That was beautiful! Love the engraving to...

the images you have created of John, Anna and the ring are beyond brilliant. Absolutely amazing.

Very very nice!

aaaahhh! i love love love it

Beautiful, simply beautiful

You know, amongst all the wedding related stuff, I've never really thought about John buying Anna's wedding ring. And I don't know why, because it's such a gorgeous scenario. It means so much to them both, and you explored it so beautifully (as ever). Of course John would want to make such an effort for her.

That snooty assistant, ugh, being horrible about John's class and age. You did a great job of making me dislike him! And it made the task of buying the ring all the more lovely. John spotting the ring was perfect, and it is perfect for Anna. The way you described their courtship was so moving. I'm so glad they can move out of the shadows (partly) by being married. The engraving was a beautiful touch, and made it all the more special and wonderful.

I *loved* the jump from before the wedding, to much afterwards. I was expecting them to be in their bridal suite bed at the Abbey but being at the cottage was much much nicer (squeeee). I always adore reading about them in bed together - not (just) in the smutty sense - and the bit about Anna being a cover-snatcher was so cute. Any excuse to hold her close...! I love all of John's musing upon Anna's wedding ring. Again, I never thought about it but he wouldn't have much cause to notice it in the time since. Everything about what it stands for...just beautiful. (Plus, like you, I am a sucker for hands and the comparison of hand sizes!) I really loved the contrast - and similarity - of the other servants in the house and strangers seeing the ring and knowing Anna was married. The only visible symbol of their love, sigh.

And you always write the scenes between them so very well. So full of passion and flirting and love. Plus I love that they're newly in this space of their own, having been this way before but now revelling in the fact they can take their time - the novelty's still there (as though it would ever go away). Married life is only the beginning for them :')

Beautiful beautiful job, as ever.

I think I already mentioned this on tumblr, but that awful jeweler is such a snob, treating John so poorly - as if John and Anna's love is any less deserving than that of wealthier customers. Ugh! I'm glad John perseveres and finds something both within his price range and that suits Anna in its simplicity. I love his reflection that "Anna didn't need extravagant gestures of love and romance. She had been happy to court him in the shadows, to hold his hand in the shelter of the trees, to kiss him in the darkness of the courtyard. Their love had not been paraded around for everyone to see. It had been cultivated and nurtured like a delicate blossom that bloomed and thrived with life, had often been passed over for more interesting courtships. Their love was steadfast, enduring, simple. This ring would embody that." And the engraving makes it so personal and permanently theirs, with their names and the date of their marriage.

Really bittersweet that he leaves the jeweler's feeling so happy, knowing as we do what is coming for him/them less than a week later, but - of course - they will get to have their sweet wedding and wedding night first...and they will belong to each other through all the trials that come their way.

I'm glad that we next see Anna and John on their first morning waking up together in their cottage, after his release from prison. I love how he feels such pride seeing the ring on Anna's finger, and thinks of the ring as "the physical evidence of just what they meant to each other," showing to the world that they belong to each other in every possible way. I'll admit that his brief thoughts about how the ring would still symbolize "their love and their legacy" after their lives were over made me feel melancholy; luckily his mind is distracted from those thoughts rather quickly, when Anna wakes up. I love his realization that the ring means all those things to Anna, too, and that - rather than feeling like marriage is the end of his freedom, as many men do - he feels like his life is just beginning. Such a lovely story - thank you so much for sharing it!

This is very sweet. Thank you for posting. :)

uuggh my heart! lovely!

Absolutely lovely.

What a beautiful story!

That was lovely - so tender. You can feel that Bates is still struggling with all the longing and self-doubt of their early years still lingering at the back of his mind, but the sight of that reminder makes those feelings fade away and brings him into his present.

A good one

Oh my goodness. This was wonderful from beginning to end. You've really captured all the little difference one rejoices in when you are finally married. With Anna, John is finally 'who he was meant to be'.

Completely engrossing