Chapter Text
Anna sat - uncomfortable.
Her hair too tight.
Dry stems of decorative flowers pushing into her scalp, digging into her, every time she moved her head, even when making an expression - ‘which is probably the point’ she thought wryly.
Rigid blonde curls fell about her face and a multitude of ribbons making it difficult to resist the urge to itch.
Her dress starched and beneath it the framework of corseted fabric. She thought that she really needn't be present at all. The dress could stand very well on its own in her place.
Her mind certainly needn't be present. Better for her if it wasn't if the words of her elderly aunt were to be understood.
‘A quick intellect was no asset in the search for a husband.’ A dry wit an overt deterrent.
A blessed thing then that she wasn’t the least bit interested in the play of marriage and men. Still, the theater of the thing must be allowed and if sitting still like a bump on a log was what was required of her to fend off chastisement, it really was the absolute least she could do.
“Tis a fortunate thing your sister has had the cleverness to make so well a match.” Her aunt said from her seat beside her, stirring Anna from her thoughts. “Not just for her sake.” A pointed look which had Anna pressing her lips together to still her tongue.
“Your father's inheritance, after all, cannot go to you my dear. It is surely a comfort to your poor mother, who would have been so proud to see this day.”
“Yes aunt, a fine match indeed.” At that, Anna could smile at least. Elizabeth was fortunate to find the only man worthy of her.
Mr. Thomas DeLaney.
Thomas, who had adored Elizabeth in childhood. Returning now, boy become man, his admiration for her unchanged by the passage and whimsy of time.
“Such a man! This grand estate! His fine temperament and so handsome -” Her aunt’s voice high and excited. She moves her eyes about the room with pride, clasping her hands together in elation at the healthy turnout of guests. Something catches her attention and she shifts, her expression falling into ugliness.
Nodding her head covertly towards one of the room's occupants and catching Anna's eye. “I cannot, however, say the same for that cousin of his.”
Anna glances toward the woman in question, standing not five feet away - and had the distinct sensation of the woman’s gaze sweeping away from her.
The slim form of Miss DeLaney stood unnaturally straight. Cutting a dark shape against the window, from which her gaze had only sparingly left to touch on the rest of the room. As if she was wishing for escape.
Not that Anna had been watching her all afternoon. Well, if she had, it wasn’t her fault that the woman's presence had consistently snagged her gaze.
“She certainly is singular” Anna replies thoughtfully. Anna herself had been quite astonished by her when they were first introduced. She coloured at the remembrance her own reaction.
Her aunt continued, oblivious to Anna’s private anguish. “I had thought it was a gentleman that was joining Mr. DeLaney whence I first heard tell of his arrival with a cousin.”
Indeed, so had Anna.
Elizabeth, thought it great fun to let Anna continue believing thus in the days approaching Miss DeLaney’s arrival. Oh, Anna had made such a fool of herself. Stammering through her greeting when they had first met in person. So completely thrown by her femaleness, by her appearance, by those dark clever eyes that there seemed no hiding from.
“...still, perhaps a match can be made for you from this fine company. A marrying mood affects even the most diligent of bachelors on such happy occasions. Why I believe Mr. Collins will be made Vicar of the Holy Trinity in time and would certainly be in a position to be in want of a wife…”
Anna is no longer listening, her eyes haven’t strayed from the direction of the mysterious Miss DeLaney. So incongruent to her surroundings. The unadorned clean lines of her. Fashions from Paris, or Rome perhaps. Thomas had said she was well-traveled and learned too. An unusual description for a member of the gentler sex and reason enough for Anna having had expected her to be male. He never once referred to her gender or called anything other than 'cousin'.
Elizabeth had privately alluded to Miss DeLaney suffering some difficulties in her native Halifax. So as to explain her gruff demeanor. That people there said her education and manner caused her to be an anomaly if they were being kind. An abomination if they were not.
But here amongst the gaily dressed and decorated men and women, she looked… breathtaking.
Cognisant of her attention having lingered too long, Anna took in the large estate room.
Highly decorated with ornate gold-flecked furniture. Flocked wallpaper depicting a complex twining of vines, leaves and flowers. The early spring sun flooding in from the floor to ceiling windows, adding a vibrance to everything it touched.
It was overwhelming, made even more so by the guests. Trotted out in all in their finery, drinking too fast and talking too loud. As if this was a town parade and not an engagement party.
The arrival of Mr DeLaney had the towns higher classes in a fever ever since he leased the grand property on Mulberry hill two months passed.
Today’s happy event was the culmination of much gossip and speculation. Especially amongst those closest to the family, who remembered the boy who used to run wild on the hills and pick flowers for Elizabeth.
Although Elizabeth and Anna’s own father had been a Captain, well to do and respected in the town, the DeLaney family was in no doubt above them in position and finance. Which could go a way to explain the seeming distance in Miss DeLaneys’ manner. Her inscrutable countenance gave no indication that entanglement in conversation would be welcomed.
However, if Thomas and his cousin were really as close as siblings, then Anna will have ample chance to get to know her better in time.
For now, she is content to simply regard her and find in the observation of her, a sort of respite from the peach tinted madness of the room.
Though Miss DeLaney shows little regard for her in turn.