by Jane Austen
With happy thoughts of the day passed Charlotte retired to bed. Was she becoming taken up with Sanditon? The sound of the sea at night, the gulls’ screeches in the morning, and the peculiar inhabitants—she would miss it all when she left.The mysteries unfolding were temptation enough for her to wish to extend her stay. Intrigue kept her awake; what conquests lay ahead for Sir Edward Denham? The Miss Beauforts? Both of them? Shocking thought! Charlotte could not clearly ascertain who was the hunter and who was the prey in that situation. It was certain though that the pursuit would be savage and the results likewise. She began, with a feeling of determination, to want to know all Miss Brereton’s news. Unanswered questions frustrated her.
Happy, valuable, beneficial Sanditon with its sparkling sea and its cloudless skies. Was it so unsullied as she was to believe? Her sleep that night was fitful, her dreams lucid and unsettling: Sir Edward Denham was whispering in her ear again, the Miss Beauforts hid their smirking faces behind their fans, and Sidney Parker was laughing, while a girl she did not recognize danced a jig along the promenade holding a soup ladle.
CHAPTER 14
Charlotte Heywood’s natural inclination to observe the Sanditon inhabitants was soon to be satisfied. For what better situation is there than a garden party to afford so analytical a creature so perfect an opportunity for observation. It was quite decided upon. They would be blessed with good weather, and of guests there would be no shortage. The grounds of Trafalgar House lent themselves exceedingly well to such an event, and the party would, naturally, go off well. This was Sanditon! Mrs. Parker, although quite capable and perfectly content to make all the arrangements, was obliged to accept Miss Diana Parker’s offers of assistance. She could draw up a list of the afternoon’s activities, although a recent attack of bowel inflammation left her disinclined to rush about the place.
“But Mary, let me put your mind at ease,” Diana said weakly,“I shall be quite equal to taking on lists so long as my family’s health allows it.You know I cannot focus my mind to any task without a list. I am one who is quite unanchored without an inventory.”
Lady Denham accepted the invitation. “Of course you shall have me there, Mrs. Parker, but I must insist upon having that spot beneath your canvas awning as my own. I dehydrate in direct sun ... brain shrinkage is a very real danger at my age. My poor dear husband,” it was not clear to which poor dear husband she referred, “would very likely have lived longer had he shielded his head from the heat,” said she.
Mr. Sidney Parker was, quite as his brother had described him, a man full of joviality. His nieces and nephews loved him. Mrs. Parker often complained that her brother-in-law overindulged her four little ones but Sidney was unstoppable. He bought the children theatrical masks, he made paper ships, he told the most interesting stories, all invented and all with something fantastic in them, and he wrote their names, and his own, backwards, to make them laugh.
There was something rather admirable, Charlotte thought, about a man who could see the entertainment of children as valuable.There was no such desire to run and laugh and amuse in Mr. Parker, he had fathered and he loved his children, but it was always Sidney (Uncle “Yendis”) who was responsible for laughter.
There were daily conversations between Sidney Parker and Charlotte Heywood. Having found themselves obliged to stay in the same house, these regular talks became something of a habit. Sidney, eager to remove from the stifling gentility of the lodgings he had taken on the Terrace, fixed himself with every intention of permanence at Trafalgar House. His view, that breakfasts, lunches, teas, and suppers all require a garnish of talk to make them tolerable, was demonstrated by his incessant conversation and his apparent inability to remain silent, even when the encumbrance of a fish was to be considered.
“There is nothing so grating on the nerves as the constancy of silence and the sound of a spoon on a dish.The clink of cup against a saucer drives me quite wild. I must have talk!” said Sidney.
“Does gossip satisfy you then? Would you not favor silence if the only talk to be had were mediocre, idle?” asked Charlotte.
“No, Madam, I certainly should not. Quiet simply blasts my ears. I should infinitely prefer idle talk to none at all.”
“But you would not take it seriously?”
“Certainly not. But must everything be serious, Miss Heywood? I often see you hiding a smile or two.”
“That is, perhaps, merely a girlish habit. One which you are unlikely to be prone to.”
Diana Parker’s list making proved something of a task. Details of the catering alone covered four sheets of pressed paper. She did not want picnic food! She did not want a banquet. She had settled upon something in-between.The entertainments were perplexing her; Sidney suggested Bullet Pudding for the children, Diana threw her hands up in dismay, and Mrs. Parker finally squashed the idea by telling a dreadful story of a choked child. There were to be card games and, (this too was Sidney’s idea) the possibility of a Masquerade was discussed.“I heard they had one at Ranelagh,” said he,“and it went off terribly well. The entire garden filled with masks. It would be vastly funny.”
“Trafalgar House, fine though it is, is not quite Ranelagh, Sidney,” said Diana wearily, “we must tailor our plans accordingly, besides, I so dislike masks, there is something fearsome in them. It vexes me not to know a person, not to see who they are.”
“Then you must spend your life in a state of vexation, sister,” said Sidney,“for no one shows themselves fully.We are all masqueraders to some degree.”
“And what guise do you adopt, Sir?” said Charlotte, surprised.
“Why that of your commonplace jester, Miss Heywood, but I have a solemn side. Never mistake me for nothing more than a comedian. I have what might be termed a fluctuating tendency toward gravity. I can frown as hard as the next men when it is required of me.”
“I do not think I ever saw you somber.There is nothing tragic or grave in you.You do laugh at life, at everything.”
“Outwardly yes, but I am not all mirth. I have not grinned my way about the world. After a man is one and twenty he must honor the expectation of being mature. You might not believe it, Miss Heywood, but I am quite capable of proper feeling.”
“Perhaps though, Sir, you are not so capable of showing it,” said Charlotte.
Diana Parker’s insistence that costumes and masks were not to be considered halted their conversation sharply. They must focus on the practicalities; this they, Charlotte and Sidney, did accordingly but there was something altered in the way they now saw each other. Sidney was unmasking, and Charlotte, whose openness was one of her admirable points, was inclined to shield herself. She was not sure, or perhaps could not acknowledge, that her feelings for Sidney Parker had advanced, changed. She was privately concerned that she was falling in love with him. The danger, however, of falling in love with such a lighthearted fellow, might be very great. She would therefore enjoy his company but view him with caution. She was not to be drawn in.
CHAPTER 15
All the neighborhood of Sanditon was deserted on the afternoon of the garden party. Mrs. Whitby had closed the library, Mr. Heeley had, reluctantly, locked the door of his shop, with the full belief that doing so would disappoint any young lady enamored with the idea of blue shoes. He had sold one pair to Miss Letitia Beaufort and another to her sister.The prospect of the garden party had also boosted Mr. Jebb’s business and he found himself quite willing to shut shop once the very last bonnets and parasols had been purchased.
Residents and visitors in their entirety crowded into the gardens of Trafalgar House. A day’s respite and the opportunity to consume cold cordial, wine, and all manner of delicacies in abundance attracted even those personages who rarely ventured out of doors. Mr. Parker had prepared a speech.The advantage of having such an audience must be put to good use. Promotion of Sanditon being his subject matter, he set himself upon a podium of wood to address his guests. To be so pinnacled, he thought, with a surge of pride, suited hi
m very well and from his elevated position, he noted how obliging the Sanditon citizens all appeared.
The whole of the garden, when viewed from this heady peak, could be taken in and a good view of the amassed guests could be had. Mrs. Mathews and her three daughters had been amongst the first to arrive and were soon engaged in a lively conversation with Mr. Richard Pratt. Lieutenant Smith and Captain Little were rallying around Mrs. Jane Fisher and her daughter; and a Mrs. Scroggs, only recently widowed, was accompanied by the Reverend Hanking. Her muslin was newly dyed and she wore a mourning ring but her somber attire did little to disguise her delight at being out and about. It was suspected that the loss of her husband had been long awaited and welcomed. She seemed a heartily happy woman, one who, despite her recent bereavement, thought nothing of admiring one gentleman’s shooting jacket. There was, in her opinion, something indefinably attractive about country attire.
It is certainly a good turnout, thought Mr. Parker spotting Mr. Beard, the solicitor from Grays Inn, who waved and said, “Mrs. Davis and Miss Merryweather are to join me later, Mr. Parker, but a headache keeps Mrs. Davis inside until after midday.”
“Oh dear,” said Mr. Parker, “but I’ll shall rely upon seeing them, no one suffers a headache any longer than is necessary, at least not here in Sanditon.You know an ache of any sort cannot not long continue its assault to the body in such a corrective environment.”
All the visitors whose names had been first known to Mr. Parker from the library listings were present. His interest, however, was in one Dr. Brown. Mr. Parker very clearly recalled seeing his name listed. The doctor and his wife were to arrive a little late and looking a little flustered.
“I hope our good hill has not exhausted you, Sir,” said Mr. Parker stepping from the podium onto the grass.
“Not at all, Sir, we, my wife and I,” this with a gesture toward the lady beside him, “find hill walking quite exhilarating. After London, Sir, such endeavors are a treat. I have even purchased sturdy boots for the purpose.”
Next came the matter of formal introduction. Dr. Brown, an elderly man with a stooped posture, learned of Mr. Parker’s desire to establish a medical practice in the neighborhood.
“I am not your man, Sir! I have retirement in my view. I no longer have the steadiness of hand or the good eyesight I once did. Hence this little seaside break. I can scarce apply a cup these days. London has had all of me. Indeed, it has had the best of me. My wife pleads for me to stop. For a man who has enjoyed good health all of his life I have spent a great deal of my time in infirmaries.”To this his wife added nothing more than,“Too much time.”
Brown, then, was not Sanditon’s much-needed doctor, but Mr. Parker’s disappointment did not live long. Willingden Abbots was always in his mind.
Sir Edward Denham had not arms enough to satisfy his desires. Having five young ladies with whom he intended to flirt meant that two arms proved to be three deficient of his needs. He started about the grounds with the Miss Beauforts dangled about him. Their choice of finery far exceeded anything that they had been seen in thus far.Their fans, Charlotte noticed, had been cast aside in favor of parasols. More lace than a haberdasher could hold bedecked their pretty sunshades. Jebb’s was certain to have empty shelves the following day. Sir Edward, firmly bound betwixt these two with their umbrellas, was entirely possessed and without chance of escape. The threesome passed by Charlotte, the two outer smiled, he in the middle could not bow for the constraint his feminine captors put upon him, but he affected a nod in her direction. He was engaged in matters poetic, as was his expected mode of flirtation. “O, that I were a glove upon that hand,” said he when one of the Miss Beauforts put a delicate finger to her cheek.
Arthur Parker was quite settled in a chair by the picnic table, giving an account of his ill health to Lieutenant Smith, whose appearance of compassion gave no clue to his rather unkind intention of later regaling his seafaring colleagues with tales of the fleshy, feeble young man who sat before him.
“I must always ensure that I have adequate nourishment in the heat,” said Arthur, “liquid does nothing to improve me, I must insist on substance; when I have a little bread, cold cuts perhaps, and something in the way of cake I find am almost as fit as the next man. My sisters, they are natural nurses the both of them, worry a great deal for my health.They keep it in their mind that I must consider foodstuffs a danger, and yet I always find myself healthier when I have not been deprived. I cannot starve. I am always the worse for an empty stomach.” Of his new acquaintance he inquired, “Does not the sea unsteady you, Sir?” Neither expecting nor waiting for an answer he went on, “I confess to envying your constitution, I fear I would be quite hopeless aboard ship, firstly, I am intolerant of too much movement and secondly, my sisters tell me I cannot swim, though I have to admit I am not sure that I have ever tried. Immersion is a mystery to me.That, Sir, is the long and the short of it, but then women do fuss so, do you not agree?”
Lieutenant Smith was a sensible hardwearing young man of about five and twenty who laughed and said, “A certain type of woman may fuss if allowed to do so but it is not solely a feminine quality. I know more than a handful of gentlemen given to fluster at trivialities. One such survives on nothing more than the odd boiled egg, eaten cold, and even that must be of a particular size. I need not mention that these worriers are not sailors. We seafarers are, as you rightly point out, blessed with a tolerance, with a particular strength of constitution. But it is not to be envied, I assure you. With every advantage, there must come a penalty, and mine is that I am almost as repelled by dry land as you are by the idea of the swells of the ocean, Sir. I manage tolerably well here,” this last with a stamp of his foot and sweep of his hand, “where the sea is at my disposal for bathing. I set sail again next spring and the moment cannot come soon enough.”
“But the confinement of your ships!” cried Arthur. “I think only of cramped cabins and the proximity of so many other men. It must prove unsociable to some degree.”
“You are quite mistaken, Sir,” said Lieutenant Smith. “The restriction of space, I grant you, is often resented, but superior camaraderie like that found amongst sailors cannot be so marked in any other set of men in the world. I assure you I would rather spend a RopeYarn Sunday aboard ship than suffer too many drawing rooms or too many games of écarté.”
The Parker sisters complained of the humidity.“Oh, what it is to be frail, Susan,” said Diana Parker. “I feel quite unequal to the heat myself but I fear more for you sister, your constitution might not take well to this oppressive climate. It would be as well to have the leeches this evening.”
The four Parker children ran about the grass at a game of cup and ball. Sidney Parker, the only relative who thought himself in good enough health to be of consequence to the Parker brood, chased after his nephews and nieces, roaring and laughing. Mrs. Parker worried for her flock, that their high spirits might inconvenience those of a less tolerant nature.
“Hush children! Sidney, calm the children, they are quite without reason when you get the idea to entertain them. No, Sidney! Please! They are frenzied enough and it shall not be you who is obliged to settle them. To think that you had the idea of letting them play at Bullet Pudding. Do you see now how wild they get? Pray think of a quiet game. Poor creatures, they are, all four of them, little Mary especially, quite breathless as it is. I dread to think what perils might befall them if I allowed you your way.”
Sidney took leave of his nephews and nieces.Their protestations could not dissuade him. “Your dear mama has it that you are frenzied little beasts, we must desist, a quiet game later perhaps.”
He was soon by Charlotte, with the formalities of greeting each other attended to, their conversation slipped easily into matters general.
“Where is Miss Brereton today?” asked she.
“I imagined she was with Lady Denham, but I do not see her now I seek to, she must be taking a turn, she is a great one for turns you know.”
“Yes she is, she regularly walks alone by Sanditon House, she told me herself.”
“Oh I doubt she is ever too much alone, a pretty example like Miss Brereton rarely exemplifies solitude,” replied Sidney, and chancing to glance toward the perimeters of the grounds saw the very young lady they had just engaged in conversation about. “I take back what I said, Miss Heywood, Miss Clara Brereton is the very picture of solitude this afternoon. See there, walking the orchard, is it not Miss Brereton?” Charlotte saw amongst the trees the solitary figure and knew it to be Clara.
“Yes it is her, should we imagine she walks that way to signify loneliness in order that she will be taken pity on and joined in her walk, or is her desire for isolation genuine, do you think?”
“Heavens above!” cried Sidney with a laugh. “I had not in all the world imagined so deep an analysis could be applied to a girl’s decision to walk alone.”
“One of my many faults,” said Charlotte. “I am inclined to see mystery in everything and sense in nothing.”
Sidney Parker offered Charlotte his arm. “Walk with me, Miss Heywood, make of it what you will, a curiosity or a nonsense, your judgment will have no effect on the pleasure it will give me to escort you.”