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Post by Anne on Oct 14, 2008 11:55:05 GMT -5
((I assume Georgiana and Darcy are meeting her there?))
*Anne wandered among the party, chatting and joking with everyone, but she seemed distant, somehow, as if she were holding her breath.*
"Now, Miss Shirley, what's got you out of sorts?" *asked Gilbert Blythe in a jovial yet concerned tone as he fell into step beside her as she rambled.
Anne shrugged.*
"The fall of the year, perhaps," *she said lightly.* "There's something in the air to make one feel pensive, no doubt."
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Oct 14, 2008 12:21:45 GMT -5
Mr. Darcy and his sister alighted from their carriage; not as fancy as they'd had at home, but the tasteful vehicle which belonged to the hotel. They had both dressed with a desire to fit in, though by necessity of their wardrobes their clothes were made of rather finer stuff than was to be found at an Avonlea clambake.
Georgiana, in Darcy's eyes, had grown somewhat in the past few weeks. She had not succumbed to despair, but rather grown rosy with outdoor pursuits and talkative with her reading as supported by Miss Shirley--hardly a harridan or a chatterbox, but there was a distinct change in her. Darcy had decided that he liked it; there was no need for both of them to be taciturn and dull, and the influence Miss Shirley had on his sister was, to his mind, positive.
For himself, Darcy had decreed that he would make every effort to engage himself with the community, for his sister's and the hotels' sake.
Certainly not to prove to Miss Shirley that he was capable of doing so.
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Post by Anne on Oct 14, 2008 12:27:02 GMT -5
*The band had just finished setting up, and a merry dancing tune began, several couples filling the clearing in a minute. Anne laughed as Gil gave a comical bow and put her hand in his to dance a rather ungainly waltz across the grass. Mid-whirl, she caught sight of Georgiana and her brother. She waved and called out.*
"Georgiana!"
*She hurried over, Gil ambling at her heels.*
"Mr. Darcy, Georgiana, may I introduce my friend Mr. Gilbert Blythe--Gil, this is Mr. Darcy and his sister who were so kind to us in London."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet the both of you," *said Gil with a grin.* "...Georgiana...if you are as yet unspoken for--might I be so bold as to claim the next dance?" *His hazel eyes twinkled as he smiled at her. Anne beamed gratefully. She'd asked Gil to help her make her friends feel welcome, and he seemed quite happy to obliged--especially as regarded Miss Darcy.*
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Oct 14, 2008 14:34:49 GMT -5
((How... convenient.))
Georgiana went off, quietly pleased and certain that any friend of Anne's was proper enough companion. Darcy's eyes followed them, unreadable.
"The slate?" he asked, his eyes turning to meet Anne's.
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Post by Anne on Oct 14, 2008 16:50:32 GMT -5
((I tried to imagine Gil still pining after Anne and/or Gil just being alone and both options broke my heart...))
"He very much deserved it," *she said primly, her fine nose held the smallest bit higher, though she smiled and her eyes sparkled with mischief at the memory.*
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Oct 14, 2008 17:00:49 GMT -5
"I have no doubt of it," Darcy said gravely, then smiled. "One hopes he has improved upon further acquaintance."
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Post by Anne on Oct 14, 2008 17:10:02 GMT -5
"I like Gil better than anyone," *said Anne brightly.* "I love Diana, though. She's my bosom friend, you see."
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Oct 14, 2008 17:14:18 GMT -5
Darcy politely did not choke on his own saliva.
"I... see," he said. He did not detect anything more than friendship between Gil and Anne, but it was hard to tell, how brightly she treated everyone. "Is Miss Diana here today?"
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Post by Anne on Oct 14, 2008 17:21:44 GMT -5
"I don't think so...she's married to Fred Wright and they're expecting their first baby soon..." *she said. The news in itself was expressed with warmth and excitement, but an undercurrent of strange wistfulness had crept into her tone which surprised even Anne herself.*
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Oct 14, 2008 17:31:11 GMT -5
"You don't see her much anymore," Darcy stated quietly. "Forgive me--can I get you some refreshment?"
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Post by Anne on Oct 14, 2008 17:40:30 GMT -5
"Oh, no thank you," *said Anne, putting on her blue sweater as the evening had turned a touch chilly.* "Yes...she's busy with her home and family, now. Most of my school friends are drifting away like that...I'll be the spinsterly old schoolma'am, still marking papers twenty years from now." *The thought was surprisingly flat and pessimistic, coming from Anne, with nary a word of her old ambition to write great books charming her destiny into something greater.*
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Oct 14, 2008 17:59:44 GMT -5
"Is that what you want, Miss Shirley?" Darcy asked gently. It did not sound like it. The Anne he'd fallen in love with had been full of dreams. Grandiose, perhaps, but such dreams could sustain her even through twenty years of grading papers. "Perhaps I did you a disservice, criticising your book. I do not fool myself that my opinion could have counted for much. But I should not have said anything to discourage you."
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Post by Anne on Oct 15, 2008 8:06:49 GMT -5
*Anne shook her head.*
"--publishers aren't interested in my kinds of stories, I think. Perhaps--I don't know. Being in Europe...so far from all I know...being alone for so long...maybe it had a negative effect. There is such a thing as having too much of an imagination, I think," *she mused.* "I've found that, before...in several ways."
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Post by Mr. Darcy on Oct 15, 2008 9:25:00 GMT -5
Darcy wondered what had brought on this change of heart. He did not like to see her like this. Not broken, no, just... older, perhaps. But Anne Shirley being sensible seemed unnecessary. She should just be, exist, without fetters.
"Perhaps you could give the excess away," he said softly. "My sister, I think, has already benefited. Perhaps I could, as well. I know I'm a hard case, Miss Shirley, but I am not altogether unreformable, am I?"
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Post by Anne on Oct 15, 2008 10:12:19 GMT -5
"Of course not," *said Anne, smiling briefly again.* "It isn't hard to imagine your redemption. You've already effected a great change within yourself, even if you don't know it. I can see it when I look at you."
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