How about that moment in "The Prodigal" where Abe arrives home and Anna is about to rush forward but Hewlett puts out a hand as if to say, "Wait. Let them have their moment." Part of it may be Hewlett's fondness for Mary, but part of it is a desire to keep Anna from being humiliated. Remember, this is right after Hewlett rescued himself from captivity and he's clearly in love with Anna, but he's not stupid. It's a very subtle gesture that probably no one else notices, but Anna takes the hint.
An Annlett moment that I’ve never analyzed before! What a rare treat.
And a very rich, flavorful treat indeed, because there are a lot of layers here:
Anna’s feelings for / romantic history with Abe (engagement, breakup, affair), all of which Edmund knows about (as does everyone else present, excluding, well, Sprout)
Mary’s own claims to Abe (romantic, social, familial, and legal), and Edmund’s friendships with her and with Richard
Anna and Edmund’s brand-new pseudo-relationship — which is platonic and undefined and more a friendship than anything romantic yet, but still something — enough of a something to let them interact in a private, intimate way in the background of the scene
…All of which creates a situation in which there are a lot of romantic, social, and interpersonal dynamics at play. And what Edmund does, with nothing more than two fingers to Anna’s elbow and a whispered, “Wait,” is kind of cut through all those tangled relationships and — as is Mr. Law, Order, Authority’s way — put everyone in their proper place.
And, to judge by Anna’s face, it’s honestly a gutting moment for her.
Anna doesn’t know it yet, but the romance between her and Abe is over. If it was still alive when he went into the sugar house, it’s dead by the time he comes out. When they have their private reunion in his secret little Culper basement, Anna is very physically affectionate … but Abe, traumatized and tired, doesn’t really respond. Certainly not in the way Anna’s just watched him respond to his family, to whom he CLINGS. And that touch to her elbow was this gutting reminder that Anna is NOT Abe’s family, that she has NO claim to him — not one that can see the light of day, at least. After all, Hewlett didn’t say don’t; he simply said wait. So she waits for her moment, when she and Abe can be alone … and I think she still doesn’t get the response she’d hoped for. Because she and Abe, in the mere couple of months or so they’ve been apart, have both deeply changed.
A cynical reading of this scene could interpret Hewlett as possessive: controlling Anna’s personal interactions with a potential romantic rival. But I really do not think that interpretation holds up. Hew never expresses jealousy about Anna being around Abe — not now, not any other time, not even once his and Anna’s relationship is explicitly romantic. “Wait” doesn’t mean “Don’t go near him,” it just means “I know you want to see him, but not yet.” So it’s much more like you said: he’s saving everyone, first and foremost Anna herself, the awkwardness of trying to insert herself into a situation that … however painfully, for her … is simply not her place.
You know, I’d never articulated it before, but this is SUCH an important scene in marking the shift from Anna/Abe to Anna/Hewlett. First Anna is reminded that Abe’s life has no stable place for her … then she discovers for herself how much imprisonment has changed Abe … and in the next episode, 2.10, she takes Hewlett’s side over Abe’s for the first time. And finally, the nail in the coffin, really, she gets called out on her feelings for Edmund by none other than Abe himself.
