Half the Sum of Attraction: A Persuasion Prequel

"Half the sum of attraction, on either side, might have been enough." Eight years and a bit before their romantic reunion, Anne Elliot meets Captain Frederick Wentworth for the first time.  Immediately struck by the handsome Commander's easy manner and good humour, she cannot dare to hope he feels the same way about her. Frederick is home from the sea and staying with his brother, a Curate in Monkton, little expecting he will meet a young woman who will capture his heart and change his life. This novella is inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, and considers how her two protagonists might have met and fallen in love the first time around.