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What a different wedding from Arthur’s this was. For starters, this time she actually liked the bride and couldn’t wait to see what else their joined forces could achieve. After all, there would be two Guinness women fighting for the right cause now. Thinking about what Dodo and she had already accomplished lit a small fire in her heart. It made her momentarily forget that the other reason this was such a different event, was that she had been sitting down all evening as her condition had worsened so much since then. Some days, she barely felt the pain, but this was clearly not one of those.
She’d managed to stand for the photo, but every step had been one too many. All evening, she had not been able to do anything else but watch the other people twirl and dance. She felt sad she was not able to join them, but it gave her a great view of some of the relationships these people in the room had. Once she noticed Rafferty had arrived, it seemed as if the corner Arthur and Olivia were sitting at got 10 degrees colder. How odd. She saw him walk briskly across the room towards the newlyweds, ignoring the other couple completely. Not looking at Anne either, so she also looked the other way. She had no business with him anymore. Whatever he came to say to Edward was of no importance to her. Her husband came into view instead, he’d been sitting next to her all the time, but had barely said anything to her the whole day. It all became a bit too much at that point. Anne carefully put both hands on the table in front of her to push herself up.
“I need a moment,” she said and didn’t wait for an answer. She took her cane and left the wedding party. She didn’t spare anyone else a glance.
By the time Anne reached the fifth step, she was huffing and puffing, her muscles straining with each step as she grabbed the handrail and pulled herself slowly upward, pushing her cane into each step. How glad she was she could not see anyone else in sight as everyone was downstairs at the wedding. Both servants and family, no one should see her struggling on this happy day. She looked up from eyeing the stairs, she wasn’t even halfway. She sighed, looked around once more and hiked up her skirt with one hand, putting it underneath her hand on the handrail, grasped her cane firmer and whispered a small prayer. She could do this, she was Anne Guinness. She would not let this illness define her life.
As soon as she entered the empty room, she made her way to the chair in front of the window. Her eyes immediately found the moon, as this was one of her most favourite places to sit. She stayed this way for a moment, but it still wasn’t enough. She tried to bend to take her shoes off but only managed to get the heel loose. That would have to do for now.
She didn’t know how much time was passing, the moon an unmoving source of light. Then it suddenly got interrupted by light coming from the other side. None other than Sean Rafferty popped his head in.
“Any lines on your dance card left for me, Mrs. Plunket?” Rafferty said with a sly smile, walking toward her, but Anne turned her head away from him. How dare he. He hadn’t spared her a glance downstairs, or at all in months. Why was he here now?
“Let me help you,” he said, already dropping to his knees. How much she wanted to keep on staring at the moon, but she was suddenly drawn towards the bigger force in the room. His hands carefully wrapped around her ankle as he undid what she herself had not managed to undo. He slipped her shoe off and she felt his thumb softly press on her ankle. After he’d made work of the other shoe he stood up, and placed his hands carefully around her waist. She couldn’t resist letting out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding since he had walked in. He carefully lifted her and Anne felt her sock-clad feet being placed on his shoes. One hand disappeared from her waist but was quickly put in her hand instead. The other wiped away the tear that had escaped her eye and pulled her closer before going to her waist again.
Her left foot got lifted by his right as he took a step. All that time she hadn’t looked up, but now she couldn’t help herself. He made her dance, she was dancing. A tiny smile escaped and she fell deeper into his embrace.
“I’ve missed that smile, Mrs. Plunket,” he whispered into her ear, which was now right beside his lips.
“Please, do not call me that, not now,” she replied, just managing to keep her voice from breaking.
“Anne,” she heard, right before she felt the softest brush of his lips on her forehead. They swayed back and forth, no need for music as they were too far from the festivities. Completely lost in their own world, as they had been all those years ago. Once more, she lost complete track of time as she was being held by the man that had stolen her heart all those years ago. At least this was something that she was finally able to admit.