The sun beat down on the young dark-haired woman caught in a situation she had been avoiding for weeks. The warmth of the late summer Sunday only added to the moment's discomfort. The Sanditon gentry had gathered on the church green following Lord and Lady Babington's church wedding ceremony.
"Perhaps we could have a simple country affair like this one, dear. Though I don't think it will be quite our sort of thing, do you?"
Miss Charlotte Heywood observed how Mr Sidney Parker's eyes before her darted – desperate to avoid acknowledging the questions from his fiancée, Mrs. Eliza Campion, and her own uncomfortable glance.
Eliza scoffed, "Men, what do they know? Good day, Miss Heywood." Her right hand tightened about Sidney's arm and her blue-eyed gaze hardened at the young maiden in front of her as she pulled Sidney aside to join the new bride and groom, Lord and Lady Babington, and Mr Crowe. Sidney's dark eyes caught Charlotte's briefly as he nodded.
Charlotte slowly exhaled the breath she hadn't realised she was holding and looked around, desperate to find an ally. She was startled when a hand wrapped around her arm.
"Come join us," Georgiana said as she steered her friend away.
"Oh, Miss Heywood!" Diana Parker exclaimed as the two young ladies approached the shaded table where she and her younger brother Arthur Parker sat. "Is it not the loveliest day for a wedding? Lord and Lady Babington are truly blessed!"
"You are quite right, sister, I am sure Miss Heywood could not disagree with you. What say you to a glass of wine? I shall fetch us some, for I am rather parched," Arthur exclaimed as he stood and offered his chair to Georgiana.
Charlotte took her place beside Georgiana and breathed a sigh of relief, giving Georgiana a smile of relief and thanks.
"Mary tells me that you, too, will be departing Sanditon by the week's end. You will be missed," Diana chattered, "For Mary did tell me how grateful she has been for your company with Tom being so busy these past few months, and busier still! I know Tom is beside himself with worry losing your help!"
Diana spoke of her brother Tom Parker and his wife, Mary, who had started the season as Charlotte's hosts but quickly become close companions, and she had become part of the family.
"How do you all think I feel?" Georgiana whined. "I'll be left here all alone without any friendly or intelligent souls. I'm feeling utterly abandoned!"
Charlotte placed her hand on Georgiana's when Diana interjected, "Oh you mustn't feel abandoned! I am sure my brother Sidney will have a plan for you when he returns to London – he may even have you accompany him." Both Charlotte and Georgiana winced, recalling the last time they were both in London: Georgiana had been abducted and betrayed by the man she'd loved and while some of Charlotte's memories were happy ones, they were now tainted by more recent events.
"Arthur!" Diana called shrilly as she left her seat so cross the green to where her brother was over-indulging at the refreshment table. "You will drink yourself positively ill again!"
Georgiana and Charlotte side-eyed at each other in amusement and laughed. Charlotte thought of how their friendship had grown since the day she'd found Georgiana upset along the cliffs of Sanditon and deepened since the hardening events of Georgiana's abduction to London.
"I am in earnest, Charlotte," Georgiana expressed, "I really am going to miss you. You and Arthur have been the only real friends I have had on this island. I could not bear any more lessons with Mrs Griffiths here, but I have absolutely no wish to return to London."
"And why is that?" croaked Lady Denham, as she took Diana's empty seat across the table from the young Heiress. "Running away from something or someone there?"
The great lady of Sanditon made it her business to know all about the inhabitants of her township. While she had been afflicted during the season, Lady Denham had recovered quite well in body and spirit despite her seventy years. Her ladyship had learned of young Mr Molyneux who had gambled in the name of Miss Lambe, leading to her eventual kidnapping, which would have resulted in her marriage to a wealthy businessman if Mr Sidney Parker and Charlotte had not discovered them and saved her.
Georgiana glanced at Charlotte in panic, "I -"
"Oh, there will always be a reason to get away from somewhere before there's a reason to stay anywhere."
"Do you speak again from experience, Aunt?" the blushing bride, Lady Esther Babington questioned, approaching the table.
"I am the reason for everything in this town."
Esther rolled her eyes, with a twitch of her lip. "Well, you can be sure that you are undoubtedly the reason for my quick escape from Sanditon. However, will you cope with my departure," she quipped monotonously.
For what is a formidable woman without her daily audience?
Charlotte could not help but smile at how Esther had changed, and also not changed, in just a few short weeks since the Midsummer Ball. With Lady Denham's other heirs disowned, Esther Denham, now Babington, had remained at Sanditon House to keep her company. There was a clear affection between the two formidable Denham women that had developed since Lady Denham's severe illness a month prior. Indeed they both had softened by the slightest degree and had noticeably been more sympathetic members of the Sanditon community.
"Yes, well your inheritance is not yet set in stone, Esther. Perhaps the distance will make me think of you a little more fondly. You would do well to write me often and at least keep up appearances of family."
"Yes, Aunt. Though you may consider taking another Brereton under your wing to sculpt into someone more worthy – some more charitable work would greatly improve your character."
"I will be damned if I ever let another pollute the halls of Sanditon to prey on my fortune. I will not abide it."
"Fear not for your tiara, Aunt, you will have it back by the day's end."
Georgiana had had enough of the great Lady Denham who she revered as an horrid old woman.
"Do you ever think of anything else but your money?" Georgiana snapped, knowing full well the status of wealth she had in comparison to Lady Denham.
"My dear girl, you are no longer a child, it would do you credit if you would stop and consider the position you, yourself, are in. With such a fortune as yours you might want to start thinking about what you would want to do with it before someone else decides for you."
For once Georgiana stopped and thought about her response before flying off the handle. "And what would you do, if you were my age and in my position?" she challenged, "Apart from marry me off to someone titled and in need of it to keep their station. " She raised her eyebrows at the matron before her, alluding to Mrs Denham's previous attempt to match her with her nephew Sir Edward Denham – Esther's step brother.
Lady Denham examined the young, Antiguan heiress before her calculatingly. And young though she may be, she had no doubt about her intelligence and improved naivete, which seemed to have left her over the course of the Summer. She observed, Miss Lambe had indeed come a long way since the infamous 'Pineapple luncheon' she'd held in the heiress' honour. She had to admit, although only to herself, that as much as she had never expected such disrespectful rebukes from Miss Lambe at the luncheon, she had also been slightly tickled and entertained at being given back as good as she gave. In fact, she saw something of her own spirit of independence in Miss Lambe. Could it be that she could play a part in shaping this impressionable young woman? Could it be that the prospect of having a protege intrigued her?
"I would find something I felt passionate about and make an investment in it."
"Is that why you invested in Mr Parker?" Georgiana countered.
"I invested in Sanditon." Lady Denham paused thoughtfully before continuing, "There is much that you could learn from me. I have it in my mind that you would do very well managing your own affairs, as I have. Lord knows I've done well enough for myself."
Georgiana's eyes narrowed, the meaning of Lady Denham's words becoming clearer, surprised that such a woman would take any interest in her and not just her fortune. "Do you mean to impart some of your wisdom, then? Is that your idea of charity?" she enquired distrustfully.
"My Aunt detests charity-," Esther interjected.
"Nor do I think you are in any need of it, Miss Lambe." Lady Denham continued, "I simply wish to have a part in your education. That is indeed why you were brought here to England, was it not? Tell me, how is Mrs Griffiths succeeding?"
Georgiana considered the offer, exchanging an incredulous look with Charlotte who observed the exchange quietly. Esther too, watched with great interest.
"Yes, I'm sure Miss Lambe will excel where Clara and I both failed to become accomplished young ladies. I do fear that my Aunt will be lonesome upon my departure. Think on it, Miss Lambe."
"You don't honestly mean for me to become your charge, Lady Denham."
"And why not? Would it be such a displeasing option?"
"To live at Sanditon House?"
"Would you prefer to stay with Mrs Griffiths?" Lady Denham watched as Georgiana's brow furrowed in contemplation. She smirked at Georgiana's silent affirmation, excited to finally have a project that could possibly succeed. Georgiana had only to gain from her experiences.
Arthur and Diana approached the party again and Lady Denham was quick to make her exit, lest she miss her opportunity to avoid the two 'most ridiculous and foolish' Parkers. Arthur's breathlessness and red face made her most uncomfortable.
"As Esther says, think on it, Miss Lambe. Good day." She nodded and swiftly left the table, leaving Georgiana quite speechless.
Esther, too, thought to take her leave as Arthur and Dianna returned to their seats with glasses of wine in hand. "Miss Heywood, I wonder if you would walk with me."
Charlotte stood and joined Esther where she had started to stride away from the shaded table, quickening her pace to catch up.
"Please, call me Charlotte."
Esther's lip twitched into a smile. She had never smiled so much in a day before. "And me, Esther. Yes, I do suppose we have been through enough together for all that." She paused thoughtfully, choosing her words as the state of gratitude was unfamiliar to her, "I do not think I ever thanked you for the kindness you showed to me the night of the ball."
It had been a month since the Midsummer Ball when Edward, Esther's stepbrother, had drunkenly caused an embarrassing scene and interrupted the evening's festivities. Charlotte recalled the evening all too well: it had been a lavish affair with furtive glances and memories, suspended by Sir Edward's outburst and eventually halted by the terrace fire.
That night had been a turning point for so many reasons.
For Esther, it had been the start of a happier prospect with Lord Babington, leaving the dreary life she'd lived in the shadow of her brother Edward's control.
For Charlotte, it had been a night of missed opportunities and the beginning of many disappointments. Charlotte jolted from her reverie having caught Sidney's eyes from across the park. "You needn't thank me. It was hardly anything extraordinary, I would have done the same for any of my friends."
"I am glad to be thought of as a friend. In truth, there are few that hold me in such regard and even less that I would. But be assured, Charlotte, I am grateful for your friendship, in earnest."
She caught Mr Sidney Parker's gaze on Charlotte.
"I do believe I warned you about Mr Sidney Parker, did I not? That he is most," she paused, "Unreliable?"
"I don't-,"Charlotte started defensively, unable to come up with any convincing arguments.
Esther gave her a knowing look and smiled with pity. "Know this: Mrs Campion is a most odious woman, and I loathe Lord Babington's friendship with Mr Parker that forces our acquaintance with her. Oh, she may be elegant and rich to be sure, and some may think her witty, but I see a sort of desperation in her actions and I wonder what she is playing at." She studied Charlotte as a seemingly forced smile appeared on her face.
"I do not think that she is playing at anything. She and Mr Parker have known each other for many years-"
"Oh Charlotte, please. I know you are no fool. I heard on good authority from Lord Babington that Mr Parker was going to make you an offer that night. I am not blind to the reason for their engagement. I do not share my Aunt's view of matrimony as only a business arrangement. While I would never admit it to him, I do have an affection for Lord Babington, and I know you experience similar feelings still. As a friend, I would advise you, again, to be on your guard. I know all too well how it is to lose oneself to someone's power, even from a distance. I would hate to think that you would languish in 'what could have been' - you deserve to be happy." Esther uncharacteristically caught Charlotte's hand and squeezed it.
Charlotte smiled and nodded, understanding Esther's meaning and surprised at the warmth of her hand. "Thank you, but I can assure you I am quite alright. No, really," she pressed as her friend gave her a disbelieving look, "I am better now. He and I are just acquaintances now. He is simply the brother of my friends Mary and Tom Parker. We needn't meet in any other situation or for any reason, especially since I leave for Willingden by the week's end." She squeezed Esther's hand in return before quickly changing the subject as she noticed Lord Babington approaching their solitude. "Will you be visiting your Aunt often?"
"She has already demanded our presence at her Christmas festivities. I will admit only to you there is a part of me that will miss this place, and that is in no small part due to you. You will write to me, won't you? We leave for Lord Babington's country estate tomorrow, and I would like to hear from you as we both break free of this place."
"Of course, I will!"
Lord Babington joined them, handing Esther a glass of wine. "I do hope Miss Lambe takes my Aunt's offer. I will feel more at ease knowing she is not alone."
"Take care, my dear. Miss Heywood will think you have a heart in place of a cold stone," Lord Babington jested as he placed his arm around Esther's waist and kissed her cheek.
Charlotte laughed, "Her secret is safe with me."
Across the park, Sidney's lip twitched as he heard Charlotte's laugh echo.
"Well?" Eliza Campion pressed him, repeating the question she knew had fell on distracted ears. "Shall we travel to London together, tomorrow?"
"You can go on ahead of me. I will depart Sanditon after meeting with Miss Lambe tomorrow."
Eliza was not to be dissuaded, "I can wait for you."
"No, you really don't have-"
"Sidney," she cut him off, her eyes pleading with him, "I am trying."
He nodded and let out a sigh. "Yes, you are right. We will go together."