By this time, she had social engagements nearly every night; she attended another ball, joined a party at Vauxhall Gardens, and went to the theater with Laurence and Edward. Mariah accompanied her when there was no other chaperone, but she made it clear that she did not relish the outings. And when a substitute was available, she excused herself at once. Charles did not appear at any of these functions. Indeed, he was out a good deal during the whole week. But Anne found herself thinking of him often. She could not get the memory of his “other self” out of her mind. She had thought she knew Charles; she had had years to observe him, from a distance, and to draw her conclusions, and she had done so. She thought of him as a distant, cold disciplinarian who cared for nothing and no one but himself. This opinion had been only slightly modified after her return from school. She saw that her view had been childishly exaggerated, but the basic judgment remained unchanged.
