Within half an hour, Anne had almost as much paint on her as she had managed to apply to the sheet, but she was enjoying herself too much to mind. She couldn’t remember the last time she had actually got dirty, or if she ever had. Games in the garden that normal children enjoyed had been denied to her because she was too frail, and chances could not be taken with her health. It never once occurred to her to question her mother when she insisted Anne had a sickly disposition. Mama always knew best. When Sir Lewis had died and Mama showed no inclination to remarry, she made it clear Anne would be her heir because the de Bourghs did not discriminate against female succession. What she failed to mention was that Anne’s life would never be her own from that point onwards. The slightest sniffle might develop into influenza, and so Anne was required to take to her bed for a fortnight, just as a precaution. If she coughed the doctor was immediately summoned. If she cut herself it put the entire household into an uproar.
What do You think about Colonel Fitzwilliam's Dilemma?
