Sense and Sensibility doesn't belong to me
You might think of her, you know
Elinor Dashwood looked at her friend Christopher Brandon in shock. He couldn't really be serious, he didn't really mean for her to be the one to deliver his message to Edward; she didn't think she had the fortitude to do it.
"I'm sure it will sound better coming from you," she told him.
"Ellie, be serious," Brandon laughed, "I've barely said two words to the man, I've only met him once, we passed each other on the street, I can't be offering him a job."
"I can't… I mean, I don't think it's right that I should be the one to do it," Elinor protested.
Brandon eyed his friend, a very special and unexpected friend, and wondered if he should really ask her about Edward Ferrars. They had never talked about him before although he knew that Johnny Middleton and his mother-in-law Mrs. Jennings, suspected that there had been something between Elinor and Edward, they certainly teased Elinor about it all the time; but Brandon never asked about it because he saw how even just mentioning Edward's name especially over the last four months hurt his friend. He would let her tell him when she was ready.
"I would do it if I could," he told her instead, "but in such an instance, with the heart involved and family as well, I thought it'd be best if he heard it from a friend, I'm sure he feels as if he has none now."
"You're right," Elinor was in control of herself again, "of course I'll tell him. Thank you for helping him like this."
"Like I said, it's the least that I can do," Brandon said. "Mind you the salary isn't that good but it comes with a small one bedroomed house."
"That is more than he has now," Elinor reminded him. "I'm sure he and Lucy will manage it very well."
"I don't think it's enough to support a wife," Brandon objected, "sure, the house is there and all but it's in very poor shape and the salary barely covers the utility bills let alone food, he'll have to wait for few years."
Elinor kept silent; it certainly wasn't her place to decide whether or not Edward was going to marry Lucy Steele now, but she had been in Lucy's place – she was sure Mrs. Ferrars would still have disinherited Edward if he were engaged to her – she would have wanted to marry Edward as soon as she could.
Don't go there, she told herself, don't go there.
Brandon watched Elinor struggle to school her features and decided to distract her. "You know Johnny told me a funny thing once," he said.
"Really?"
"He suggested that I stop mooning over Marianne and ask you out instead."
"What?" Elinor stopped staring at her bag and looked at her friend; this is was the first time he'd ever really talked about his feelings for her sister. Everyone apart from Marianne knew how Brandon felt about her but he'd never really put it into words, he was just always there when they needed him, and of course he stared at Marianne quite a bit when she wasn't looking. "Johnny, said that, when?"
"A few months ago," Brandon forced a smile, "when Willoughby had just moved back."
"I'm so sorry," Elinor said, "Johnny can be dense."
"What? Are you not a good catch?" Brandon asked her. "Any man, especially one with sense and taste would be lucky if you even so much as looked his way."
"Of course I'm a great catch," Elinor told him.
"Ellie, you don't know how many times I wished I was crazy about you, you're just perfect actually, but the heart wants what the heart wants."
"Don't I know it," Elinor agreed.
They stared at each other in silence.
"Now that I think about it Henry might have said that something along those lines to me the other night," Elinor told him.
"That you come to your senses and run off with me?" he teased.
"His actual words were that Mrs. Ferrars would never accept me as Edward's choice but that if I worked hard enough you could find me attractive."
"He did not!"
"No, he didn't, but that's what he meant," Elinor was laughing. "We're a sad pair, aren't we?"
"So Edward, huh," Brandon said, "you've never said a word about him."
"There was nothing to say," Elinor told him, "nothing ever happened, I mean we met I liked him, I thought he liked me, he acted as if he liked me, but then he left and I didn't see him again for months and then I discovered that he was engaged, he'd been engaged for years."
"Oh Ellie," Brandon pulled her in for a hug.
"I guess I'll be off then," Elinor said, "call Edward and give him the good news."
"Yeah," Brandon sighed, "I'll just sit here and pray that Marianne gets over Willoughby soon and starts to realise that I exist."
000