Expectations: The Transformation of Miss Anne de Bourgh (Pride and Prejudice Continued), Volume 1

by Melinda Wellesley

Chapter Twenty-Two

  Still startled by their good fortune, Anne and Harriet helped Dolly finish unpacking their belongings in the ship’s stateroom. The room would be snug accommodations for four of their party, the other two being Mrs. Jenkinson and Mrs. Ross, and not a single piece of baggage had to be forfeited. Anne made the captain promise to introduce them to their benefactors. In the meantime, Mrs. Jenkinson visited the quarters that the servants would have on the way home. Anne understood some of the rooms were rather small, and she and her companions were willing to have Dolly sleep on the stateroom floor if it would help out.

  Harriet flopped onto what would be her bed, a mattress spread across a carefully-arranged platform of trunks. “Lord, what an end to our stay! We arrived like a royal caravan, and now we flee like mice. We are like Cendrillon, running away from the prince’s ball after the magic spell ended. My family will never believe this!”

  Anne viewed the cramped but tidy scene. They had room for not one more bag. The gentlemen who made this possible had done them such a great service, she had no idea how to express the full extent of her thanks. “Dolly, go see how the others are doing. I hope you will not have to crowd in with us, but I am sure the others will be grateful if it is necessary.”

  Dolly went on her errand, and Harriet suggested that she and Anne go outside to see the last of the preparations. “Too bad you packed your sketchbooks away. A drawing or two would be a final souvenir worth all the presents you had to leave behind at the villa.”

  Anne knew she could never capture the chaos, but she agreed to join Harriet for a last look at their warm winter home. If war did come again, it might be years before she could return.

  They found their way out to the middeck, where they were surrounded by furious activity with the crew making final preparations. One more English family had come aboard, and Anne watched the lady of the household chastise a crewman about showing proper respect for her trunks. Anne hoped she had not sounded like that when the crew came to haul her belongings on board. Surrounded by the frantic comings and goings, Anne and Harriet had no idea how not to be in the way. The ship’s master found them and escorted them up past the gun deck to the quarterdeck, where they could survey the scene in safety. The captain, a solid, sincere man named Hawkins, greeted them with whole-hearted courtesy. “Ladies, I am most glad to have you safely aboard. We shall be leaving soon. Only one passenger has yet to arrive.”

  Anne said, “Surely you will wait for him.”

  The captain shook his head. “As they say, ma’am, time and tide wait for no man. If he does not come aboard in ten minutes, we will be forced to leave without him.”

  Harriet asked, “What will happen to his room? Would it be available for us?”

  Captain Hawkins smiled. “In fact, ma’am, you have his room. His valet is the one who conveyed the offer.” He indicated an impatient man on the middeck, waiting at the top of the gangplank, looking to the shore and then consulting his fob watch.

  Anne said, “What is his master’s name? I wish to be introduced to him when he arrives so we may thank him for his generosity.”

  “His name is Major John Allenden of the —— Regulars. It is my understanding that he is a brother of the Earl of ——.”

  Anne thought she recalled her mother having talked of that family on some occasion, but she could not remember the particulars. “I hope the major arrives in time.”

  “As do I, ma’am. I hate to think what the French would do with him. He would probably be sent to a military prison for the duration of whatever wars may come.” The women lamented such a horrible fate. “Let us hope,” the captain continued, “if he fails to arrive before we must leave, that he will find passage on another ship. If he does make it aboard the Lady Helen, I am sure he will be pleased to meet you. If not, I shall have his servant and his friend introduced to you to receive your thanks.” The women expressed their gratitude to the captain for his courteousness.

  Without even knowing what the major looked like, Anne found herself studying the crowd in hopes of seeing him come up to the gangplank. But no one appeared as the ten minutes came and went, and the captain gave the order to depart. The crew prepared the sails and pulled the gangplank up onto the ship. The watchful servant approached the edge of the gun deck and addressed Captain Hawkins. “Sir, may we not wait five minutes more? I am sure Major Allenden will be here.”

  The captain shook his head, and the ladies in his company felt the dismay of the servant. “I am sorry,” Captain Hawkins said. “We must go. I hope with all my heart that he finds another way out of Naples.”

  The valet scanned the quay as men on shore tossed the mooring lines across to the Lady Helen. The first sails caught the breeze, and the ship began to move away from the land. The faithful servant shook his head.

  Anne’s heart was near breaking at the sight. She wanted to share words of comfort with him, but he went below decks.

  Harriet sighed. “I wonder if the major was at the masquerade. Perhaps I danced with him and never knew it.”

  “Very likely he was not,” Anne said. “He must have been attending to important business to miss the ship. He would have no time for something so inconsequential as a ball with danger on the horizon.”

  The sturdy merchant ship lumbered away from the quay. Two other ships had pulled out at the same time, and the Lady Helen fell in line behind them. As the ship finally turned her stern to the land, Anne still watched the shore, hoping to see a figure approach the vacated spot on the quay. A red coat would be visible for some distance. But no one who looked to be a British Army officer appeared.

  Distressed that so noble and generous a man had been left behind, Anne asked the captain to have the valet and the man’s friend brought to them to receive their thanks. Within a few minutes, the servant and a dark, handsome young man were presented to them up on the quarterdeck and the proper introductions made. Anne and Harriet lamented over the major’s absence. The servant said he felt confident that his master would find passage elsewhere and the ladies should not grieve for him. With particular gratitude Anne expressed her appreciation for the stateroom. “I do not know what we would have done without such generosity. I left so many things behind at the villa, but at least I knew the servants there would put my possessions to good use. Gifts for my mother left ashore for just anyone to take would have sorely troubled me.”

  The friend of the missing man, who had been introduced as Mr. Francis, asked, “Were you able to find room for all your belongings?”

  Harriet described the crammed room with a laugh and added that if they could hang bags from the ceiling they would do so just to keep from tripping over the stacks.

  Mr. Francis smiled. “Better a stubbed toe than a black eye from banging your head.” Harriet laughed, enchanted.

  When Mr. Francis asked Anne if she had traveled by sea before, she admitted only the short crossing from Ramsgate to Calais and she dreaded the prospect of rough seas for weeks on end. He said, “This is the best time of year to travel. The winter storms have ended, and the summer tempests have not yet begun. Is that so, Captain? Should we not have an easy passage?”

  Captain Hawkins admitted that the trip should be smooth, but not quick. “The Lady Helen is a worthy ship, but she is built for capacity, not speed. In addition to our overloaded cargo hold, we are heavily weighted down with a full complement of passengers and baggage. But we will get everyone home, eventually.”

  Anne noticed several sailors down on the middeck listening to their conversation. She wondered what their interest could be. Then she noticed Harriet studying Mr. Francis. In the moment, she feared her forthright friend might make a long and trying voyage even more difficult.

  An agitated Dr. Minton appeared and joined the group on the quarterdeck. “Captain, our ‘quarters,’ as you call them, are not a fit space for humans to inhabit. Four of us are expected to spend weeks in a room that cannot be more than six feet by twenty.”

  The captain of
fered a futile gesture. “Passengers will be welcome to spend as much time as you wish on the quarterdeck, with servants having access to the gun deck below. There is only one passenger room of any size, and these ladies have it.” The doctor grunted with exasperation. “If it eases your mind, sir,” the captain continued, “there are people staying in quarters smaller than yours.”

  This eased neither the doctor’s mind nor his pride. “Miss de Bourgh, surely you have some influence. We must be moved to something larger.”

  Anne replied to her physician, “Doctor, I doubt I have any such power.”

  The doctor turned again to Captain Hawkins. “Sir, this lady’s mother is the venerable Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Surely you have heard of her and this lady’s uncle, the Earl of ——. I am her personal physician. And I am a gentleman, sir. Sharing such a space with three servants is beneath my station. You must make some other sort of arrangement.”

  Anne noticed a frown had appeared on Mr. Francis’s otherwise handsome face.

  Captain Hawkins glowered at the insistent passenger. “My good doctor, every accommodation is full. Do you suggest I evict a family of five people to sleep on the deck just so you can satisfy your dignity?”

  Dr. Minton’s consternation grew. “I have some small money I can offer them. At your suggestion, surely they would accept.”

  The captain straightened his shoulders. “Sir, if you wish to offer them money, you may do so. I will make no suggestions on your behalf.” He nodded his respects to the ladies and departed.

  Dr. Minton turned to Miss de Bourgh. “It is unconscionable to expect me to—”

  “Dr. Minton, please!” For once Anne did not mind hearing her mother’s voice castigate the overweening servant. He bowed with scowling civility.

  Only then did Anne notice Mr. Francis’s frown had turned to a glare. However, its target was her, not her frustrated doctor. Perhaps he thought she had more control over her physician than she truly had. “Doctor,” she said in a calmer tone, “under the circumstances, I encourage you to be thankful that we have any rooms at all. These men have left behind their friend and master. We are lucky enough to have our entire party safely aboard.”

  Dr. Minton acquiesced, a little, and nodded. However, this did nothing to mollify the dark Mr. Francis, whose mood had descended to bare civility. The man nodded his respects and left, Major Allenden’s servant following. Anne watched them leave, baffled. What could have angered him so?

  End of Volume One

  Volumes 2 and 3 of Expectations: The Transformation of Miss Anne de Bourgh (Pride and Prejudice Continued) are available where you obtained Volume 1 in addition to other fine purveyors of ebooks.