The Vigilante

Anne directs her men from the top of the stone steps that lead to the well-kept front yard of Shibden Hall. They are installing new shrubs and plants around the front of the home and up the side terrace. She can see everyone’s breath given the chill in the air and she can tell everyone is putting in their best effort.

“A little to the left, John.  That’s it.” John re-positions the large stone sculpture of a field mushroom, then plants some small winter shrubs around the base. She looks over to the left and sees John Mann putting cement around the base of the stone replica of the Lister Lion and aligning it with its pedestal on the side wall. She smiles and nods; it’s coming together nicely. 

It’s the golden hour of the evening, a time of day Anne absolutely loves. The light in winter hits everything so differently at this time of day, and the Hall is absolutely sparkling. The work she’s done on the stately home has really enhanced its appearance. People from all over the valley often stop on the upper road to take in its grandeur. Not so shabby anymore, she thinks.

Her mood has been particularly good since Ann arrived two days ago, and she must admit, she is fitting in quite well. Anne has been out with the men for several hours and she can feel herself itching to get back to her. She checks her pocket watch for the umpteenth time and decides the working day is done.

“John, let’s call it a day, shall we?  Good work, gentlemen.” She glides down the steps and through the front door of the hall, back straight, legs in full stride. She tosses her coat and scarf over the railing and drops her gloves on the side table, then bounds up the worn wooden steps to her room…and Ann.

She hears voices as she nears her bedroom door. Marian…she must be boring her into a stupor.

“And so I’ve got a new pattern for an improved gusset! I can’t wait to try it out on Anne’s knickers, she goes through them so quickly!”

Oh dear God, thinks Anne.

She rushes through the door, eager to be with Ann, alone.

“Well, hello hello! Marian, you haven’t been boring Miss Walker with your ill-conceived notions on politics, have you? Hello, Miss Walker, how are you feeling? Can I get you anything?  Marian, why don’t you go downstairs and ask Mrs. Cordingley to bring up some fresh tea, hmm?” She starts to nudge Marian out of her chair.

Marian and Ann are both looking wide-eyed at this bustling ball of energy. They both speak over one another.

“I’m fine, thank- oh!“

“Me?! Why don’t- oh, Sorry, Miss Walker.” Marian gets up to leave, but doesn’t waste the opportunity to glare at Anne.

“Miss Walker and I were just having a nice catch up. No need to give me the bum’s rush!” She turns to Ann with a big smile. “Miss Walker, I will ask Mrs. Cordingley to bring you that tea. Is there anything else we can get you?”

Ann is radiant, her blonde hair in a long ponytail, swept to the side. What a beautiful smile, thinks Anne. “No, thank you, Marian, you’ve been so kind. Come and visit me again soon!”

Marian smile and nods, then looks sternly at Anne. “See? I am a good conversationalist, Anne.” She mumbles under her breath, “Not that you would ever notice because you’re so busy listening to the sound of your own voice.”

Ann hears it and chuckles, while Anne glares at Marian as she leaves the room. Anne helps her out with a light push and abruptly closes the door behind her.  “Well…let me look at you.”

She sits down in the chair next to the bed and they gaze at each other, their smiles and eyes lit up like Christmas trees.

“You’ve been gone an awfully long time,” bemoans Ann. She reaches a hand forward and takes hold of Anne’s hand. 

“I’m so sorry, I have so many jobs going on around the Hall, and I have to oversee the men or it won’t be done properly.” Ann giggles.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here now.” Ann takes a deep breath. “I’ve missed you.”

Anne gently squeezes her hand. “It’s funny, but…I’ve missed you, too. You know….my whole family is really enjoying you being here. My Aunt is thoroughly in love with you. I have to admit…you’re a welcome surprise.”

“Perhaps I should mangle my other foot,” says Ann with a flirty smirk.

Anne matches her with one of her own.“I’m game if you are.” 

Ann chuckles and looks around Anne’s room. “So what has my little sister been telling you? Has she given away all my secrets?”

“Not all of them. Perhaps you’ll share the ones that are the most intriguing.”

Anne cocks an eyebrow. “Hmm.  Such as?”

“Such as…have you done this before?”

Anne looks perplexed. “What do you mean? Help someone convalesce?”

“Well, yes, but…I guess I meant…you know…have you had a woman…(whispers) in your bed before.”

Anne fumbles a bit. “Well…I mean...”

Ann nods knowingly a few times. “Ah. I see.” 

Anne sighs deeply and decides to come clean. “I have….an interesting past. I’m sure I’ve provided quite a bit of fodder for the Halifax rumor mill.” Anne looks at Ann questioningly, to see whether Ann will indicate whether she has heard these rumors herself. Ann simply listens.

“Those know-alls speaking ill of some of the scrapes I’ve been in…thinking they know what’s what. Most people have the wrong end of the stick. Most of my so-called entanglements have just been casual acquaintances. Dalliances, of sorts. Flirtations. Nothing serious. Just having a bit of fun. And probably not anywhere near what silly things people have said about me.”

Ann remains silent, but nods to encourage Anne to keep talking. 

“I guess…well, truth be told, there have been a few more …serious adventures.”

“Who? Tell me.”

“I really shouldn’t-“

“Go on, tell me. You can’t hint at something so intriguing and not tell me. I promise, you tell me in confidence, Anne.”

Anne looks at her and knows instinctively she can trust her.

“Well…my first companion…if you could call her that…was Eliza Raine.”

Ann looks off in the distance trying to place the name. She looks at Anne with a half smile and shakes her head, indicating she’s never heard of her. 

“I doubt you’d know her. She and I shared a room while at the Manor School in York. We were so very young….14…15. Thick as thieves, we were. And over time, we…well, we came to know one another, and…I um…I was kicked out of the school for some…(Anne waves her hands dismissively) …ridiculous reasons. (She rolls her eyes to emphasize her frustration, even to this day). But yes…we were very close. We grew up together, if you will. And being all alone up there…in our attic room…well…kids get curious. We were no different. So, after I was asked to leave the school…we just…we grew apart. Oh, we’d write to one another and such, but…you know how it is. At that age. You lose touch. But we cared for one another…deeply.”

“Hmm. You seem very tender about her…still to this day.”

Anne looks down at the blanket, sliding her hand back and forth over the fabric. “She’s not well. Her mind. It’s not…she’s not well.”

“Hmm.”

“I visit her now and again. She’s under a doctor’s care in York, so I try to see her whenever I’m in the area. About once a year. She uh…she screams and spits at me…when she sees me.”

Ann reaches over and squeezes Anne’s hand. “Oh, Anne, how horrible. I’m so sorry.”

Anne smiles sympathetically. “Like I said…she’s not well.”

Ann tries to move past what sounds like a painful memory. “So who else?”

Anne hesitates and wonders whether this is a good discussion topic. 

“Well…my friend Isabella Norcliff and I…we call her ‘Tib’…we…our friendship grew under the auspices of…how shall I say…learning how to entertain and please the gentler sex.”

Ann’s face scrunches. “Did you and Tib…”

“Tib and I determined early on we make very good friends.”

“Ah. Well…good thing you got that worked out early on.”

“Yes, well…” Anne decides not to disclose any more than that about poor Tib.

“Who else?” Ann says eagerly. She knows instinctively there’s more to Anne’s vast rich tapestry of a fruity past.

Anne decides to skip over all the Belcombe women (except one) and Mrs. Barlow. That would be just too much sexual shenanigans to explain. She doesn’t want to scare Ann off. And Vere…skip that, nothing happened there except a broken heart.

“Well….lastly…there’s um…Mrs. Lawton…of Lawton Hall. In Cheshire.”

Ann’s expression goes flat as she looks at Anne. “Ah…I know her.  Mariana. Well…I know of her.”

“Do you? How?”

Ann takes in a deep breath and releases a heavy sigh. “She’s involved in a charity I support. She can be quite…difficult.”

Anne blinks. “Yes, I can see how that might be a possibility.” Anne really wants to change the subject. “So I-“

“How serious were you with her?” Ann takes in every twitch of the muscles in Anne’s face and neck.

Anne goes to speak but fumbles a bit. “Well…we…she…” Anne stops and exhales. “We also met when we were young. In our early 20s. We saw each other whenever we could, but with me here and her in York…well…logistics were difficult. After a long while, we exchanged promise rings…years ago… before she married Charles Lawton. When she married him, it nullified everything that had gone before between us. From that point on… we were no longer…all off.”

Ann looks skeptical. “Uh huh. So you…exchanged rings…like a wedding.”

Anne gestures lightly with her hand. “Well… in some respects. It certainly wasn’t legal. And given she so easily married Charles, I can’t say she respected our connection very much…so…it just didn’t seem to mean as much to her as it did to me. So…that’s that.”

Ann nods slowly several times as she considers this, then tries to place herself in Anne’s shoes.  She reaches forward and touches Anne’s hand. “That must have been very painful, Anne. Her marrying a man. Has that wound healed, or…?”

Anne looks up in surprise; she had expected a different response. She reaches out to hold Ann’s hand. “Mostly. Time and distance have helped.” Her thumb strokes back and forth over Ann’s smooth skin. She looks in Ann’s eyes and time just seems to…stop. 

“So…you’re…”

“Unattached? Yes. Very.”

“Good,” whispers Ann. Her hands slides up to the back of Anne’s neck and tugs…gently. Anne goes with the flow of Ann’s unspoken request and presses her lips to hers. The electricity flies, her breath catches, her heart clinches, her core pulses. Ann’s no different; the sound of her rapidly-beating heart echos all the way through to the hammering in her bloodstream.

Hemingway knocks and they quickly pull apart. “Damnit!” whispers Anne. “Come in!”

Hemingway comes in with a huge smile and a tray of tea. Ann gives her a wide grin. “Thank you, Hemingway. You and Mrs. Cordingley have been so kind to me today. Please give her my thanks, will you?”

“Ah, bless. Will do, ma’am.”

After Hemingway leaves, and after Anne prepares their tea, Ann changes the topic.

“Anne?”

“Yes?”

“Will you stay with me tonight?”

Anne coughs mid-sip, completely surprised by the question. She coughs a few more times, turning her body away from Ann, doing her best not to spill her beverage.

“Oh, goodness!  Are you all right?”  Anne nods and coughs again, as Ann leans forward to rub her back.

“Sorry. I think I’ll live.” They re-situate themselves and Ann does not change the topic.

“So…will you? Sleep in here?” 

“What, in the chair?”

“Anne, no.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad.”

“Seriously, no. I don’t want you to.”

“There’s always the settee in the sitting room.”

“No. You’ll stay in here. All night.” Ann licks her lips, ulterior motives established. 

“But…”

Anne’s cup hangs in the air as she decides what to say next. Miss Walker seems much more eager than she had ever anticipated, and she cannot believe her luck. She’sbeautiful. ShallImakeuptoMissWalker? Thoughshe’llscarcelyunderstanditherself, Icanseethatthepoorgirlalreadyseemsthoroughlyinlovewithme.

“Are you sure? Is that what you really want?”

Ann says with a serious face, “Anne, I won’t have it. You’ve gone way out of your way to care for me and make certain I’m comfortable. You should be comfortable, too. There’s no reason you can’t sleep in here…with me. Besides, what if I need help in the middle of the night?  I can’t go ringing that bell at all hours, waking up the entire household. That just won’t do. No, I need looking after.” 

Ann nods once, definitively. “It’s settled.”

Anne chuckles in surprise. “Miss Walker…I dare say you are a force to be reckoned with.”

Ann smiles and agrees. “Yes! I am!”