clay, but she had only described it as a question about my guests. Lady Russell seemed utterly devoid of curiosity, for which Anne could only be glad.
"Do not think about it any more. She really was not bothered."
When Anne was outside, she saw Lady Russell walk towards the house. Although her godmother undoubtedly had other business and was not coming to find her, Anne wanted someone to like her after Mrs Croft had been so unexpectedly stern. She felt herself nearly crying. There was no one she could depend on to act predictably any more.
Lady Russell was so surprised that she had hesitated a second before comforting Anne, who was holding out her arms. This was quite unusual for both of them. "What is wrong? Why?"
"I do not know."
"Oh Anne!" Lady Russell squeezed her a little tighter.
Anne supposed she had last hugged Lady Russell after her mother died and perhaps not even then. She could not remember. It was so long ago, but she found she had desperately needed such close contact. She did not want to let go.
"It pains me to see you so unhappy, Anne," Lady Russell whispered. "Perhaps I have made mistakes, but I have always tried to make you happy. What is wrong now? Is there anything I could do?"
Anne wanted to find something else to cry about too, because she was no ready to lose this attention. She settled for a repetition when she could in all honesty not find anything life-threatening to complain about. She had merely been silly. "I do not know."
"What happened?"
She spoke reluctantly. "Mrs Croft gave me a sort of reprimand." She did not want to blame Mrs Croft, but she had to be honest about what had unsettled her.
This surprised Lady Russell. "Undeserved?"
"Not entirely; that is the worst."
"I cannot imagine you deserving a reprimand."
"She asked me a question and I did not answer it," Anne recalled. "And then I asked a very impertinent question. She had every right." Nobody could be blamed for not liking it. She did not know why she had asked it.
"Come with me," Lady Russell decided.
Anne tried to hold her back. "You are not going to speak to her about it, are you? Because really I --"
"No."
Lady Russell took her inside. Anne had no desire to see Mrs Croft again so soon, but they were shown into a room where Admiral and Mrs Croft were speaking earnestly in low voices. After greeting their visitors, the admiral took Anne's arm. "I have something to show you," he said jovially, as if he did not know what had transpired earlier.
She glady allowed herself to be taken to the greenhouse, where he showed her a plant.
"Pretty, is it not?" he asked, examining it from all sides.
"Rather,"Anne agreed, but she did not understand why he showed her a plant. They had never before spoken about plants and she had never known him to have any interest in potted plants. There were a few flowers, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Apparently the admiral had simply not been able to think of another excuse to get her out of the room. "Afraid of Sophy, were you?"
"Yes."
"There is no need. She is concerned about you."
"Concerned?" Not angry? Anne tried to review the conversation in that light.
"Someone gave Mrs Clay a thwack on the head," the admiral remarked as if such things happened every day.
She was surprised, having thought that only she and Captain Wentworth had bothered to think about the accident at all. Apparently two others knew what had happened too, for if the admiral knew, so did Mrs Croft. "Oh, you know."
"And," he lowed his voice, "I cannot bring myself to care."
She nodded, not shocked at all. "Because she was a temptress. I hope you did not ask Captain Wentworth to sort it out. Mrs Croft reprimanded me for asking that."
"Good grief," the admiral said in amusement. "One does not ask stupid young men to sort out temptresses. The dangers are too great."
"But he is not a stupid young man, is he?"
"A stupid not so young man, if you will."
"Oh." Anne felt like a stupid not so young woman.
"Always being at sea with no women around does that to a man. If one has not a wife to explain all the intricacies of women..."
"Intricacies? Admiral, I assure you I see very little difference between women and men."
"Well, do not tell him. You would take away half our fun."
Before dinner, Anne sat on her balcony again. She would soon have to get dressed, but Lady Russell sometimes took a little nap after they retired, giving Anne more than enough time to do as she pleased. Today she did not feel like reading, writing letters or rearranging her closets.
Her decision to sit outside was rewarded, for she could see the figure of Captain Wentworth approach. It was increasingly unsettling, for he came straight at the Lodge instead of simply taking an innocent walk through the park. She forgot about her tea and then he stopped under her balcony. She had to see what he came to do, because this was hardly the time for a visit. They ought to be dressing at the Hall as well.
"I have something to say," he said.
Anne waited, but he was not planning to say it there. He started climbing. She was very glad Lady Russell was on the other side of the house and so was the dining room. What would the servants think if they saw him climb past the window? And clearly he did not think he could fall. She had best not suggest the possibility either.
"I went to see Mr Ingleby, as you know," Captain Wentworth began after he had climbed up to the balcony and caught his breath. Gentlemen on the wrong side of thirty did not do these things so easily any more. "You think he is a boring old...er...bore."
Anne sat down. Evidently he had found something that indicated the contrary. She could not begin to imagine what it was. Mr Ingleby not a bore? It was hardly possible.
"Well, I too ask myself how he ever managed to get Mrs Ingleby to be interested in him, but that is irrelevant to our investigation. What is relevant is that Mr Ingleby knows a lot more than we thought --"
"We had not given any thought to what he might think," Anne cut in to regain some control over the situation.
"Because we did not think he might know anything, but he does and a lot of that is relevant as well."
"And he told you about it?"
"No, he did not."
She was confused. "Then how would you know?" And what had he come to tell her? It had to be of some importance, but he was not agitated, nor in a hurry.
"Ah," Captain Wentworth said with a smug, superior smile. "I am good at those things."
She would not argue that point with him. Very likely he would not let her win. Still, it puzzled her. "But it cannot have been too important, because you went to see him a few days ago and you are only telling me about it now."
"Ah, yes. I first had to ascertain whether you would be able to accept the news in a sensible manner. Or if it was even relevant enough to share with you in the first place. You see, most of what Mr Ingleby said is not fit for a lady's ears."
Anne could not believe it. "Mr Ingleby? He seems so dull!" She was now curious about the information that was not fit for a lady's ears and hoped Captain Wentworth would share it with her. He appeared to be willing.
"Oh, he is, terribly dull, but he has certain ideas about women that -- well, I know some women who would throw their teacups at his head. For example, he would think you too delicate to be sitting out on a balcony on a November day."
She gave him a defiant look. "I have a dressing gown, a blanket, gloves and a cup of tea."
"Yes, yes, so I see and it is not my place to argue with you. If you were locked out by accident, I should kick in the door, but now, no." Captain Wentworth perched himself on the ledge where Anne's cup of tea was standing. He did take care to place himself between her and the cup, in case she was going to throw it at some point.
"But you did not talk to him about me."
"No. But from what he said about the place and the role of women, and the needs of men, I concluded that I knew some women who would throw things at his head. Most of the conversation was actually about the needs of men. I told you I did not trust clergymen."
Anne understood very little and she certainly could not predict what he was going to tell her.
He took a deep breath. "I have reasons to suspect Sir Walter married somebody -- in Bath, or another place away from here."
She gasped. "Who?"
"Not Mrs Clay; that much I can say for certain. The first question is, who was this woman? The second question is, was the marriage consummated? Evidently Mr Ingleby thinks it was, because men have needs," he added in an emphatical whisper.
Anne clutched her hands to her chest and looked embarrassed. "Why would you want to know?"
The captain gave her a patient look. "It is all very mortifying and improper, I am sure, but if there was a wife, Sir William can only be sure of his title in several months. Do I need to explain why?"
She shook her head.
"Precisely. Because there may be an heir, born or unborn."
"But I know nothing of this. I was not told."
"No, the only people who know are the woman in question and Mr Ingleby. I am not sure Mrs Clay's death was connected to this marriage. I cannot see why someone would want to get rid of her if she knew about it. Unless..." he said with a thoughtful look, "she lied and said Sir Walter had actually married her and no one else knew. She would of course have been cunning enough to consummate the marriage and get herself with child. Sir William would then consider her a danger to his position."
Anne felt sick.
"If it was someone else, the question is: has she borne him a son?" he concluded. "Or is she going to?"
She wanted to laugh hysterically, but she had to keep her voice down. "This is too much for me."
"Yes," he said with something akin to sympathy. "I thought you would be able to take it, but I spoke too soon, I see."
"I want to throw myself into the pond."
Captain Wentworth raised his eyebrows. "Why? What would that solve?"
She raised trembling fingers to her temples. "It would get these images out of my head!"
"I will have you know that the pond is cold."
"I told you so. You did not seem to believe me at the time."
"Women do not suffer the cold as well as men."
"Ten years ago I would have challenged you to a water duel. Now, I let you keep your faulty opinions."
Captain Wentworth looked almost appreciative of a water duel. He struggled visibly with its attraction and pulled a straight and serious face. "I am sorry I had to speak of this. The story would not be complete without it. The consequences of his possibly having had a wife are too important."
Yes, she understood that and she tried to pull herself together. It was difficult when it involved her father. She would feel betrayed if it was all true. "How will we find out? We must find out that this is all a big fabrication."
"I shall need to talk to Ingleby again. He would not tell me everything, because of course being unmarried at my age means I am up to all kinds of immoral activities due to my needs and my not being susceptible to his religious talk did not help much to establish a bond between us. He would tell me something out of some feeling of superiority, but in order to hear everything I must agree with him. And I cannot. There, I have shocked you. Do not prove Mr Ingleby right. Take it like a man." He swung a leg over the balcony. "I must dress for dinner."
Anne did not know if she could do the same.
"Is anything the matter, Anne?" Lady Russell inquired. "You were late for dinner and you are so distracted."
Anne could hardly tell her that Captain Wentworth had climbed up to her balcony to converse with her. And about what! That was even more impossible to say. She could not even come up with a lie. She could only look utterly bemused.
"Is it still Mrs Croft?"
It was perhaps wisest to say it was. "A bit." If she forced herself to think about Mrs Croft right now, she would not even be lying. But it was difficult to get her mind away from her father's possible marriage -- and the consequences of that -- and challenging Captain Wentworth to a water duel.
"But I told you what she said to me."
"I know." And thankfully Mrs Croft had said nothing at all about Mrs Clay, but she had only described it as a question about my guests. Lady Russell seemed utterly devoid of curiosity, for which Anne could only be glad.
"Do not think about it any more. She really was not bothered."