The horde had descended upon Sanditon.
Charlotte and Sidney sat in their dinner clothes in the drawing room, awaiting their meal, each with a keen sense of dread. The clock ticked, and they held novels which neither of them had turned a single page for a quarter of an hour. They knew how long this journey from London to Sanditon would take, and it was only a matter of minutes before the families would arrive.
They could hear the front door open, and Sidney leapt up as he heard the butler yelp, and a cacophony of voices grew closer and closer. Tom's could be heard above the rest.
"No, no, you will say no such thing, I swear, let me speak to my brother first–" he was cut off as the parlor door flew open, to the sight of Tom Parker with his hands bracing the doorway, struggling to hold back the children of the newlyweds.
"Tom!" Charlotte exclaimed, fearing for his safety. He looked like a prison guard, attempting to staunch a riot. From beneath his arms and through his legs, her two youngest, Helen and Junia, pushed their way into the room. It only got louder. Tom struggled in vain, his aging body was no match for the youthful pushing.
Sidney wordlessly pushed him aside and hooked each of his daughters by the elbow and hauled them off to an unseen location. The rest of the Parkers, related by blood and marriage, followed him. Charlotte's children, and the Dryden in-laws funneled into the drawing room. Caroline, last to enter, closed the door behind her.
"Really, Charlotte, I cannot believe you." Margaret began, haughtily. Her husband, Mr. Blundell, a tall waspish man, looked at the carpet at his feet, nodding silently.
"I certainly can believe it, yet I am sincerely disappointed." Frances added.
Her husband added a quiet "Aye, no true catholic born and bred" under his breath, and promptly placed his backside before the roaring fire.
"Enough, all of you. I know enough of your courtships to believe neither of you should be casting stones at Charlotte." Caroline said, stamping her walking stick against the floor.
"I sincerely apologize for the hastiness and secrecy of my marriage, but I have no other regret." Charlotte replied, calmly.
"The children would like to speak their piece, and then I would have a word." voiced Caroline.
Theresa stepped forward.
"I have been chosen to represent my siblings." She began. Charlotte suppressed a smile at the notion that her children followed a democratic process to voice their concerns.
"Speak dearest."
"We do not approve of this union. Grandmama disagrees, but as your children we condemn it. Sir Parker is not of our faith, his temperament is not to our liking, and we find his daughters fickle and rude. We accept your authority as our mother and guardian, but we do not accept Sir Parker's."
Listening to this pained Charlotte deeply. But she knew better than to argue with the children.
"And you? Caroline? Do you approve? You do not think I am a false Christian for my actions?" Charlotte asked.
"I accept and understand your apology for the manner of this marriage. I wish you had exercised more thought and restraint in the method, of course. I have always believed, from before you joined our church to this very moment, that you are a faithful woman who does her best to do right by God and man."
"Thank you." Charlotte whispered in reply.
"However," Caroline took a deep breath, "I have conditions for my complete blessing which I'm sure will be no surprise to you. You and Sir Parker will not make Leyburn House your home, nor will Middlesmoor be your primary residence. Anty is to remain at Ampleforth, and will not be adopted by Sir Parker."
"Of course, I anticipated all these and have no disagreement with you."
"And, Sidney shall begin religious instruction as soon as possible, so that you may be married by our priest." Caroline finished.
"I won't be able to promise that. I will try, but I cannot guarantee such a thing." Charlotte sighed.
"Typical."
"To be expected from a convert."
"After all we've done for her!"
"Does she insist upon betraying James' memory?"
Her sisters-in-law and their husbands chorused. But the last comment, it was too much. Anger flashed in Charlotte's eyes.
"How, how dare you?" She looked up and looked between the four adults who spoke so. "I will be admonished for my impatience and my romanticism, for my rash nature and thoughtlessness, but I WILL NOT be accused of ever doing anything to betray James. You may leave my house if you insist on such an insult." Charlotte spat, barely controlling the urge to shout at them.
The Library, across the house, at the same hour
"A Catholic, papa? As your wife? The connection from your youth was embarrassing enough, but now we are forever united to such a family?" Annabella raged.
"Surely it is not too late to pursue an annulment, please." Marianne pleaded. She almost sounded close to tears.
"I will listen to any objection that is not based upon Lady Leyburn's faith."
"Lady Parker." Mary Parker whispered.
"What? Speak up, Mary." Sidney barked.
"I'll thank you to not speak to me, or to your daughters in such a manner Sidney. I repeated her new name, which is Lady Parker. If the girls are to respect either of you, you must accord Charlotte with the respect she deserves, and speak with your daughters in a manner befitting both your stations." Mary said, giving a pointed look to Sidney and his children alike.
"I concede I have been rude, forgive me my dears." He bowed his head.
"Their piety, whether they were Protestant or Catholic, is unnerving. I find her older two children to be self-righteous and know-it-alls. They think because their priest told them something, or because they read it in a book, they know everything." Marianne offered, having composed herself.
Sidney almost laughed. The Dryden girl's latter trait, thinking they knew something because they read it, was one inherited from their mother.
"Anything else? Besides religion, Annabella?" Tom asked.
"I find their conduct in mixed company very improper. The little ones are accorded too much freedom. Lady Leyburn involves herself in matters that are not hers to bother with. In the summer, she consistently interjected into conversations and relationships that she was not invited into." Annabella added.
"Such as?" Diana prompted.
"Such as Lord Babington's business ventures with Mr. Stringer, and encouraged Lady Babington to associate with his wife who brought much disgrace upon their family. It was entirely improper."
"So here we are, a war of manners and church. I thank you for informing me of your worries, girls. But I resolve: she is my wife, she is your stepmother, and there will be no more discussion upon this subject henceforth. Am I understood?" Sidney asked.
There was silence.
"Am I understood?" He repeated.
"Yes sir." The girls muttered.
Each side of this new, unhappy family had reached stalemate, and the travelers were weary with hunger. They all met in the hall, and Caroline asked the butler to direct them to the dining room, to which Arthur heartily agreed. Charlotte and Sidney were left in the hall to organize rooms for their sudden onslaught of guests, and share the conclusions of their conversations with their children.
"Horrid?" Charlotte asked.
"Yes, and you?" Sidney replied.
"Children upset, my sisters-in-law and their husbands indignant, as to be expected. At least Caroline is in our corner. Any support from yours?"
"Mary, and Arthur. Tom is too frenzied to know what he thinks, and Diana hardly ever expresses an opinion, she dotes on the girls."
"Well, for tonight I hope everyone may rest. I expect Caroline will begin plans in the morning." Charlotte patted Sidney's face with her gloved hand, and turn toward the dining room. Sidney grasped her elbow and turned her back around.
"What do you mean plans?" He asked.
"Where we shall live, schooling for the girls, your catechesis, an announcement in the papers." Charlotte rattled off.
"And why her? I don't recall marrying her daughter."
Charlotte only sighed.
"It's just the way it is. I might as well have been her daughter, for all the warmth of my parents in the early years of my marriage. Caroline is odd, but a strong character, and she doesn't take well to surrendering power. Best to make an ally of her early on."
Sidney considered his wife for a long moment. It struck him, the way the years had changed her, she'd never have submitted so willingly to someone else's authority as a younger woman. And he knew enough about marriage (though his own previous was nothing to brag about) that it worked best when it wasn't conducted beneath a third party's thumb.
"Perhaps, we should make our own plans first." He offered.
"We can certainly try. Let us have something to eat, and see how they are managing there." Charlotte gave a weak smile and inclined her head down the hall.
Taking his wife's arm, Sidney and Charlotte joined the rest of their family in the dining room. The long table seemed to be clearly marked into two camps, the two families. The children occupied either end, and if it were a see-saw, Charlotte's brood and their cousins would have weighed down one side. In the middle, the amenable adults tried to bridge the gap.
"Ah! Sir Parker, Lady Parker, there you are. Sir Parker, do sit beside me. I have thoughts I wish to share with you." Caroline beckoned.
Charlotte looked at Sidney in an "I told you so" sort of way, and found a seat beside Tom and Mary.
"My dear." Mary gave Charlotte a sympathetic pat on the hand when she took her seat.
"I can hardly believe we are finally family." Tom added, quietly, knowing better than to speak loud enough for his nieces to hear.
"I can. It seems I was family long before I fell in love with your brother." Charlotte replied.
"How very true. I suppose my husband and I have the ability to boast that we knew what a treasure you were before anyone else here." Mary preened, with a touch of dramatics.
The three old friends shared a laugh. Charlotte's heart warmed with a keen sense of gratitude. This was one of the reasons she had married Sidney–out of a long and abiding kinship she felt with his family. She wasn't a solitary creature by nature, and the years of quiet in Yorkshire since James' death nearly two years before had caused her to forget the joy of being deeply known by long-loved friends.
"I'm glad you two are here. I worry how the peace shall be kept in the coming weeks and months. I don't know how the girls shall adjust, and Anty will be back in school in a week."
"Do you plan on staying here?" Mary asked.
"No, I doubt it. I know that you two and Sidney spend your summers here, so I imagine I will too. But we will need to return to Yorkshire soon, and I can't see Sidney's girls enjoying our home-schooling and quiet days in the north." Charlotte replied.
"Why not a neutral site? London? You could still school your girls in your way, and Sidney's pair could resume their own schedule as normal." Tom offered.
"Summer could be split here and Middlesmoor." Mary added.
"I, I hadn't even thought of that." Charlotte felt a trifle silly, assuming they'd remove to Yorkshire immediately, but it was what she'd always done after the Christmas season was over.
Down the table, Caroline had engaged Sidney in a similar conversation.
"I've already written to Father Roland in London, unless you choose to go with Charlotte to Middlesmoor next week." Caroline said, taking a sip of soup.
"I daresay my wife and I shall remain in one another's company for the foreseeable future." Sidney responded, skirting around the topic of conversion.
"Ah, so Middlesmoor it is. Hopefully the steward will have time to prepare the guest quarters."
Sidney was silent for a few minutes. Then, he spoke.
"Madam, I have been led to believe that you are in favor of this marriage?"
"You have been informed correctly."
"Then I must ask, why are you intent on assumptions and dictations of where I shall go, and what quarters I shall sleep in, what church I shall pray at?" Sidney asked, in a tone that barely concealed frustration.
"You mistake me, Sir Parker. I approve, but I have conditions and hopes. You are now an authority in the lives of my grandchildren, and I will not surrender opinion just because I have given support to this union."
"I see, but I don't quite understand."
"Oh, don't bother with that. I never try to understand people, and they shouldn't trouble themselves to understand me." Caroline indicated that she was done discussing the topic for the evening.
The meal concluded in hushed conversations, but otherwise was blissfully conflict-free. Children were eventually shepherded upstairs by adults, and candles were snuffed. Once again, Charlotte and Sidney found themselves alone in the main hall downstairs.
"And how was Grandmother?" Charlotte asked her husband.
"I hope to make a friend in her, my dear. But I don't intend to bow at her feet." Sidney replied, pressing a kiss to Charlotte's temple.
Just then, a knock at the front door. As no footman was present, Sidney went to answer it. On the other side, a striking woman, another who had not been seen in Sanditon for some ten or so years. She entered and spoke first.
"I heard there has been a wedding?"
"Georgiana!" Charlotte exclaimed.
Author's Note:
Dear Readers, I am rewatching the first season as I write and I'm astounded at how much I have forgotten! (Currently finishing up the ep where Sidney tells Charlotte he is his truest self with her…swoon!) And also, how downright evil Eliza Campion acts toward Charlotte in those episodes…And how sometimes I just wish Charlotte would have married a kind working man like Stringer and saved herself the heartache (unpopular opinion, I know, and maybe hypocritical considering I'm writing a Sidlotte story…) If you're reading this, and excited for season 3 as I am, who do you wish Charlotte to marry? It's hard for me not to think of Colbourne as a pale imitation of Sidney…