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Chapter 27
CHARLOTTE had by no means exhausted all the emotions possible in a young woman who has the misfortune to fall in love without any assurance her affections are returned. Happiness and pain, agitation and uncertainties had been lived through in a state of alternating dreams and doubt. For many mornings she had awoken with thoughts of Sidney, had relaxed against her pillows for the first half hour of every day, remembering sentences he had spoken, jokes they had shared, fleeting expressions which had crossed his face as he listened to others talking. And then one day had been crowded with so many events, to which she responded with such intensity, that the blankness of the days which followed caught her unawares. She was not prepared for the reaction of numb misery which now set in. Common sense had at last reasserted itself: it told her all was now at an end: it warned her that she must teach herself to be insensible towards Sidney Parker; and though her heart still dictated periods of abstraction, they were no longer so heedless and never pleasant. She could only hope this single-minded obsession, which occupied all her thoughts, clouded every present prospect of enjoyment and deadened all her earlier interest in the Sanditon scene, would be softened by time and change. The remembrance of this interlude might become happy and natural again, when some of her peculiar attachment to him had faded, when she could look back on it all from the security of her own quiet home. Then she would at least have the recollection that such things had been, which could never be looked for again, and which could never cease to be dear to her. The morning after the Assembly, Charlotte broached anew the subject of her departure from Sanditon as the best and most effective cure she could devise for herself. She had relinquished any hope that she would see Sidney again before she left, and was now only anxious to remove herself from this background which carried too many associations. The Parkers were still reluctant to lose their young guest, said a great many kind things in protest, and offered her their carriage to drive the whole way whenever she wished; and finally agreed with her suggestion that she write to her father proposing a date in the second week of September for her removal. Once Charlotte had written her letter and gained her point, the remaining days she was to spend in Sanditon became precious to her again, with all the gentle melancholy of something she was about to lose. From stretching emptily ahead of her, as they had done immediately after the Assembly, her days began to fill up with little incidents, with sights and sounds and impressions of a peaceful, sunlit beauty in sea and sky, which never wearied her as she sat in contemplation of them. She continued to spend part of her time rambling about the countryside with regular walking parties the young people of Sanditon were still eagerly promoting. The Miss Beauforts were to be found on the Terrace every morning with suggestions of yet another route for the party to explore, another lane they had discovered and with more vivacious conversation to engage their walking partners. Sir Edward was still at hand to keep his usual proprietary eye on Miss Brereton, who seemed equally determined to continue the daily encounters; and even without Sidney Parker, Miss Denham evidently found the young men from the hotel still worthy of her attention. Charlotte was always happy to walk with Reginald on these excursions and listen to his ready jumble of chatter, laced with an occasional spice of wisdom -- invariably prefaced by "Sidney says." He made few claims to any opinions of his own, and Charlotte soon learned to distinguish between his usual muddle of conversation and the pungent remarks of Sidney, even when he failed to attribute them. She also learned how useless it was to ask Reginald any direct questions about his stay in Sanditon. His vagueness and his laughter only increased whenever she tried to discover how long he and Henry Bmdenall intended to remain there. Well, of course, he had no immediate plans -- fortunately his time was his own -- no real point in making definite decisions for a while -- it all depended on Sidney -- then of course Henry`s sailing date was unsettled -- his own friends in Brighton could wait a little longer -- and, in short, it was very agreeable to be staying on among such pleasant company in so quiet a resort. Charlotte listened, but without quite understanding it. Here was a complete reversal of Reginald`s opinions since his first day in Sanditon when he was impatient to return to Brighton as soon as possible! She smiled at his lack of method in now professing c)pinions in absolute contradiction to those originally expressed, but forbore to tease him by pointing out this inconsistency. But she could not be satisfied, and had the sensation of there being something quite curious in his present arrangements. Charlotte also spent many of her mornings on the shore line with Arthur and Miss Lambe. She watched the sea gulls wheeling and swooping, while Miss Lambe busily sketched her seaweed specimens and Arthur paddled happily about among the rocks. None of them spoke a great deal on these occasions. A few comments of sincere admiration from Charlotte when she inspected the latest drawings, and a few pensive remarks in reply often comprised the whole of the ladies` morning conversation, their silent companionship being intermpted only by a few gleeful shouts from Arthur whenever his prod emerged successful from a rocky pool. The little that Miss Lambe did say was always to the point; but sometimes she surprised Charlotte by beginning in the middle of her thoughts with some shy and ingenuous statement. "lf I could spend my whole life by the sea, I would be perfectly happy," she had said one day after sketching for half an hour in silence. On another, "How fortunate you are to have sisters and brothers of your own. You need never be lonely." And finally, "I wish you would call me Adela." These remarks were never adorned by the extravagant embellishments the Miss Beauforts would have found it necessary to add. And Charlotte responded to them in the same simple terms, appreciating the bright quality of warmth Adela so often hid before strangers and her unfailingly sensitive awareness to even the unspoken opinions of the few friends she valued. One morning when Charlotte called at the corner house to meet her, she found Adela silently assembling her drawing materials, more intent than ever on her own thoughts. She barely uttered a greeting, could scarcely raise a smile, and, turning away quickly to select her paint brushes, said very suddenly with her back towards Charlotte, "Before we go down to the beach, there is something I should like to tell you," pausing in a rather nervous way. "Arthur has asked me to marry him and I have agreed." She glanced round with a brief look of appeal. "I hope you will not think it very wrong in me. I will never be strong and healthy but I am not a complete invalid; and fortunately I have inherited quite enough money never to be any sort of burden on a husband." And then, with a great rush of words to cover up a mounting embarrassment. "We intend to build a house for ourselves here in Sanditon, ro invite Mrs. Griffiths to live with us and look after us both -- oh! please say you do not think it is such a foolish idea of ours." Charlotte heard the quiver in her voice, could imagine the tears in Adela`s eyes, and feeling words inadequate at that moment, went to her immediately and embraced her. But even on this emotional occasion, Adela could not express her feelings directly. "You, I hope, can understand how such a thing could have happened. But do you think -- would you help us by explaining it to his brothers and sisters? Can you make them see that Arthur wilI never have any cause to regret taking such a step? I am sure -- in short -- I know he will be happy. We are both so very fond of seaweed." Once Charlotte might have wanted to laugh at such a conclusion. But the deep regard Arthur and Adela had for each other was so apparent to her that she could understand their reserve, their constraint to discuss it before others. She had grown very fond of them both, and was herself quite confident of the perfect compatibility of the match; but they lacked the assurance to admit their mutual affection even to her. Even before her, they spoke not of their attachment but of their apprehensions -- Arthur thinking his sisters would find it very odd in him to be wanting to marry, and Adela positive they would disapprove. They were, indeed, so bashful about their plans, so nervous of everyone`s reaction to their engagement, that all Charlotte s persuasion was required before they would even reveal it to Mrs. Griffiths. Arthur`s stumbling avowal and Adela`s apologetic explanations were then met with such calm good sense that they both began to feel their plans were not so outlandish after all, and to hope their acquaintance in general might even regard a marriage between them as quite normal. But Charlotte and Mrs. Griffiths were perhaps the only people in Sanditon who were not surprised by the engagement. To everyone else it was more than the proverbial nine days` wonder -- it was the sensation of the season. Various combinations of various names had occurred to various people, but never this one. The Miss Parkers repeated "Impossible!" with great vigour to each other many times before they could be brought to modify it to "Most extraordinary!" in front of Arthur and a mere "Quite remarkable!" before Adela. It was still the oddest thing that ever was, and neither of them could understand it. Arthur to be getting married! Arthur in the role of a husband! Mr. Parker did his optimistic best in persuading them both it was a very desirable match. He was certain Arthur could learn to look after himself in time. Arthur`s needs were simple and he had never been in danger of overspending his own small income. But had his sisters considered this large fortune of Miss Lambe`s which would now make everything easy for him? The existence of the fortune had been taken for granted for so long that Adela`s modest style of living and diffident behaviour had, in fact, led the Miss Parkers to overlook it in their first reactions to the engagement. When its full extent now became known to them, they were so awed by its amount they had not another word to add in dissent. Who would ever have believed Arthur capable of doing so well for himself? Within twenty-four hours the "Impossible!" had been transformed into the feasible. All highly desirable! Most delightful! The most sensible thing Arthur had ever done! The Parkers were not a mercenary family; but a fortune, though they had not sought it, they naturally considered a very good thing to have in any family. And yet this fortune, which was an afterthought to them, and almost an irrelevance to Arthur and Adela themselves, was immediately assumed by the rest of Sanditon to be the entire reason for the match. Lady Denham, mourning it on Sir Edward`s behalf, had always been certain somebody would make a determined effort to seize hold of it before the end of the season. "Lord bless me, such chances do not often occur! If I told Sir Edward once, I told him a thousand times not to be letting the grass grow under his feet; but I observed how pitiful were his efforts. The few smirks he gave in Miss Lambe`s direction were not likely to profit him. And so I told him. But, between ourselves, this reverse may set him down a peg or two. He is far too fond of strutting about and thinking to himself what a fine young man he is! Oh, you may be sure I gave him many a hint that any of those three young men from the hotel could walk off with our heiress under his very nose. And now even Mr. Arthur Parker has done it! Oh well, if Miss Esther still manages to fix Mr. Sidney Parker, I will not regard the season as completely wasted." Though neither Miss Beaufort nor Miss Letitia had ever elevated Arthur Parker to the status of a real beau, they were sorry to lose him as an elegible bachelor and their earliest admirer in Sanditon. But they were philosophic about the match -- the fortune, of course, explained it all. And it was better to lose Arthur in such a cause than any of the four other candidates. They outdid each other in extravagant and insincere compliments to "dear Adela" on her "conquest," while satisfying their own vanity by the persuasion that Arthur still admired them a great deal more than his chosen bride; and that if they had fifty thousand pounds apiece, they would never throw themselves away on such a pudding. To Mr. Parker, Miss Lambe`s determination to settle in Sanditon outweighed almost everything else. For although she was unwilling to speak of her affection for Arthur, Adela was fortunately not so inhibited in etpressing her warm admiration of Sanditon. Her praise was enough to make her a first favourite with Mr. Parker; and he was amazed that Arthur should have had the sense to choose such an intelligent wife. Mrs. Parker`s quiet acceptance of her new sister-in-law was everything that it should be. She sought her frequent company, kindly offered her assistance in all her plans, and was as pleased as her husband to feel they could soon number near relations as near neighbours. "Well, this news makes some amends to us for losing our own dear guest," she said on the evening of the Monday which had revealed the engagement to her. Charlotte had heard from her father that same morning: he proposed sending the family coach to meet her in Hailsham the following Thursday. "And perhaps, my dear, as you and Adela have become such firm friends, we may often expect you here again at Sanditon. You will always be very welcome at Trafalgar House; but I am sure Arthur and Adela will claim you as one of their first guests when they build their new home." Charlotte smiled rather sadly at these plans for future visits, which only succeeded in depressing her. She knew her friendship with Arthur and Adela would always give some sweetness to the memory of her stay in Sanditon, though it could take only a very minor place among her recollections of that summer; a summer such as she could seldom remember -- scarcely any rain and no storm of consequence. It was with a certain relief that she greeted a clap of thunder that evening, as though proving to her the weather could be less than perfect even in Sanditon. But the summer storm which this heralded was so violent that by tea-time she was sharing her host`s fears for his tiles, his canopy and his new plantation, A cold stormy rain set in, accompanied by such tempestuous gales that it seemed everything outside the house must be despoiled as everything inside was being rattled and shaken. The storm continued with unabated fury all night; and Charlotte, lying sleepless for many hours, could hear the waves pounding along the beach and the rain lashing against the windows, with every now and then a crash of thunder which eclipsed even these powerful sounds. The winds seemed to hurl themselves at Trafalgar House, whistling through the young plantation, down the chimneys, raging against this stubborn block of resistance on the top of the hill, tearing Mr. Parker`s gay canvas awning from its stanchions in protest, and ripping it into shreds as a violent proof of displeasure.
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