The Quiet One

by Anni Gossmann

other than sitting next to her. Trusty was in her lap trying to get her to scratch him.

  A rider was coming down the path, which Fred was not aware of, being preoccupied with Miss Anne. As the rider was about to pass them, he stopped his horse abruptly. He quickly dismounted and ran over to the bench. At first he was infuriated, but upon seeing Anne crying and Fred trying to console her, Hufton became saddened instead. Perceiving that it was the Viscount, Fred immediately left the bench. Feeling the motion, Anne glanced up to look into worried hazel eyes. He affectionately pulled her up into his arms, after kindly displacing Trusty. “Anne, what’s the matter?” She did not respond; she was relaxing in the comfort and safety of his arms. Her teardrops slowly found their way onto his shoulder, but he did not mind. He was about to ask her again, when she finally responded with: “The Blands’ ball.”

  He moaned. “Why don’t you just decline?”

  “My mother….” She started sobbing; forcing her body to go into convulsions and Trusty started whining.

  Blast! He would have to think of something to save her from another evening of hell. As he furiously was thinking of ways to help his love, he tenderly stroked her hair and held her tightly.

  She slowly stopped shaking and her crying was more controllable. “My world is falling down around me.”

  “Has your father consented in going?” She did not know. “Does he have any influence over your mother?” He could see from her face: not much. “Do you have any influence over your father?” She nodded. “But that probably won’t do much good if—“

  “When it has to do with me, he can sometimes be severely stubborn.” He saw a glimmer of hope finding its way from behind the tear-reddened eyes. Avery sent Anne back home after discussing how she might go about her persuasion with a promise that if it did not work, he would himself come and talk to Lord Vinrey. Anne was grateful and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She was embarrassed for doing it and he was touched. Avery so desired to pull her into his arms again and kiss her properly. He was much too well mannered. He helped her upon her horse and gave her a heart-filled kiss upon her hand, neither wanted to move, but Fred had started off and she had to follow.

  Anne stealthily worked her way to the study where her father always was. Hardly waiting for a response she entered hoping he would listen to her and help her like he always tried to do. Seeing her glowing nose and reddened eyes, he quickly ran to her side and demanded to know what transpired. She explained the little she knew about the upcoming ball and quickly explained about the Earl’s ball. Upon hearing Lady Vinrey’s desire to go to the ball, he quickly belted: “Audrey!” With this sudden loud noise, Trusty started barking, forcing Lord Vinrey to laugh, apologize to the dog, and take him into his lap to pet him.

  Never having been called for by her husband like this before, Lady Vinrey arrived timidly. “Audrey, we will not go to any balls, especially if the Earl is invited.” He saw a challenge coming. “We may go, but Anne will stay here.” She was debating the situation.

  “But how will she find a husband? Staying at home will keep her from meeting any—“

  “We will just have to host little soirees or only go to small gatherings. Large assemblages are not to be considered anymore for Anne. You may make any type of excuse for her as you wish.” With that, he closed the subject and winked at Anne. Why did she not come to him directly instead of panicking? She quickly gave her dear father a grateful kiss upon the cheek forcing him to displace the puppy and hug her quickly and kiss her kindly back. She saw in his eyes how much she really meant to him.

  Lady Vinrey most certainly desired going to the ball, so Anne would have to be excused. Lady Vinrey would not miss any invitation; she needed to mingle and hear the gossip. How Anne could not like it, she just could not fathom. Anne was kind enough to lend her ear to her mother’s ramblings about getting ready for the ball and tried to show mutual excitement but, with the Earl’s ball still clear in her mind, her grins were empty and her eyes a little dismal. Yet, when Lady Vinrey changed to the topic of hosting soirees, Anne quickly was alert. Would she really keep it small or invite the whole countryside? They should have one before the ball and Lady Vinrey now was deep in thought about the invitations. Anne held her breath.

  “We must keep it small.” Anne grinned and nodded back. “We most certainly need to invite our closest neighbors at first.” She was busy thinking about names and who should be considered in this list. Anne gave her mother her undivided attention and already had some paper and a pen to start the list. “Yes, I think I know. If we go by most important, the Viscount would top the list.” Anne almost gasped. After hearing this name, she was not really paying too much attention and just went through the motions for making the list. Surprisingly, there were only 6 families being invited. She took the list to her father for approval, who at the first name looked up at his daughter.

  “The Viscount, eh?” Anne tried hard not to blush but her father noticed anyway. “I thought there might be something there. Speak child!” Anne gave a general explanation, which was based on her Perfect Spot and ended by asking how he gathered they knew each other. “When you came to breakfast you seemed a bit more thoughtful and yet you had this grin.” She blushed again. “And when you responded that the letters were only condolences, I thought I saw something in your eyes saying more than that. Dearest Anne, you can’t hide much from me. Now the question only is: if the fellow has any feelings for you.” From her eyes he could see that she thought so, but he knew that often the feeling was far from mutual. He dearly hoped she was right. So, the list was approved and he wondered if in three days they could have the honor of hosting this little gathering. Lady Vinrey was overcome with the chore of the preparations but Anne and Lord Vinrey knew that the lady of the house lived for just such occasions. Since Anne was the cause for such a gathering, she helped her mother as much as possible. Anne was in charge of writing the invitations and left one for last so that she could properly address it.

  Dear Viscount Hufton,

  It seems that my family will be inviting you to a little soiree before you will have a chance. I hope you will accept this invitation for a tender gathering of only a few families on Wednesday. At the moment, I do not know if my mother has any desire to invite musicians, so your wish for a waltz may have to wait until a later time. I am eternally grateful for your advice, which has worked as you might have gathered with this invitation.

  With sincerest thanks,

  Miss Anne Vinrey

  Anne was absolutely shaking when she finally laid the pen aside and dried the ink. She quickly handed the letters to a servant to be sent immediately and went in search of her mother to aide her in any way possible. Anne needed to keep busy to not think of the Viscount. With a few well-placed hints, Lady Vinrey did decide to have a few musicians and now was feverishly finding someone available for Wednesday. With all of the preparations, Wednesday quickly arrived and Anne did not even have a chance to go to her Perfect Spot: the garden and paths on their estate was all the time she had. She was getting irked that the whistling song of the one particular bird just did not seem to exist on their estate. She would have to spend more time at her Spot and start searching for the bird. It must be an exceptionally beautiful and shy bird.

  Wednesday had arrived. All the preparations were taken care of; some little details in terms of the decorations were still being placed or fixed. After a quick glance, Lady Vinrey deemed the afternoon would be a success. After dinner, the musicians arrived and placed themselves in the ballroom and the Vinreys went to get ready. Anne was getting nervous. They never had invited anyone who really mattered to her before. How was he with other people around? Were 6 families still too much? What could she talk about, now that it was a smaller gathering? She almost wished it was already over. The guests were arriving and she was happy that Avery was not the first. The Plands arrived first with their three children, then the Fitzgeralds with their youngest son only, the Ambers arrived with their daughter and
her family, the Walls came next being the eldest couple having grandchildren already at marriageable age. The Breuts arrived with apologies for coming late and with flowers, and last but certainly far from least, Viscount Hufton arrived. He also arrived with flowers for being extremely sociably late and two bottles of wine. As he handed the wine to Lord Vinrey, he quickly and quietly stated that the flowers were mainly for Anne. They were not like flowers people usually came with because they came from her meadow with some insects included! She gleamed at him and quickly put them in a vase in the main hall. At first some small talk ensued which did not include Anne, which was usual, and then individuals moved around to have more meaningful conversations. Edmund Fitzgerald aimed towards Anne who was sitting towards the back of the parlor, hands clasped together in her lap, just quietly listening. He tried to start some conversation, but Anne did not say much because she really did not know what to say. From previous conversations at other social gatherings, the topics she discussed did not seem to interest much of anyone. Actually, thinking back, the only people not put out by her conversations were Avery and her father. So,