Anyone notice how JA keeps Lady R waiting in the wings throughout the pre-opera scene? This allows Anne her time with FW. Imagine if Lady R had appeared at any time before she does. All that wonderful one-on-one reconnecting time for the young couple would have been spoiled. Lady R would have made it her business to make it impossible for Anne and Frederick to speak as they do. As it is Lady R is the last to arrive and our Anne gets to experience a happiness the likes of which she has not experienced since breaking her engagement: "Anne saw nothing, thought nothing of the brilliancy of the room. Her happiness was from within. Her eyes were bright, and her cheeks glowed; but she knew nothing about it." Awwwwww/Applause, applause!