Persuaded to Romance (One-Shot)

Really short piece written for another site. It grew out of a story challenge to write a JAFF that included "an outrageously out-of-canon" character. And I thought about what might happen in my favorite Austen novel if one character in particular acted completely out of character.

Shouldn't take you more'n five minutes to get through. Let me know what you think.


PERSUADED TO ROMANCE

“But, dear Lady Russell, I grant that I find him more admirable than any man I have ever met, but we are so very different.”

“The differences between you will complement each other. He is bold, courageous, and daring, and knows much of the world after more than ten years in the Navy. You are shy, sweet-natured, and refined, and, if you don’t mind my saying so, a bit naïve. I mean it as no insult, dearest. It is part of your charm and enhances your sweetness. And I have no doubt it is part of what he has come to love about you.”

Anne Elliot, second daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, Bart., the most prominent citizen in the area, had been keeping company with Captain Frederick Wentworth, RN, during recent weeks. The captain was the brother of a local curate whom he was visiting while waiting for his next ship. He and Anne had spent a good deal of time together during the captain’s visit, and Anne had quickly lost her heart to him. Earlier that day, the captain had quite surprised her by declaring himself. Anne loved him, but rather than accepting immediately, asked him if he could wait while she considered his offer, and then went to consult Lady Russell, her godmother, her late mother’s dearest friend, and the person she had come to regard as a surrogate mother and her most trusted advisor since the death of Lady Elliot. Much as she loved Frederick, she needed Lady Russell’s counsel before making such an important decision.

“But, Lady Russell, though I admit that I feel a very deep love for him, Captain Wentworth comes from trade. His father, though an excellent man, was a merchant, and, while he made a decent living, there was not much left when he died, after paying for Mr. Wentworth’s education and induction into the clergy.”

“You forget that the captain’s a successful Naval officer, Anne! Nelson was but the second son of a minor clergyman, yet was raised to the peerage on naught but his great service defending the Nation. As a commissioned officer, Captain Wentworth is already reckoned a gentleman whatever his origins. And, if he is promoted from commander to post-captain, as I am certain he will be, he is all but assured of achieving flag rank just by remaining in the service. And we both know that, in character, he always was a gentleman in every way save birth. If he continues to be as successful in his profession as he has been, he may become much more than a gentleman. The time could come when your own father might have to give way to Baron Wentworth. Perhaps even to Viscount or Earl Wentworth.”

“Do you really think so, dear ma’am?”

“It is not likely," she admitted. Yet I think it very possible. That is the wonderful thing about the Navy. One can rise to great wealth and honors based on nothing but one’s own merit. There are few institutions in Britain about which this can be said.”

“But I would worry so much when he was at sea. There is a terrible war on, after all. Perhaps he would return covered in glory. But he might not return at all.”

“Even if you had but a few months of happiness, would that not be better than wondering about what might have been?”

Anne could not argue with that. However another possible impediment would not be as easy to remove.

“The value you have for him pleases me above anything, Lady Russell. But my father’s opinions about birth and station are far less liberal, and far more intractable. What should we do if he refuses permission?”

“I will try to persuade him,” she said. “So will his man of business, Mr. Shepherd, who will attempt to convince him of the great savings to be had with one less mouth to be fed. But even if he refuses to give his permission, you will reach your majority in less than two years. Generally, I dislike long engagements, but if he withholds his approval, you could still remain engaged and would be able to write each other. When your minority status ended, you could then marry without regard to Sir Walter’s opinions on the matter.”

“And if my father refuses to give me my dowry?”

“He has no legal standing to do so if you have reached your majority and are married. He may withhold his approval, and he may choose not to settle anything on you from his own finances, but the dowry is your mother’s gift to you. If he doesn’t squander it over the next two years, he will have to release it.”

*

“I have news, Anne!” said Frederick, when they met after Anne’s visit to her godmother. “I have been assigned a ship. It’s called the Asp. It’s an old-style sloop, but it’s all mine. It will be docked at Portsmouth for the next few months for refitting. If we do not tarry, we could be married and have a short wedding trip before I assumed command.”

“Then let us both see my father, Frederick. Without delay. My dear friend, Lady Russell, has persuaded me to follow my heart rather than heed the restrictive pull of caution. I cannot guarantee that my father will approve, but know now that you have my love and my commitment, and, if we cannot marry immediately, I will be waiting faithfully to marry you on the day I turn one-and-twenty.”

“Lady Russell persuaded you, eh?” said the captain. “I must remember to thank her for the great favor she does us both. You regard her as your dearest friend, do you not? From this moment, I will have to regard her in the same light.”

*

In the event, Sir Walter, with bad grace, relented. On being applied to, he gave it all the negative of great astonishment, great coldness, great silence, and a professed resolution of doing nothing for his daughter. He thought it a very degrading alliance. Nevertheless, he was persuaded by both Mr. Shepherd and Lady Russell that, as Anne would marry no one else, and would be able to marry Captain Wentworth with or without Sir Walter’s permission in less than two years, Sir Walter had nothing to lose by allowing it now. And, though he was resolved not to do anything for the couple himself, he had no legal standing to withhold Anne’s share of his late wife’s fortune, since this had been agreed to in the marriage articles he signed upon his betrothal to Lady Elizabeth. So, while still making his lack of enthusiasm clear, in the end, he did not actually withhold his consent, nor say it should never be.

Anne, of course was tenderness itself, and she had the full worth of it in Captain Wentworth's affection. His profession was all that could ever make her friends wish that tenderness less, the dread of the war still being fought all over the world was all that could dim her sunshine. She gloried in being a sailor's wife, but she must pay the tax of quick alarm for belonging to that profession which is, if possible, more distinguished in its domestic virtues than in its national importance.

*