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Chapter 20
Anne was so happy to see Robert that she could hardly contain herself. The moment she had seen him in the crowd, she wanted to run to him and jump into his arms. She knew that she had to stay composed while she was on stage, though, because the children had worked so hard for this night that she didn’t want the thing that everyone remembered from it to be her racing down the aisle to embrace Robert.
When they were finally able to sneak away, Anne’s heart began pounding. Even though she already knew that Robert wanted to marry her and had told her so, she still felt a thrill run through her at the thought of being proposed to. She didn’t know where Robert was taking her or if he even had anything planned, but she’d dreamed about this moment since she was a little girl. She knew that no matter how Robert did it, it was going to be special.
They ran down the hall holding hands and laughing like two children who had just escaped a visit with their least favourite relative. Anne was not surprised when they came upon the sitting room where Robert typically worked, and he turned inside. This had become their special place, and she was actually quite happy that they were going in here.
When they got inside and shut the door firmly after themselves, Robert immediately turned around, took her face in his hands, and kissed her. It was the most urgent, passionate kiss that she had ever experienced. It made her want to melt into Robert’s arms, which she was very happy that she could actually do now. Every time their skin brushed together, it felt warm and right, and Anne didn’t want to draw herself away from him for a very, very long time.
And so for the first few minutes that they were reunited, all they did was kiss. When they were finally able to extract themselves from within the other’s embrace, Robert smiled at her lovingly.
“I have so many things I wish to say to you that I do not know where to begin,” he said, sounding out of breath.
Anne giggled. “I feel exactly the same way. Shall we sit so that we both don’t faint from excitement?”
“That sounds like an excellent plan.” Robert took her by the hand once more and led her over to the settee.
The moment they were seated, Robert took up her other hand and looked deeply into her eyes. “I have discovered the first thing that I wish to say to you, my darling,” he said softly. “I first would like to ensure that there is nothing about the way that our relationship started that I didn’t explain to you. I do not want to move forward with us until I know that I have been perfectly clear about why I felt I had to act the way I did.”
Anne brought her hand up, lovingly stroked his cheek with her thumb, and cupped his chin with her fingers. “How about I try and report back to you what I have understood from your letters. Does that sound like it might be a good idea?”
Robert nodded emphatically, and then Anne thought hard for a moment about where she should begin her retelling. When she finally decided on a moment, she went ahead.
“Your father married Lord George’s mother and had Lord George and Lady Louisa. Lord George was quite a sickly child, however, and so Louisa assumed that he would not make it through childhood and that a son of hers would one day inherit the title of Lord Graham. Unfortunately for Lady Louisa, her mother suddenly died, and Lord Graham was determined to remarry as soon as possible. This meant that there was a potential for another heir.”
“Even worse,” Anne continued, “another heir certainly was born. You. Lady Louisa’s dreams of her son one day being Lord Graham were dashed. Amid all this, your poor mother was taken from you far too soon, and your father started directing all the contempt he held for her at you. You then had to deal with not only your father’s rage but also Lady Louisa’s.
“One bright aspect of your childhood was that Lord George pulled through his childhood illness. To the best of my understanding, he was kind to you throughout your childhood, and when he left the house to come and be with Lady Eponine, you were left to fend for yourself. Then came years and years of verbal abuse at the hands of your father and sister.
“All of this,” Anne pressed on, “created the perfect storm for the day that your sister decided that she wanted you out of the house for good. She knew that your father was practically looking for an excuse to remove you, and so all it took was her blaming a large shipment of books being bought on you. Your father exploded, told you that you were not to stay in the house and that you could not rely on the family’s money anymore.
“Thankfully, however,” she said in a lighter tone, “you knew that all you had to do was wait for a little bit longer, and you would come into the money that your darling mother carefully put aside for you. You did not want to simply ask your brother if you could reside with him, however, as that would not be fair. And so, you decided to create the character of Freddie Austen to take on the role of property manager here at the household. For some unknown reason, you also decided that the property manager should oversee the children’s education. Would you care to shed some light as to why you chose to do that, Robert?”
Robert laughed boyishly, and she could see the redness coming up in his cheeks. “I ... I cannot imagine what you might be implying, Anne. Do you think that I requested to oversee the children’s education because I wished to spend more time with you?”
Anne nodded. “That is precisely what I am insinuating, Mr Austen.”
Robert gave her a jokingly dirty look for using his alternate name. “Absolutely not. I do believe that I made that decision because I believed that my background in education …”
Robert tried to keep going, but he dissolved into laughter, as did Anne. “All right, all right, you caught me out. But I do not regret my decision, although it may have been bold at the time, because it worked out precisely as I wished it to, in the end, now didn’t it?”
The young governess agreed with him. “Now, would you allow me to finish my retelling so that we might move on with wherever we plan on taking the rest of this evening?”
The property manager closed his mouth firmly and held his lips with his teeth to signify that he would not say anything else.
“Good. As I was saying, you assumed this role because you were afraid that if you revealed to the rest of the household who you were, that word might get back to your father and sister that you had taken up residence here. You worried that if they found out that you were here, they’d think that you were trying to take advantage of Lord George’s ample kindness by living off of his wealth.
“And so, by creating this false persona, it allowed you to remain hidden here at the estate while you waited for the time to come when you could collect your mother’s money. However, it also allowed you to make a good wage to support yourself so that you might ... oh, I cannot say for sure, but perhaps you might like to begin a new life?” Anne asked.
Robert leaned back against the settee and looked up at the ceiling. “Where on earth did you get that inclination from, Anne? I really haven’t the slightest possible idea.”
Anne swatted him playfully and then resumed her story. “Now this is the part where my memory begins to get a bit foggy. You started work here at the house, and then what happened?”
Robert looked over at her, and she could tell that he knew she was teasing him right away. “Well, you see, the most unusual thing happened. There was this remarkably beautiful woman who ended up being the governess of my nieces and nephew. And though I tried to remind myself that it would not be a good idea to get involved with her, as I did not believe that I was deserving of such an outstandingly stunning woman ... I did. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with her with each day that passed.”
Anne stopped breathing. She couldn’t believe that Robert had actually said it out loud. She knew that it was going to come at some point in the evening, this revealing of love for each other, but she hadn’t expected it to come out so ... casually. Robert said it as though it was the most natural thing in the world, which, now that she thought about it, she supposed that it was.
When her heart eventually started pounding again, and her focus returned to Robert, she was still so surprised that she didn’t know what to say. And so when words failed her, she decided that the best course of action was to simply kiss him again.
