One of the things I find so brilliant in the way JA handled this letter is that she both reveals Fredrick’s feelings, with all the sentimentality and romance anyone could wish for, and at the same time she pumps up the tension even more. Or at least it hits me this way. I want to pause and savor these beautiful words and at the same time:

“A word, a look will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.”

I’m frantic to know what happens next! It’s all dependent on a word or a look?! So much could go wrong! What she gives him a look he misinterprets? Or, what if they miss each other and he thinks she’s purposely avoiding him? It’s this evening or never? And the message she leaves with Mrs. Musgrove, how many ways could that go wrong? And the irony that Anne is suddenly the center of attention just at the moment when it’s least desirable.

And then JA handles it so beautifully when they come together.

"He joined them; but, as if irresolute whether to join or to pass on, said nothing, only looked. Anne could command herself enough to receive that look, and not repulsively. The cheeks which had been pale now glowed, and the movements which had hesitated were decided. He walked by her side."

Such a powerful moment and yet only the two of them are aware that anything remarkable is happening. Meanwhile Charles is totally oblivious and starts chattering about seeing a man about a gun.