I loved your description! What makes that bittersweet moment complete, for me, was Anne remembering how she and Frederick would find time to sit together and talk and talk--I always imagine them on a small sofa after dinner, completely engrossed in their conversation.

I also get chills when CW sits down to talk to Mrs. Musgrove about Dick, while Anne is sitting on her other side. The contrast between the tension Anne feels now, and the kind of tension she would have felt eight years earlier! Wait, I'm not being clear. What I mean is this--when Frederick and Anne were first in love, I can imagine a similar situation, in which Frederick, because of civility or duty, had to speak at length with another person at a social occasion. I imagine Anne waiting for him, as soon as civility allowed, to break free and come to her--waiting with anticipation, and the delicious sensation of knowing that he would rather be with her than with anyone else in the room. And the contrast with the tension of the current situation, having him so close, but with such different feelings...Chills!

When I dwell on moments like this, I almost need (like many of JA's heroines) a half-hour of quiet reflection alone in my room in order to recover! :)