by Jayne Bamber
Rebecca was struck with sudden comprehension. “You must at least give the appearance of pursuing an heiress, though perhaps without intention of actually wedding one?”
“You needn’t fear for Miss Woodhouse, or any of your family. I should never raise expectations in any lady whom I do not genuinely like. At any rate, I have been duly scolded on that score once already today, and I am determined to give no further offense there.”
“You mean to say that Mr. Churchill has warned you off of her?”
Here Mr. Parker laughed, and offered her his arm. “You need not dissemble, if you are relieved by such a thing. I know how eager you are to protect all the ladies of your family, but it does not follow that we cannot be friends. You must be my guide, Lady Rebecca, in all things. Already I am feeling better and better at having attached myself to you now, and under your guidance I shall grow thoroughly reformed – I am at your service.”
“Well now! That might be a fine thing indeed,” Rebecca laughed, really enjoying Mr. Parker’s candor. “So your friend warned you off of my cousin? Am I to infer that he is quite in love with her?”
“I am not so completely in your thrall that I should betray such a dear friend,” Mr. Parker replied, though the look on his face really told the truth. “You shall have to continue to conclude what you like, as I am sure you have ever done.”
This last might have perhaps been a barb – an allusion to her interference with his attempt to court Georgiana, but Rebecca chose to ignore it. She was relieved, at least, that Mr. Churchill might now begin to make some real progress with Emma. As she felt no need to press Mr. Parker on the subject, she instead observed, “You, too, may have some conclusions yet to draw, when you meet Highbury’s newest arrival – the new Mrs. Elton.”
They had made their way across the lawn and turned around toward another side of the manor house, where the rest of their party was picnicking and playing at bowls. Mr. Churchill was seated at Emma’s side already, looking perfectly content. Mrs. Elton, deprived of her pet, Miss Fairfax, was plaguing the Westons with her company, and Rebecca gave Mr. Parker a teasing look.
He grinned at her with such a look in his eyes that made her believe they may yet become friends after all. “I have heard of her,” he whispered. “Frank’s latest letter was full of the new Mrs. Elton – I have every intention of coming to quite the same conclusion as you. I am, as I said, determined to make you my guide now, in all things. Your independence is just what I like.”
Laughing, Lady Rebecca led Mr. Parker directly to Mrs. Elton, who seemed quite expecting to be immediately introduced to him. She was full of praise for Mr. Churchill, and equally resolved to be intimately acquainted with Mr. Parker, declaring herself to have heard a great deal about him already, to be disposed to be great friends with him, and displayed every confidence of being equally approved of by himself. Mr. Parker’s reaction to such forward vulgarity was everything to please Rebecca, and full of playful cheek; she cheerfully abandoned him to Mrs. Elton.
She moved to speak with Mr. Knightley, who was just approaching her; he offered her his arm and led her a little away from the rest of the assembled company. “I had wondered where you went off to you,” said he. “Miss Fairfax disappeared, and I began to fear you had accompanied her back to Hartfield.”
“I ought to have done,” Rebecca admitted. “I hope you shall not think less of me for having failed to do so. Poor Miss Fairfax! How I pity her, to be such an object of interest to Mrs. Elton.”
“I suppose I must pity you,” he replied, “for likewise becoming an object of interest to Mr. Parker, so immediately upon his arrival. I know you dislike him.”
“I may have erred there – in half an hour of conversation with him this afternoon, I begin to find my opinion of him improving somewhat. I have ever been sympathetic to the downtrodden, you know, and I begin to find him just such a one. He suffers just as much as Frank Churchill does at the hands of his aunt, under the influence of his patroness, Lady Denham. He spoke to me of it, and I have never seen him so candid before. His affectation of perfect amiability finally gave way to something more sincere, and I find I like him the better for it. Pictures of perfection make me sick and wicked – it is an acknowledged character flaw that really makes me like a person.”
“You like me – am I so very flawed?”
Rebecca laughed. “Oh yes – very. I thoroughly approve.”
Mr. Knightley gave her a teasing look. “I never know what to make of you from one day to the next – you are ever surprising me. I am glad if you have improved your opinion of Mr. Parker. Next you shall be bosom sisters with Mrs. Elton.”
“Pah! Never! I shall leave that to the future Mrs. Knightley you have teased her about. Surely if you were ever to marry, it must be to someone far more capable than I of liking other people.”
“And you suppose wrong! I should never allow the future Mrs. Knightley to carry on with the likes of Mrs. Elton, I can assure you of that. And when she is in being, I am sure you will thoroughly approve of her.”
“So you are of a mind to marry? Perhaps Mrs. Weston’s speculations were not too far from the mark, after all.”
“Not that again! How willfully blind you are, Rebecca.”
“I hope I am not. As regards both Mr. Parker and Mrs. Elton, I am sure I have arrived at exactly the right conclusion. I should never change my mind about Mrs. Elton, not as long as I remain in Surrey, though as regards Mr. Parker, I think I am perfectly content to have revised my opinion somewhat. So long as he does not prevent Mr. Churchill from paying his addresses to Emma, I should be perfectly satisfied with him. I may yet improve myself so much as to tolerate up to two mentions per day of the famous Sanditon.”
“Well,” replied Mr. Knightley, “I would by no means discourage any improvements you choose to make to yourself. I would only urge you to proceed with some caution – do not turn your opinion too much, nor too quickly.”
Rebecca laughed. “I see what you are about – you mean to suggest I wish to detach Mr. Parker from Emma because of my own feelings – that I have developed a tendre for the man - preposterous! Everyone knows I shall never marry – I am certain I never shall.”
Mr. Knightley frowned. “As to that, I will only say this – if you are to revise any opinions you may hold, do so carefully, and with deliberation.” He gave her a sad smile and moved away to speak with his brother.
25
Surrey, May
Emma was nothing less than elated by Mr. Churchill’s return to Highbury. From the moment he was seen walking across the lawn at Donwell, his first thought not for the Westons but for her, Emma was quite certain of her attachment to him. Indeed, in the weeks of his absence her thoughts had been all for him, and not his companion, Mr. Parker, who had ever been attentive to her. When Mr. Parker was discovered to have accompanied Mr. Churchill back to Highbury, and appeared sometime later with Rebecca on his arm, Emma thought little of his return – indeed, she could scarcely even account for it.
She could no longer suppose Mr. Parker attached to her – he paid her less attention than before, and spoke chiefly with the Westons and Mrs. Elton, though he was often giving Rebecca such significant looks, and receiving cheeky smiles in return, that Emma began to wonder at her cousin’s sudden change of heart toward the man. And yet, her head was so full of Mr. Churchill that she could think of little else.
Their excursion to Box Hill was the day after their trip to Donwell. They had a very fine day for their journey – the seven miles were traveled in full expectation of enjoyment, and everybody had a burst of admiration on first arriving, but in the general course of the day there was a languor, a want of spirit, a want of union, which could not be got over. They separated too much into parties. The Eltons walked together, Mr. Knightley and John took charge of Miss Bates and Miss Fairfax, with the children having been left to the care of the housekeeper at Hartfield, and Emma and Rebecca occupied themselves with Mr. Churchill and Mr. Parker.
The Westons tried, in vain, to make them all harmonize better. It seemed at first an accidental division, but it never materially varied. Emma was inclined to blame it all on the Eltons. The others showed no unwillingness to mix, and made themselves agreeable as they could, during the hours that were spent on the hill, but there seemed a principle of separation between them and the other parties, too strong to be removed.
Frank Churchill’s presence, and his perfect contentment, made the day agreeable for Emma – she wanted only that the rest of her companions might be in such good cheer, for the day to be called quite perfect.
Upon arriving, Mr. Churchill would escort Emma, would have her on his arm, walking very close to him, and smiled cheerfully at every sidelong glance the Westons paid them – where this had once vexed Emma, she began to find it quite pleasing. He articulated everything proper about the scenery, the landscape, and the view to be had, expressing himself with all the liveliness and intelligence she had come to expect from him, and was as attentive a companion as anyone could be. He spoke of his delight in having returned to Highbury, would hear confirmation of her own pleasure at his return, and expressed a desire to grow further acquainted still, and enjoy the same daily visits they had done on his last trip to Highbury. On whole, the weeks of their separation appeared to have strengthened his attachment to her, much as they had served to make Emma aware of her own feelings.
Her only pause was caused by a sense of unease within herself, that it was too soon to be so happy, and a sense of wistfulness that her father and sister should never see her so contentedly receive the addresses of a man whom they had often heard described in such terms as to imagine his perfect suitability for their Emma. In such a manner of thinking, Emma was equally able to imagine that such a thought must be on the minds of everyone – that were Mr. Churchill to display any symptoms of growing quite serious about her, everyone’s first thought would be for Emma’s mourning, that she must be the one to deny herself the pleasure she really wished for, or be thought devoid of every proper feeling.
She struggled to suppress this impulse – to exist in the moment, to indulge in the happiness even Rebecca had urged her to find. She was thankful indeed for her cousin’s presence, and yet fearful with every passing day that soon Rebecca must begin to think of going away. As of the day of their excursion to Box Hill, Rebecca had been amongst them for seven weeks, and the night fixed upon for the ball at the Crown would make two months complete. Though Rebecca had come to them as practically a stranger, she had so quickly become intimate with Emma and everyone in Highbury that mattered – she seemed now to absolutely belong to them, and the notion of her ever necessarily going away felt wrong, and filled Emma with dread.
Almost unconsciously, as her thoughts drifted to Rebecca, so too did she. Rebecca seemed to be tolerating Mr. Parker with better equanimity than usual – or at least making every effort at detaining him for Emma’s sake, that she might speak with Frank at leisure – eventually the four of them came back together. The ball at the Crown was discussed at great length, Emma’s first set of dances secured far in advance by Frank Churchill, and every possible preparation speculated upon. From such a subject, their discourse took a natural turn to the woman who had commandeered their scheme.
“I cannot like Mrs. Elton,” Mr. Churchill observed as they walked along the hill.
Grinning, Emma asked, “Why ever not?”
“Because you do not,” said he. “Is that not reason enough?”
Emma and her companions all laughed. “We have reason enough not to like her – how many times I have been wishing for you to be here, that you might see her vulgarity!”
Frank gave her a meaningful look. “What a fine reason to be missed! But you must tell me all about it, now I am here at last.”
Emma glanced at Rebecca, remembering her cousin’s admonishment that she and Frank should have nothing to talk about, if not for Mrs. Elton, and Emma suddenly felt that she could neither give her cousin the satisfaction of being right, nor Mrs. Elton the distinction of being so much talked of. To speak of nothing but that awful woman would cast such a shade on her happy day here at the hill, which Emma could not countenance; she turned the subject. “Well, now that you are here at last, I can only hope there is no chance of you getting called away again. Do you think you shall stay long this time?”
“I do hope so, Miss Woodhouse,” Frank replied, glancing over at Mr. Parker as if to ascertain his opinion on the matter. “My aunt is a capricious woman. Though I owe her a great deal of gratitude – this I will freely acknowledge – and I really do care for her, you know – but she does not like the notion of sharing my affections with all of Highbury, just as Mr. Parker’s patroness, Lady Denham, cannot abide his enjoying any other place so very much. Would that we could move Highbury closer to Sanditon!”
“I should like that above anything,” Mr. Parker said. “If I could but bring all of Highbury to Sanditon, I am sure nothing would please me more. And nothing should please you all more, I am certain of it – Sanditon is everything one could wish in a village, lacking only what is to be found here in Highbury.”
Miss Bates and Miss Fairfax were walking nearby – Mr. Parker called upon Miss Fairfax to give an opinion, having been so long in Sanditon herself. She demurred, growing rather flustered, and looked almost cross with Mr. Parker as she replied, “I believe Sanditon once held a great deal of appeal to me – it was wonderful to be there, when I was there, but the longer I am away from the place, the more distant it feels in my heart – like a pleasant dream, but nothing more. Spending time here in Highbury has felt just as pleasant.”
Emma looked curiously at her – it was one of the longest speeches Miss Fairfax had ever made, and she did not look happy to have made it, though she had never before seemed to mind Mr. Parker’s odd manners.
Mr. Parker seemed to feel the slight. “Is that so,” he cried, raising his eyebrows in astonishment. “Well! Perhaps you shall begin to regret that you did not accompany the Campbells to Ireland, with the Dixons.”
Miss Fairfax blushed and gave a little shrug, attempting more nonchalance than Emma could suppose she really felt. “Perhaps,” said she, “but I am perfectly content at Hartfield, I assure you.” At this, she moved away.
Recalling their previous speculation about Mr. Dixon, Emma gave Mr. Parker a knowing look. “Well!”
Mr. Parker screwed up his face and shook his head. “I, too, am perfectly content where I am, I assure you, Miss Woodhouse.” He then turned and addressed himself to Rebecca once more, suggesting they walk on, and eventually the various groupings amongst their party reunited at the crest of the hill, where their picnic was laid out. They all sat down, enjoying the refreshments that had been brought along for their luncheon. Mr. Churchill remained gay, Mr. and Mrs. Weston remained approving, and Emma continued to affect perfect cheer despite the strange sense of aught amiss that she could not quite quell. She began to suspect it had something to do with the strangely altered behavior of Mr. Parker.
***
Rebecca was relieved that Mr. Parker continued to attach himself to her, rather than to Emma, as he had done on his last visit. Knowing what she knew now, that Mr. Churchill was so nearly in love with Emma as to have warned his friend away, she was happy to make herself useful to her cousin by diverting all Mr. Parker’s attention. She could only repine that it kept her from speaking much with Mr. Knightley, who was often looking as though he wished to speak with her, but his dislike of Mr. Parker had not lessened when hers did, and so Mr. Knightley kept his distance from them.
Rebecca could not but think it curious that Mr. Parker should accompany Frank Churchill back to Highbury at all, as he had no intention of paying any further addresses to Emma – certainly he could have no intentions toward herself, much as he seemed to attempt to make himself agreeable to her. They might have reached an amicable truce, stemming from her new clarity regarding his situation in life, but such an accord could hardly have drawn him thi
ther. She could only account for it by supposing his desire to be away from Lady Denham still very strong – he certainly appeared to be in nearly as strange a mood as he had been the previous day.
Toward Miss Fairfax, Mr. Parker was often making rather unkind remarks, and though they all had once amused to themselves in doing so, Rebecca could not like it, particularly after Miss Fairfax’s distress the previous day. Despite hearing Miss Fairfax tell Mr. Parker she was perfectly content in Highbury, Rebecca could not but recall her speaking of the weariness in her heart, and she felt for the poor girl.
When Mr. Parker perceived that Rebecca would speak no ill of Miss Fairfax, he found a willing accomplice in Emma, who knew nothing of what Rebecca had witnessed at Donwell. Rebecca saw an opportunity to escape his nastiness and speak with Mr. Knightley, to whom she might have vouched for Mr. Parker’s sympathetic obligation to Lady Denham, were it not for his present behavior, which was beyond any excuse. John began to bristle at it – the name of Dixon was heard whispered between Frank, Emma, and Mr. Parker once more – and he finally troubled himself to intervene.
“Emma,” said he, “there shall be time for gossiping, I am sure, once we have fixed upon a spot to eat. Miss Fairfax is seeing to the picnic baskets – do come and assist us.” Emma looked a little annoyed at being called out in such a way, and waved dismissively in the direction of some trees that would provide ample shade for everyone to sit and rest. John grimaced, muttering under his breath that they all ought to be nicer to poor Miss Fairfax.
John was certainly inclined to be, and he remained attentive to Miss Fairfax as they laid out their picnic, which Rebecca hoped would make up for Mrs. Elton’s overbearing determination to befriend the girl. Rebecca was resolved to do her part, as well; when they all sat down to take their luncheon, she sat beside Mr. Parker, in the hope that she might prevent him from making any more untoward comments to poor Miss Fairfax.