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one thing i find funny (but probably shouldn't) about persuasion is that jane austen writes herself into a bit of a corner with regards to louisa musgrove and to get herself out of it she gives louisa permanent brain damage !!!!!!!!
wentworth himself admits all of the flirting prior to the fall has made everyone think theyre engaged (and possibly louisa thinks so too) and so he cannot pursue anne like he truly wants too because he won't jilt lousia.
and obviously jane austen needs to find a way for this couple to face obstacles but also end up together, so when shes got everyone convinced there something between wentworth and louisa she gives louisa a massive head injury that permanantly alters her behaviour. at the end of the novel charles musgrove tells anne that ever since her accident and coma louisa hates loud noises and twitches about and needs to be soother by captain benwick. obviously now we can read that as brain damage from her huge head injury.
idk theres just something so extreme about jane austen's most romantic and melancholy novel about reuniting with your lost love also featuring brain damage as a plot device to break up a potential relationship!!!!!! its bananas to me!
#persuasion#anne elliot#captain wentworth#jane austen#literal brain damage#lyme regis#louisa musgrove#the accident#persuasion novel#charles musgrove#mary musgrove#wentworth and anne#persuasion jane austen#jane austen books
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#abfancast#jane austen#persuasion#kdrama#korean drama#shin min ah#anne elliot#uhm tae goo#frederick wentworth#nam kyung eup#walter elliot#hwan woo seul hye#elizabeth elliot#cha chung hwa#mrs clay#jung gyu woon#william elliot#cha joo young#mary elliot#cho hyun chul#charles musgrove#jo yun seo#louisa musgrove#jeon hye won#henrietta musgrove#yang dae hyuk#captain benwick#kim sun young#lady russell#kim tae woo
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what do you think would have been the most personally tragic (plausible) outcomes for each of the heroines?
Catherine Morland - She was somehow forced to ride in John Thorpe's gig for a third time.
Now I'll be serious. I refuse to imagine my dear Catherine in a tragedy.
Marianne Dashwood - Willoughby seduces her and she ends up pregnant and ruined. I've written this, twice. Also, she could have died from her fever
Elinor Dashwood - Edward marries Lucy Steele, she ends up resigning herself to a prudent but loveless marriage or never leaves home, occasionally hearing through her family that Edward is completely miserable
Elizabeth Bennet - marries someone she doesn't really respect and becomes a female version of her father
Jane Bennet - never gets over Bingley, eventually settles for a loveless marriage and it kills her inside
Fanny Price - Edmund marries Mary Crawford and Fanny watches in silent agony as she destroys Edmund's (weak) moral core and he becomes an entirely different person. William's ship is lost and Fanny never hears from him again
Emma Woodhouse - kind of cheating since it's in the book: Mr. Knightley does fall in love with Harriet Smith and stops coming to Hartfield as often, leaving Emma loveless and lonely
Anne Elliot - Captain Wentworth marries Louisa Musgrove out of duty, he also realizes his love for Anne but sees no way out. Anne remains within his sphere through her connection to the Musgrove family, she is aware that he loves her but there is nothing either of them can do about it. After a few years and two children, Wentworth confesses and Anne is forced to remove herself to the house of a distant family member. She eventually marries and Wentworth takes on more and more risks as a naval officer, leading to his ship being destroyed and his entire crew dying. He survives and feels so guilty that he eventually hangs himself, leaving his disillusioned wife and kids to fend for themselves (don't worry, Louisa has a great family and a good fortune).
Lady Susan - Sir James refuses to die and escapes all of her attempts like a clueless cartoon character who cannot be killed. Her daughter is also widely reported to be more beautiful than her.
#question response#jane austen#pride and prejudice#mansfield park#northanger abbey#sense and sensibility#emma#persuasion#you asked for tragedy#I will give it to you#tw: suidice
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Jane Austen: -Captain Harville finishes talking to Anne and goes back to his wife. Everything is fine, you guys are having a beautiful day in Lyme together-did you want to do something else, Wentworth and Louisa?
Louisa Musgrove: oh, oh-I look at Captain Wentworth and I go, "Would you catch me if I jumped from the steps? Would you?"
Frederick Wentworth: *smiling* I am on board if you are!
James Benwick: *raising eyebrows* you are jumping from the slippery steps near the sea?
Louisa Musgrove: why not, it would be fun! What is the worst that can happen?
Jane Austen: about that, give me an Acrobatics Check. You are up against a four.
Louisa Musgrove: okay!
Frederick Wentworth: *low whistle*nice!
Jane Austen: what did you get?
Louisa Musgrove: fifteen!
Jane Austen: all right-you jump without fail and with no hint of losing your balance.
Frederick Wentworth: *chuckles* it doesn't surprise me, she has always incredible luck with her rolls!
Louisa Musgrove: that's right! I am going to jump even higher!
Jane Austen: are you sure? The DC will change.
Louisa Musgrove: I am young and strong, nothing will stop me! I am going to the highest step.
Jane Austen: okay-roll again, please. You are up against a twelve.
Louisa Musgrove: *groans* oh, come on!
Louisa Musgrove: *grimaces* it was a natural one.
Jane Austen: yeah, it doesn't pass-you slip and hit your head on the steps.
Anne Elliot: *wincing*
James Benwick: that hurts!
Jane Austen: you are unconscious.
Louisa Musgrove: what?
Jane Austen: you are at zero hit points-miraculously so.
Frederick Wentworth: I immediately try to intervene.
Anne Elliot: do we see what is going on?
Jane Austen: you do-Mary starts screaming: "Oh no! Is she dead? Is she dead?"
James Benwick: *groans*
Louisa Musgrove: *groans* I am not dead! ...I am not dead, right?
Jane Austen: no, but you took a big fall.
Frederick Wentworth: wait-can I help her? She has a concussion, right?
Jane Austen: give me a Medicine Check.
James Benwick: wait, I want to do it too!
Jane Austen: sure, go for it.
Frederick Wentworth: it's a six. With modifier.
James Benwick: three.
Jane Austen: and Captain Harville got a natural one-yeah, you guys have absolutely no idea what to do.
Frederick Wentworth: *laughing histerically* veterans of war, who escaped death at sea- brought down by a few bad rolls!
Louisa Musgrove: *nervous laugh* I am going to die because I tripped-because I tripped! My brother got a better death than me and his name was Dick!
Jane Austen: Richard, but sure-
Anne Elliot: wait, I have a Healer Kit!
Jane Austen: *pleasantly surprised* you do?
Anne Elliot: yes, I had kind of forgotten about it-can I roll a Medicine Check too?
Jane Austen: you don't need to roll, you can stabilise her immediately.
Whole table: *breath of relief*
Frederick Wentworth: *heartfelt* thank you for existing, Anne.
Anne Elliot: *flustered* I try.
Louisa Musgrove: thank you Anne for not making me die because I tripped. I really did not want to get a new character-
#jane austen#persuasion#anne elliot#frederick wentworth#captain harville#captain benwick#louisa musgrove#crack but also text
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Jane Austen crack poll #4
I'm enjoying doing these silly polls imagining the Jane Austen characters in our modern universe.
Now I want to know, who loves karaoke the most? Not necessarily who is the best at it, but who most enjoys doing it?
If you like, reblog and say what their go-to song is.
#polls#jane austen crack#jane austen characters#jane austen#pride and prejudice#sense and sensibility#emma#persuasion#northanger abbey
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"Best" is left up to interpretation
#19th century literature#jane austen#persuasion#sense and sensibility#northanger abbey#mansfield park
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Not accounting for fortune, rank, other family members, or any other variables...
(And yes, I wrote them all with their maiden names to make my life easier)
#I fully acknowledge I was scraping the bottom a little for northanger abbey#but i wanted it to be on here too#sisterhood is such a central theme and part of the characters lives in jane austen#so i wanted to dedicate some time to looking at a lot of their different relationships#fully expecting P&P to sweep#even though folks sleep on the musgroves#sense and sensibility#jane austen#pride and prejudice#sister#sisterhood#persuasion#sisters#jane austen emma#mansfield park#northanger abbey
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I'm nothing but a cheater so here's a poll that I could decide on
#jane austen#tumblr polls#pride and prejudice#sense and sensibility#persuasion#emma#northanger abbey#mansfield park#mandy gives no ducks
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#polls#jane austen#mansfield park#persuasion#northanger abbey#sense and sensibility#lady susan#regency#books#book#bookbkr
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Of Plum Pudding and Other Pleasures
Flour of England, Fruit of Spain Met together In a shower of rain, Put in a bag Tied round with a string; If you tell me this riddle I’ll give you a ring.
—traditional English riddle
Mrs. Cratchit’s Christmas Pudding
But now, the plates being changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone—too nervous to bear witnesses—to take the pudding up and bring it in.
Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it should break in turning out! Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose—a supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid! All sorts of horrors were supposed.
Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook’s next door to each other, with a laundress’s next door to that! That was the pudding! In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered—flushed, but smiling proudly—with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.
—from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
An Old Christmas Fire
On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise of the others. Charles and Mary also came in, of course, during their visit, and Mr Musgrove made a point of paying his respects to Lady Russell, and sat down close to her for ten minutes, talking with a very raised voice, but from the clamour of the children on his knees, generally in vain. It was a fine family-piece.
Anne, judging from her own temperament, would have deemed such a domestic hurricane a bad restorative of the nerves, which Louisa’s illness must have so greatly shaken. But Mrs Musgrove, who got Anne near her on purpose to thank her most cordially, again and again, for all her attentions to them, concluded a short recapitulation of what she had suffered herself by observing, with a happy glance round the room, that after all she had gone through, nothing was so likely to do her good as a little quiet cheerfulness at home.
—from Persuasion by Jane Austen
Brown Bread Recipe
One cup of sweet milk, One cup of sour, One cup of cornmeal, One cup of flour, Teaspoon of soda, Molasses one cup, Steam for three hours, Then eat it all up.
—traditional American
Winter
A wrinkled crabbed man they picture thee, Old Winter, with a rugged beard as grey As the long moss upon the apple-tree; Blue-lipt, an icedrop at thy sharp blue nose, Close muffled up, and on thy dreary way Plodding alone through sleet and drifting snows. They should have drawn thee by the high-heapt hearth, Old Winter! seated in thy great armed chair, Watching the children at their Christmas mirth; Or circled by them as thy lips declare Some merry jest, or tale of murder dire, Or troubled spirit that disturbs the night, Pausing at times to rouse the mouldering fire, Or taste the old October brown and bright.
—Robert Southey
#art#literature#old masters#poetry#dickens#christmas#still life#anthology#winter poetry#charles dickens#dickens december#books & libraries#culture
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My ranking of Jane Austen's 6 novels before and after reading them
Before:
Pride and Prejudice I've read this many times, so I know I love it. And I think it's the general favorite among Jane Austen's readers (that, or maybe Emma) so I expect it to remain my favorite.
Sense and Sensibility Maybe it's just the title & the two main characters being sisters, but this one feels a lot like Pride and Prejudice to me, so I think I'll like it a lot.
Persuasion I really like the premise of the novel, and honestly, that's all I've got to say about that one.
Emma I think this one is the second most popular, so I expect to like it, but also I don't generally like characters like Emma (or characters that I presume Emma to be like) so we'll see.
Mansfield Park I'm actually most of the way through this one (whoops) so this is probably where it'll be after I've read them all, but we'll see. I like it, but it's not quite as dramatic or romantic as I imagined it would be.
Northanger Abbey Kind of like with Emma, I just don't expect to like Catherine Morland. I'm already shuddering with second hand embarrassment for her. I expect my opinion will change once I've actually read the book, though.
After under the cut
After:
Pride and Prejudice I love all of the characters in this and I really love all of the settings, too. I feel the most transported when I read this one.
Persuasion This one felt the most gentle to me. The most anxiety I had was when Louisa had her accident. It was a smooth read and I really love Captain Wentworth and Anne. (I also love how the Musgroves love Anne more than Mary.)
Mansfield Park I liked Fanny more than I thought I would, I really liked Susan, and I enjoyed hating Mrs. Norris. When I finished this, I liked it, but I didn't really have any strong feelings about it. Now that I've let it marinate in my brain, though, I like it more and more every day
Northanger Abbey I adore Henry Tinley and Catherine. Henry is probably my favorite of Austen's heroes. I felt like I was in Bath with them. I really liked this as I was reading it, but almost immediately after I forgot what made me like it so much.
Emma I did not like Emma--not the story or the character. I can see why people like it and her (I didn't dislike her as much at the end), in the same way I can see why people like Sense and Sensibility. But it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Sense and Sensibility I was really surprised and kind of dismayed that I didn't like this one. I didn't have any strong feelings about the characters, settings, or events. It was incredibly boring to me.
#pride and prejudice#emma#jane austen emma#emma jane austen#sense and sensibility#persuasion#mansfield park#northanger abbey#jane austen#jane austen books#catherine morland#emma woodhouse#my post#fanny price#henry tilney#anne elliot#captain wentworth#mary musgrove
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So, I watched the new Netflix Persuasion last night. I was bracing myself for something awful, because all the reviews online were SO negative. Having braced myself... I actually enjoyed it. lol
Some notes, in no particular order (spoilers):
Racial diversity ftw we love to see it
omg Mr. Eliot really WAS a ten
Anne was also gorgeous
I want to hear Admiral Croft's magnificent voice waaaaay more than we had the chance to
Good depiction of Mary's kids
Lovely actors chosen for Henrietta and Louisa!!
Perfect casting for Sir Walter, 10/10, no notes.
One of my FAVORITE things about this adaption is Mary Musgrove. She is just HILARIOUS. To Austen's original audience, Mary would have resembled people they knew, and they would be laughing and rolling their eyes at the accuracy and ridiculousness. In most dramatic adaptations I've seen of Persuasion, Mary is just fucking annoying. So by updating her to the kind of annoying person WE know in 2023, they made the character funny again.
The ways that they modernized it were really interesting. Having people know that Wentworth and Anne were exes added some layers of subtlety to the social interactions, which was interesting. I don't care for cringe humor, so I wasn't fond of that the couple of times it came up (saying that Charles had wanted to Mary her was SO cringe that I fast-forwarded lol). Yeah, the direct address and self-deprecating humor could get a little precious, but it really didn't bother me.
The changes were interesting in general, and really change one's interpretation of the story. Like Louisa making sure Anne was okay with Louisa going after Anne's ex, or Mr. Eliot being upfront about trying to stop Sir Walter from marrying --- and then nobody at all having a problem with him ending up with Mrs. Clay. (I also like that Wentworth got a jab in to Mary about being a snob when they were visiting the Hargroves.)
I will tell you the one thing that annoyed me the most about this adaptation, and I'm not sure it's one that the reviews really talked about: Wentworth was only semi-good-looking and every time he talked he sounded like he was on the verge of either tears or a belch. Not attractive. Go for Mr. Eliot, Anne. He's a 10.
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New Year's Resolutions for Jane Austen Characters (mid-novel)
Emma Woodhouse: Find a new man for Harriet Smith No more matchmaking! Admit Knightley (and his brother) were right. Meet Frank Churchill, finally.
George Knightley: Just feeling thankful for everything I have. I don't think my life needs to change.
Mr. Woodhouse: Finally convince Isabella to live at Hartfield instead of with her husband. Poor Isabella!
Harriet Smith: Marry Mr. Elton 💗💗💗 *unable to read tear-stained writing*
John Knightley: Spend more time at home with my beloved wife. Why do people invite us places???
Elinor Dashwood: Find a way to get over the most perfect man I've ever met.
Edward Ferrars: Find an honourable way to get out of the engagement with Lucy (same resolution he's had for three years now)
Robert Ferrars: Build a magnificent cottage
Marianne Dashwood: Marry the most perfect man to grace this earth with his beautiful presence, John Willoughby. Also, read more poetry.
Colonel Brandon: *stares at the paper in despair because he cannot bear to give form to his ambitions which seem already impossible*
Elizabeth Bennet: I don't really think there's anything I need to improve about myself. I'm really a great judge of character.
Fitzwilliam Darcy: Remember that duty comes before ephemeral feelings of affection.
Jane Bennet: Find a way to get over the most perfect man I've ever met.
Charles Bingley: Buy an estate (resolution submitted by Caroline & Louisa)
Caroline Bingley: Encourage Charles to finally buy an estate (not in Hertfordshire), get Charles and Georgiana Darcy engaged, get engaged to Mr. Darcy, attend a party with at least three members of the nobility... (too many goals to record here)
Mrs. Bennet: MARRY OFF AT LEAST ONE OF THESE DARN DAUGHTERS
Anne Elliot: find a way to be less awkward around Captain Wentworth... Prepare myself for Captain Wentworth to marry Louisa... Try to endure Bath with a smile
Captain Wentworth: Get out of the obligation to marry Louisa Musgrove by any fair means. PLEASE GOD I AM BEGGING YOU
Captain Benwick: Mourn Fanny for eternity Marry Louisa Musgrove
Catherine Morland: Henry Tilney 💗💗💗💗 Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey 💗💗💗💗 Henry Tilney & Mrs. Catherine Tilney 💗💗💗 *doodles ideas for wedding gowns*
Eleanor Tilney: Marry the love of my life (same goal for the past three years)
Henry Tilney: Keep being awesome
Frederick Tilney: Keep being awesome
General Tilney: Have all my children disposed in marriage to wealthy individuals (goal since Frederick turned 21)
Mrs. Allen: Purchase some very fine lace
Fanny Price: marry edmund Be as unnoticed as possible
Edmund Bertram: Marry Miss Crawford
Mary Crawford: Marry Edmund Bertram
Henry Crawford: Promote William Price, marry Fanny Price. Rub my excellent treatment of Fanny in the Bertram's faces.
Tom Bertram: *never wrote anything down, never does his years are always awesome*
Mr. Yates: Finally put on a production of Lovers' Vows third times the charm!
Mrs. Norris: Save more money than last year by furthering economy. Keep Fanny in her place. Become more necessary to the Bertrams.
Lady Bertram: sew a cute little jacket for Pug
Lady Susan: Keep being the best Gaslight Girlboss *kisses paper*
(if Christmas happened within novel, I tried to place the resolutions around it. If not, I made up a time)
#new year's resolution#happy new year!#jane austen#mansfield park#pride and prejudice#northanger abbey#sense and sensibility#emma#persuasion#lady susan
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Characters in Persuasion 1995/Characters in Rational Creatures
Anne Elliot/Ana Elias | Captain Frederick Wentworth/Fred Wentworth
Louisa Musgrove/Louis Musgrove | Henrietta Musgrove/Henrietta Musgrove
Mary Musgrove/Marisol Musgrove-Elliot | Charles Musgrove/Charlie Musgrove-Elliot
Captain James Benwick/Ben Wick | William Elliot/Elliot Williams
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Austen siblings: the best of the best
Please vote based on their depiction in the books, not the movies. (I'm looking at you, fans of 2005!Darcy and Georgie!) Other than that, use whatever criteria you want. Sibling goals? Most loving? Most entertaining and fun? Most realistic? Up to you!
These are in alphabetical order by last name, so read the whole list before voting!
I have a worst Austen siblings poll too.
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“Half Agony, Half Hope” Chapter Four
Summary: In the aftermath of the revelations of the previous chapter (namely, that Tegan cares for Nyssa to an extent Nyssa would have never dared to dream), how will Nyssa progress from here? The two of them have drawn closer, yet a small amount of distance and hesitancy still keeps them apart. Will they overcome it? In our concluding chapter, we find out...
Tag list: @serenbex @lonely-space-ace
~~~~~~~ Read on FFN. Read on AO3.
~~~~~~~
Nyssa did not have time to dwell much on the events of the ball, although she would have dearly liked to. She did not even have a chance to speak to Tegan about what had changed between them during that conversation outside the main hall.
This was because word had reached their family that Henrietta had also been proposed to, meaning that two wedding preparations were happening simultaneously. And, since most of the extended family was now staying in Bath, the wedding preparations would be taking place in the house Nyssa and her family were staying in.
Mary and Charles had arrived, in a whirl of ‘hello’s and ‘how have you been’s.
‘And what brings Mrs Musgrove to Bath?’ enquired Lord Tremas, as he walked his youngest daughter up the stairs.
‘She’s come to buy wedding clothes for Henrietta and Louise,’ Mary replied, excitedly. ‘It is so exciting; it makes me giddy. A double wedding!’
Nyssa did not say anything, but followed everyone else upstairs. She would have dearly loved a moment to herself just to think more about Tegan, but her family (especially Mary and Elisabeth) did not seem to notice this. And so the wedding preparations had begun. Nyssa found herself ensconced in the very centre of things, as Mrs Musgrove seemed to rate her opinion very highly.
‘What do you think for Louisa’s hair, Nyssa?’ Mrs Musgrove asked her. The two of them were sat with Henrietta, sorting through various examples of fabric. Mary was stood by the window. The older woman extended two different types towards Nyssa. ‘This one or this one?’
As Nyssa leaned forward to inspect them, Henrietta spoke.
‘Louisa has become so severe, ma-ma; I wonder if she will want a ribbon in her hair at all’- the three of them giggled- ‘Give her a book of verse to hold instead!’
At that moment, the door opened.
‘Ma-ma,’ said Charles’s voice. ‘Look who I found.’
‘Oh, Captain Jovanka; how lovely to see you again!’
Nyssa froze in her seat.
Her chair happened to be facing away from the door. She had not seen Tegan at all since the previous evening at the ball, and her nerves were immediately on-edge. What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to speak with Tegan in front of everyone else, knowing what she now knew? And, oh, how was she supposed to keep her feelings hidden under the calm façade that her family had long since assumed was her natural personality?
‘I’ve been to the theatre, and I’ve secured a box for tomorrow night,’ said Charles, smiling.
‘Oh, wonderful,’ Mrs Musgrove said, before turning to Nyssa. ‘Nyssa, you will accompany us, I hope?’
‘O-oh, well I am obliged to you, Mrs Musgrove,’ Nyssa replied, her brain still reeling. ‘But I cannot; there is an evening party at Camden Place to which, I understand, you shall all be invited.’
‘An evening party?’ Charles exclaimed, doubtfully.
‘If it only depended upon me, I assure you I would prefer the theatre. But… I have an obligation to my family.’
‘Then we shall go another time when you are free to join us,’ Mrs Musgrove said, kindly.
‘Thank you.’
‘Captain Harville; please, come sit with me,’ Henrietta said, helping the man into a seat. ‘I am desperately in need of a fresh opinion.’
Nyssa got up from her seat and moved across the room, away from the others. As she did so, she could help but feel Tegan’s eyes upon her. She had still not been able to dwell too much on their last conversation. But… oh, it made her heart rejoice to understand that Tegan did not hate Nyssa for the way she had treated her those seven years ago.
‘Perhaps…’
Nyssa startled. Tegan had come to stand next to her.
‘… you have not been in Bath long enough,’ Tegan continued. ‘To enjoy these parties they give.’
‘They… mean nothing to me.’ Nyssa replied. ‘Those who hold them believe the theatre to be beneath their dignity. But… I am no card player.’
Tegan looked at her, and the taller woman’s face broke into a smile.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘You never were, were you, Nys?’
Nyssa smiled, a small chuckle escaping her lips.
‘Indeed,’ she said. ‘I have never been one for gambling. I… I am not given to flights of fancy. I simply do what I can with what I have, and I am aware that is not saying a lot.’
‘Not a lot, you say?’ Tegan replied, quietly. ‘It seems to me that you do not care much for yourself… or for your attributes, of which you are graced with a great deal, if I may say so.’
‘I… I cannot claim to agree with you,’ Nyssa said. ‘You are surely biased to be far too generous with your praise, given your own extensive list of admirable qualities, which includes great loyalty. The… greatest of loyalty, even if the person upon whom that loyalty is based does not deserve such.’
‘And if they do deserve such? Is good judgement not a quality I can claim?’
Nyssa stared at her.
‘I… I suppose the person in question must be a truly lucky person, to receive such loyalty.’
‘Luck would have nothing to do with it. Loyalty is earned, and is not given lightly.’
A moment passed between them. Nyssa was suddenly struck by how… natural this felt. It was as if the past seven years had fallen by the wayside, and no time had passed at all. Just… the two of them conversing, making the other smile. It was so easy that Nyssa found herself shocked that things had fallen back into place without her even realising it.
Maybe such a moment to elaborate on their previous conversation had presented itself? After all, the rest of the rooms occupants were so caught up in wedding preparations to notice them. Perhaps she could ask Tegan to accompany her downstairs on some errand? Nyssa opened her mouth to speak-
‘I say, is that Mr Elliott standing under the colonnade?’
Mary was still stood by the window, but had spoken loudly so that the entire room could hear her. Nyssa was silent for a moment, before sadly letting out a small sigh. Tegan’s eyes flickered, as if she noticed this. But Nyssa had no way of elaborating further; the moment had passed.
‘It cannot be,’ Nyssa said, reluctantly turning away from Tegan. ‘I believe he told Elisabeth that he had gone out of Bath for two days. To stay with some friends at Combe Park.’
‘I think I may be relied upon to recognise my own cousin,’ Mary said, irritably. ‘Come and look.’
Nyssa let out another small sigh and headed across the room to stand next to Mary. Sure enough, Mr Elliott was standing a while away.
‘How strange,’ Mary said. ‘He does not look best pleased with who he is speaking to.’
The person was a young woman and an older man, presumably her father. There was much waving of arms as well as clearly loud voices, although they did not carry across the street and through the windows.
Nyssa had a sneaking suspicion that all would be revealed the next time she visited Mrs Smith, given Nurse Rooke’s habit of notifying her of gossip amongst the gentry living in and around the city.
Nyssa came to stand beside Captain Harville, who was examining a miniature portrait.
‘Is that…’
‘Captain Benwick?’ he replied. ‘Yes. But it was not drawn for Louisa Musgrove. It was drawn at the cape, for my sister. And now… I have the charge of getting it set for another. It… it is too much for me, I confess; so she undertakes it.’
Harville nodded towards Tegan, who was now sat at the desk writing a letter.
‘She’s writing instructions to the frame makers now,’-Harville’s face grew stiff- ‘Poor Phoebe. She… she would not have forgotten him so soon. It was… well, not in her nature.’
‘It would not be in the nature of any woman who has truly loved,’ Nyssa said, quietly.
‘Do you claim that for women?’
‘I will admit that I have never been drawn to men but… from what I can gather from other women that do, women do not forget men as soon as vice versa. I suppose many cannot help themselves. Many… many women live at home; quiet, confined and… feelings can prey upon someone in such circumstances.’
Harville did not respond, and Nyssa took this as a sign to continue.
‘Those away in the navy have something to occupy them… to take them back into the world.’
‘I… I do not feel it is men’s nature any more than women’s to forget, to be inconstant,’ Harville said, quietly, looking out into the rain. ‘Or to forget those they love or have loved. I believe the reverse, I believe…’
At this moment, there was a gentle clunk as a pot from the desk fell to the floor. Tegan reached down and grabbed it.
‘Have you finished your letter?’ Harville asked.
‘Er… not quite,’ Tegan replied. ‘A few lines yet.’
For a second, Tegan’s eyes met Nyssa’s, but then she went back to writing, hunched over the desk with her expression disguised. Nyssa swallowed, unsure of what to make of that.
Harville looked back out the window for a moment, before turning back to Nyssa.
‘From what I have read, all histories seem to be against your view. I do not think I have read a single one that did not have something to say about women’s fickleness.’
‘By “all”,’ Nyssa replied, attempting to pull her mind back onto firmer ground. ‘Are you referring to the histories that were all written by men?’
Harville let out a chuckle before nodding to himself.
‘I suppose,’ he said, going back to the window. ‘If… well, I suppose it is different from the perspective who has gone away to sea. To take a last look at their family… husband, wife, perhaps, and maybe children… and watches the boat that they have sent their family off in, for as long as it is in sight… and then turns away and says “goodness knows whether we will meet again”. The glow of that persons soul when they do see their family once more… it’s something quite unlike anything else.’
‘So long as the person you love lives… and lives for you,’ Nyssa said. ‘I… well, if I can claim something for those left behind -and it is not an enviable something, I admit- is loving longest, when all hope is lost.’
At that moment, the door opened and Lady Croft appeared.
‘Come, Tegan,’ she said, cheerfully. ‘We must part company.’
‘One moment, Sophie,’ Tegan replied, somewhat awkwardly. Nyssa got the strange feeling that Tegan had been eavesdropping on her conversation with Harville. But why did she look so flustered and ill-at-ease? The words Nyssa had spoken were not especially unusual, nor poetic. They were simple truths that Nyssa knew from a lifetime of observing others.
‘Well,’ Lady Croft said, speaking to the room at large. ‘We will all have the privilege of meeting again, later this evening at your party.’
‘Harville,’ Tegan said, climbing to her feet and clearing her throat. ‘If you’re ready, we can depart.’
Lady Croft smiled at Nyssa, before leaving. Tegan and Harville followed, with the former curiously quiet.
‘Now,’ Mrs Musgrove said, walking over to the window. ‘Where have Henrietta and Mary disappeared off to?’
The door reopened, and Tegan appeared. Nyssa found her eyes glued to the taller woman.
‘Forgive me, Mrs Musgrove,’ she said, striding into the room. ‘I left my umbrella.’
However, instead of taking the umbrella and leaving immediately, Tegan stood up, placed a hand on a letter she had just laid onto the desk, and locked eyes with Nyssa.
There was a beat as their eyes met. Nyssa’s heart seemed to skip a beat. Her mind swirled. Her pulse quickened. She felt as if she was once again stricken, unable to move or think. Her brain seemed to have dissolved in a heady swirl of emotions. Through this, her last frazzled nerve spoke with a force she had known in a long time. Move, it begged her, say something, make some sign-
Tegan turned on her heel and left, without another word.
Mrs Musgrove then also left the room, presumably to locate Henrietta and Mary. Her heart racing, Nyssa hurried forward and picked the letter off the desk. It was without an envelope. Through the thin paper, Nyssa could make out the unmistakable untidy scrawl that belonged to Tegan.
With trembling hands, Nyssa unfolded the paper.
“Come and find me. I must speak with you.”
Nyssa felt as if her head was spinning. The entire axis of her world seemed to have shifted, and she was left floundering, drifting, except for the single thought in her mind. Just one single thought. The most important.
Find her.
‘Nyssa?’
Mrs Musgrove���s voice seemed to reach Nyssa as if from another plane of existence. The older woman had presumably stuck her head through the door to check Nyssa was well.
‘I… I must go. Please excuse me.’
Nyssa hurried out of the room, past Mrs Musgrove, and down the staircase. She quickly collected her coat and hat from the cloakroom and half-walked half-ran out of the door. It was an overcast day, and she was glad of the extra layer due to the cool wind that had a habit of whipping through the city streets.
However, all the cool air in the world could not have tempered Nyssa’s frantically beating heart, which was causing the blood to roar in her ears and her cheeks to flush as if she had just run a great distance. But, in a matter of speaking, the distance she had covered in the past ten minutes within her own mind was as if between two worlds. Her own world and the world that she had previously thought it was impossible for her to reach. A world she had desperately tried to avoid thinking about for seven years. But to no avail, for hear she was, and she was travelling between them as if by a million miles with every step she took.
She hurried down the garden path and out into the road. Nyssa’s eyes darted from left to right. Where was she? Surely Tegan had not left so quickly-
‘Nys?’
Nyssa’s heart seemed to leap into her mouth as she turned.
Tegan was stood barely a few feet away, her eyes wide and burning with a fierce intensity that took Nyssa’s breath away.
‘T-Tegan?’
In her rush to leave the house, Nyssa had kept the short letter clutched in her hand. Tegan’s eyes flew to it, before darting back up to Nyssa’s face.
The two women stepped towards each other. There was barely a few inches of space between them now.
Tegan wet her lips, and began to speak.
‘You pierce my soul. I… I am half agony, half hope.’
Nyssa felt her heart beat painfully against her chest. The world outside of the two of them once again faded to a grey blur.
‘Tell me that I am not too late, Nyssa; that those precious feelings are gone forever,’ Tegan continued, her voice tender. ‘I… I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years ago. I don’t know if a woman’s heart forgets more quickly than that of a man, or whether a woman’s love has an earlier death, but I do know that I have loved no-one but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have definitely been, but never inconstant. Nys… you alone have brought me to Bath. Have you… misunderstood what I mean? A word, a look, will be enough to decide-’
Tegan stopped talking. Because, at that moment, Nyssa had leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips.
It was a kiss that had been seven years in waiting. And, oh, Nyssa felt the weight of those seven years finally ease from her shoulders as Tegan deepened the kiss. After all this time, all those long days of nothingness, the pure feeling of their lips pressed together was impossible to describe and exhilarating to experience. What poetry could accurately chart how Nyssa’s heart beat to the point of stammering? What literature could possibly convey the sparks that shivered up her spine as Tegan’s hand came to rest upon the back of Nyssa’s coat? What art could capture the explosion of colours that erupted within Nyssa’s mind as Tegan gave a soft moan against her lips?
Perfect. Utterly perfect.
The world around them could have fallen away, and Nyssa would not have noticed. She could not imagine a world that did not involve Tegan with her like this.
Slowly, their lips slipped apart, and the two women stared at each other.
Nyssa’s mouth broke into an enormous smile, which she could do nothing to temper. But she honestly did not wish to temper it. After a lifetime of keeping demurely and quietly to herself, she now wished to be as open and honest as she felt agreeable.
Tegan grinned back in response, her eyes sparkling.
‘Blimey, Nys.’
‘I take it my mouth has not forgotten you, as yours has not forgotten mine?’
‘Nyssa!’ Tegan exclaimed, face blushing. ‘We’re in public!’
‘I am well aware of that,’ Nyssa replied, still smiling. ‘But I also care very little at this point.’
‘Bloody hell…’ Tegan said, almost in awe. ‘I… that is, do you still…’
Nyssa leaned forward again and pressed her lips to Tegan’s for a moment, before leaning back, her face only a few inches from Tegan’s.
‘I… I never stopped feeling that way for you,’ Nyssa whispered. ‘I always…’
With gentleness in every movement, Tegan took Nyssa’s hand.
‘I… I tried to forget you, Nys.’
‘I am sorry that you ever felt you ought to,’ Nyssa whispered. ‘But I am also glad that you did not.’
Tegan smiled.
‘I am glad too. May we walk? I imagine the two of us have a lot to discuss.’
Nyssa nodded. She linked her arm through Tegan’s, and the two of them set off through the streets.
*
Several hours later, Nyssa and her family were at Camden Place. Nyssa, walking back from discussing the evenings proceedings with the staff, entered the room. The candelabras set around gave an intimate feeling to proceedings, despite the many people in attendance. It was a rather splendid set of rooms, although Nyssa found these sort of occasions most dull. The sort of place that attracted self-important people who cared little for the human amusements of theatre and laughter. Nyssa was wearing her best dress; she would not have normally dressed so well for such an occasion, but she had a different objective this evening.
Henrietta and Charles were sat playing cards with the Admiral and Lady Croft. They all smiled at Nyssa as she passed, which she returned in kind. Lady Russell was sat around a table with Mary, both of them engrossed in a game of cards.
As Nyssa passed another table, a hand reached out and grabbed her by the arm.
‘When Captain Jovanka arrives,’ Elisabeth said, quickly, without so much as a hello. ‘You must not monopolise her. It is a very bad habit of yours.’
Nyssa stared down at her, and raised an eyebrow.
Penelope Shepherd, who was sat across the table from Elisabeth, gave a sympathetic look towards Nyssa. She was used to Elisabeth’s habits, although she clearly did not appreciate them anymore than Nyssa did. Maybe a few months prior, Nyssa would have simply nodded and given in. But Nyssa did not feel willing to do so anymore.
‘Elisabeth, I believe you are missing several cards from your deck,’ Nyssa said. ‘You may wish to check your hand again.’
Miss Shepherd had to cover her mouth with her hand to disguise her smile, as Elisabeth stared down at her cards in confusion. Nyssa walked away from the table, a small smile on her face.
‘Bonaparte had escaped from Alban,’ the Admiral was saying to Henrietta. ‘And raised an army. There is to be another war, by the sounds of things.’
‘So you will have to leave us again, Admiral?’
‘I believe so, yes-’
‘Captain Jovanka and Captain Harville!’
Nyssa turned, towards the door. Sure enough, Tegan had entered the room, accompanied by Harville. The staff member who had announced them was already stepping back into place by the door.
Tegan caught Nyssa’s eye, and the two women nodded at each other in understanding. They had discussed it at length that day, after all. They had wanted to when they were seven years younger, of course, but fate had conspired to give them a painful wait. But that wait had finally come to an end. And neither Nyssa nor Tegan had any intentions of delaying any longer. Not when things had finally fallen into place for them.
‘Captain Jovanka,’ Sir Tremas said, rising to his feet. ‘Come in; please, what will you play?’
‘Actually,’ replied Tegan, smiling. ‘I am here on business, Sir Tremas.’
‘Business?’
‘Yes,’ continued Tegan, and her smile grew further. ‘I am simply here to inform you that Nyssa has asked me to marry her, and that I have accepted. We were hoping to fix a date.’
There was a gasp from around the room, Mary and Elisabeth the loudest amongst them. However, the vast majority of everyone else present -including the rest of the Musgroves- looked elated and grinned happily at Nyssa, Henrietta even letting out a whoop of delight. Sir Tremas was smiling widely.
Nyssa could not stop her smile from growing exponentially as the force of the words sunk in. They were getting married. Nyssa’s family knew they were getting married. And, finally, Nyssa and Tegan could be themselves together once again. It was as if a weight had lifted from Nyssa’s shoulders that she hadn’t even been aware she was carrying.
‘Nyssa?’ Elisabeth exclaimed, hotly. She did not seem to notice the ecstatic jubilation of those around her. ‘You want to marry Nyssa? But… whatever for?’
Tegan did not reply, but instead smiled at Nyssa, her cheeks dimpling as she did so. Nyssa found herself quite elated. And, without thinking on it any further, she strode across the room, slipped her hand into Tegan’s and smiled up at the taller woman. Nyssa’s mind was suddenly full of memories she had long since locked away; of Tegan laughing as they walked in the countryside, of the two of them dancing alone in a quiet part of the Traken estate, of Tegan asking for Nyssa’s hand in marriage all those years ago. And now they were combined with new memories; Tegan and Nyssa walking under the umbrella through Bath, their lips pressed against each other, Nyssa making Tegan laugh earlier that day, Nyssa proposing to Tegan barely two hours before in a quiet public park. And more memories would be created each day, as their lives stretched out before them in a blissful panorama of possibilities.
‘I imagine love has something to do with it,’ Sir Tremas said, jovially. ‘You have my blessing, of course; I wish you both the very best.’
‘Oh, bravo!’ exclaimed Lady Croft. Beside her, the admiral was smiling widely. ‘A most joyous evening this is! For a while, I thought you two were never going to reconnect.’
‘You knew about this?’ Elisabeth said, glaring in confusion at Lady Croft. ‘How-’
‘Oh, do be quiet, Elisabeth!’ Henrietta exclaimed, before smiling widely at Nyssa. ‘I am most pleased for you both!’
‘Thank you,’ Nyssa replied, ignoring Elisabeth’s continued gasps of irritation. ‘That means a great deal to me.’
‘And to me too,’ Tegan elaborated.
Lady Russell smiled.
‘I am very pleased for you both,’ she said, placing a hand on Nyssa’s other hand. ‘And, please, my apologies for the role I played in the events seven years ago.’
‘Thank you,’ Tegan said, somewhat stiffly. Nyssa could tell that Tegan was not so quick to forgive Lady Russell’s past actions, but forgiveness would come in time eventually.
‘What sort of date were you hoping?’ Sir Tremas asked. ‘For the wedding, I mean?’
Nyssa and Tegan shared a look.
‘It will have to be soon,’ Nyssa said. ‘As much as I regret preventing Mrs Musgrove from planning a third wedding, the war with Napoleon will come quickly. And I have no intention of staying at home, worrying about where and how my wife will be.’
Tegan’s cheeks flushed at “my wife” and clearly had difficulty trying not to smile further. She slipped her hand around Nyssa’s back and took her other hand, so that she was stood right next to Nyssa, any sense of uncomfortable distance gone. They were an engaged couple, and they could finally stop acting like two strangers.
Nyssa smiled, and squeezed Tegan’s hand as the conversation continued to buzz around them, full of excitement over the wedding and more congratulations for the two women. Nyssa did not know what the future held but she knew that, with Tegan beside her, it was going to be most wonderful indeed.
*
‘Nyssa?’
Nyssa slowly opened her eyes.
Tegan was sat up against the headboard of their bed. She was wearing a long nightshirt with loose sleeves, the sort that was common in the navy amongst the women. The effect was rather wonderful, especially since Nyssa knew fully well Tegan had not fallen asleep wearing it. And just what the two of them had been doing before they had fallen asleep.
Nyssa grinned at the memory, feeling her cheeks pinken slightly.
The room they were renting in Southampton was cosy and comfy, the sort of place you could enjoy spending time in. Especially since the room was their final stopover before leaving on Tegan’s command ship. It had also been the place they had lived since their wedding ceremony a week prior. Walking around the city, laughing, conversing and eating together. As befitted a married couple. A married couple. Nyssa wasn’t certain she would never stop feeling the same happy glow within her every time she thought about it. She was married to Tegan Jovanka. With all the happiness that came with it.
‘Sorry to wake you, my love,’ Tegan said, smiling adoringly down at her wife. ‘But we must get ready to leave soon.’
‘No need to apologise, my darling,’ Nyssa replied, propping herself up on her elbow and grinning widely at the loose neckline of Tegan’s shirt. ‘I rather like this view upon waking. Although the lack of the nightshirt would also be rather enchanting as well.’
Tegan’s face flushed.
‘Now you’re just trying to flatter me,’ she said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Nyssa’s forehead.
‘And it is clearly working,’ Nyssa chuckled, sitting up against the headboard. ‘I would have thought all embarrassment would have left you after what we’ve been-’
‘Nyssa!’
Laughing, Nyssa placed a kiss to her flustered wife’s cheek, and snuggled into her side.
‘Wonderful wedding, wasn’t it?’
‘Of course it was,’ Tegan said. ‘Although I am rather biased; I’ve never felt luckier in my life.’
It was Nyssa’s turn to blush, and Tegan took the opportunity to give her wife a cheeky squeeze on her hips. Given that Nyssa wasn’t wearing a nightgown, this had the desired effect. Nyssa let out a delighted squeal, and the two of them fell sideways under the sheets, Tegan pressing kisses to Nyssa’s collarbones. Nyssa rather liked when Tegan did that.
Nyssa enjoyed the feeling of lying there for a moment, before intertwining her fingers with Tegan’s, both of whose hands had already started wandering.
‘Tegan…’ she said, smirking knowingly at her wife. ‘I thought you said we had to be preparing to leave soon? You being in command of the vessel will not excuse us from being late.’
‘Leaving soon?’ Tegan repeated. ‘Yes… as in, four hours’ time.’
‘Tegan!’
‘What?’
‘Why didn’t you let me sleep?’
Tegan raised an eyebrow, and her eyes glinted, sending a delicious shiver down Nyssa’s spine.
‘Tegan Jovanka-Traken,’ she exclaimed, giddily. ‘You are incorrigible!’
‘Well, excuse me for getting distracted by my gorgeous wife.’
Nyssa pressed a kiss to her wife’s lips. Oh, she would never grow tired of being referred to as Tegan’s wife, nor of referring to Tegan in the same way. There was something so wonderful about it all. Like a dream from which she would never have to wake up.
‘By all accounts, I should be the one making that remark.’
Tegan smirked lopsidedly.
‘Flattery will get you nowhere.’
‘Given the evidence, I would say it irrefutably does, my darling.’
Tegan grinned, bobbing her nose against Nyssa’s. That was another thing; referring to Tegan as her darling had been a startlingly wonderful realisation. Every time she did so, an inner warmth enveloped her and, judging from Tegan’s reactions, the effect was mutual. Oh, she hoped it would never leave!
‘I love you, Nyssa.’
‘I love you too, Tegan.’
Tegan pressed a kiss to Nyssa’s lips, before her expression shifted to contemplative.
‘Are you sure you’ll be okay with being onboard ship during a war?’ she asked, softly. ‘It won’t be easy. Even being the wife of a captain, you wouldn’t be out of danger completely.’
Nyssa smiled up at her wife, trailing her fingers through Tegan’s curly hair. The sun seemed to sparkle through the air around them, drifting slowly in through the curtains over the window. Outside, the world went on. But, within the small confines of this room, just for the two of them, was Nyssa and Tegan’s world.
‘I’ll be fine. Considering what my family are like, a war with Napoleon seems almost calm by comparison.’
Tegan chuckled.
‘Only if you’re sure.’
‘I am sure,’ Nyssa replied, wrapping her arms around her wife. ‘I’m like you, Tegan; indestructible.’
*
I love a happy ending, especially when it's about these two. 😊
Thanks for reading along, everyone; I hope you enjoyed this Persuasion AU as much as I enjoyed writing it! I don't have any multi-chapter fics planned for a little while, but stay tuned for more Tegan/Nyssa adorable one-shots soon!
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