Posted on Friday, 28-Aug-98

illiam has come!" Fanny Bertram happily informed her husband as she gazed out the window of the Thornton Lacey rectory.

"It has been too long since we've seen him," Edmund smiled. "I know how much his visits mean to you."

After William had settled in and was sitting at the table with a hot cup of tea, he announced, "Sister, I am engaged."

"But William," Fanny protested. "You're only twenty—is that entirely wise? What is your opinion, Edmund?"

"I'm all for it, as long as the woman is not Miss Mary Crawford."

"Or Maria Rushworth," Fanny added thoughtfully.

"Goodness, no! Who would want to marry their cousin?" William laughed. "Oh, sorry," he added sheepishly.

Fanny, after blushing delicately, asked, "Who is she, William? How did you meet her?"

"It all started while the ship was docked in Plymouth. I was walking to my inn, deep in thought..."

William Price walked slowly down the street, deep in thought about his sister, Fanny. Being one year older than Fanny, William had always felt a measure of responsibility for her. But now she had married and no longer needed him to look out for her. Being the nurturing sort, William had searched for someone to take over Fanny's role in his life. All his younger brothers and sisters had spurned his company, and he felt quite desolate.

So deep was he in thought that he failed to notice that he was on a collision course with a woman coming up the street.

This woman, sobbing and obviously distraught, hurried along the road anxiously. Within seconds, the lady and William Price ran headlong into each other. The woman simply sat where she fell and continued to sob. Poor William was quite at a loss as to how to help her.

"Excuse me, Miss…er…I'm so sorry…" he extended his hand to help her up.

"Oh, *sob* thank you *sniff*," she looked up, grateful through her tears.

"Ummm…would you, perhaps, allow me the honor of buying you a cup of tea while you…er…recover, Miss…?"

"Steele. Miss Nancy Steele," she smiled coyly, recognizing him as a young man in a Navy lieutenant's uniform.

William and Miss Steele seated themselves in a respectable looking establishment and ordered tea. Miss Steele had nearly recovered her composure, when William asked her what she was so upset about. The floodgates opened, and her story came rushing out.

She spoke of her sister Lucy eloping with Mr. Ferrars, and how she (Nancy) was left "all *sniff* alone *wail*."

William tried everything in his power to console her. Not even the fact that he was a sharp, young Navy officer could persuade her.

Finally, at his wit's end, William asked, "What can I do to help, Miss Steele?"

A muffled reply came between sobs. William could not quite make out the words, but they ended in "doctor."

"Pardon me, Miss?"

"Tease me about the doctor," she said in a small voice.

"Now, who is this doctor fellow?" William asked in exaggerated tones. Coming from such a large family, he had learned the art of teasing about beaux.

"Oh, no one…" she replied with a coquettish smile.

"No, no! I shall know who he is!"

In the course of their conversation, William came to the realization that here was a woman who needed more than Fanny ever had. He proposed the following day, and Miss Steele, despairing of ever catching a husband at the ripe old age of thirty, much less a handsome Navy lieutenant, accepted immediately.

"So you see, Fanny, we shall be perfectly happy together, Nancy and I," William concluded with a smile.

"I wish you every imaginable happiness, brother," Fanny smiled sadly.

"And I hope you will allow me the honor of officiating at the ceremony," Edmund slapped William on the back in his version of a manly congratulations.

"Please, cousin, we had hoped you might."

Second Lieutenant William Price and Miss Nancy Steele were joined in matrimony at the Thornton Lacey church the following month. They lived very happily together, due in most part to his being much at sea and her having more than adequate leisure time to be teased by the Middletons and Mrs. Jennings.

*sniff* The End *sob*