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Chapter 25
MISS LAMBE`S INTEREST in seaweed proved more durable than the Miss Beauforts`. They had been enthusiastic in praising it, energetic in promoting their collecting parties for it, and ecstatic about each other`s pressed arrangements of it; but their ardour cooled most abruptly. As the date of the Assembly drew nearer, seaweed gave way to social concerns; and seaside-promenading clothes had to take second place to ball dress. They stopped pestering Sir Edward to finish his seaweed verses for them to frame and no longer entreated Arthur`s services in wading out among the rocks at low tide. Closeting themselves away with patterns, trimmings, ribbons and flounces, they were even prepared to forgo their daily meetings with Henry Brudenall and Reginald Catton in their preparations to dazzle them on the night of the Assembly. But for Miss Lambe, waging a quiet but persistent battle with her own constitution -- and Mrs. Griffiths` apprehensions for it -- the shore line had become a goal she was determined to reach. For several rainy mornings she had to be content to stay indoors sketching pieces of seaweed Arthur delivered after his own damp and solitary rambles. And when, on a particularly fine, windless day, she managed to achieve her objective and sit, wrapped in shawls, for a few hours in the most sheltered cove, her delight and her diligence were both highly gratifying to Arthur. Charlotte was again most earnestly petitioned to rejoin the collecting parties; but now, she noted with interest, Arthur was no longer requesting her assistance with his own towels, socks and shoes. These were tucked into a convenient bundle, pulled out, put back and scarcely mentioned the whole morning. And although his preoccupation with comfort and his anxiety about health remained considerable, all his solicittude in these matters was now entirely at Miss Lambe`s disposal. He himself must carry her folding chair, her easel and her drawing paper. Charlotte was required to look after her shawls and her paintbox, her cushions and hartshorn. In Miss Lambe, she decided, Arthur had encountered someone quite unique in his experience -- a genuine invalid, who despised her own weakness, disliked talking about her symptoms, and overtaxed her strength in her eagerness to lead a normal life whenever she was capable of it. And Arthur, who did not usually spare much thought for anybody`s comfort but his own, had lately been forced into recognising the difference between selfish indulgence and necessary prudence. He wanted Miss Lambe`s sketches of seaweed and she was very willing to execute them; but he had begun to realise that health, which he had always regarded as an excust for behaving exactly as he liked, could also intervene in one`s pleasures and prevent one from carrying out a favourite scheme, His sisters had always encouraged Arthur to discuss his minor ailments at such length that it astonished him when Miss Lambe denied having a headache, pretended to feel better than she really did and made so few complaints as to seem almost ashamed of her condition. But one day`s exhaustion could mean several days` recuperation. And from being protective about the progress of his seaweed sketches and watchful for warning signs of fatigue on their behalf, Arthur naturally enough became protective about Miss Lambe herself. It was he who decided how long their collecting expedition should last; it was he who decided if the sea breeze was too strong, the clouds threatening or Miss Lambe exerting herself beyond her own strength; and in making these decisions and insisting they were acted upon, Arthur was also outgrowing a little of his own immaturity. The change was as yet barely perceptible but, on several occasions, Charlotte noted and welcomed it. She was the only person (with the possible exception of Mrs. Griffiths) to observe this interesting development in Arthur`s character; and she often wished Sidney would return to Sanditon to discuss it with her and confirm the improvement she fancied in his younger brother`s outlook. But beyond one short note to his elder brother with ironic congratulations on the plans for an Assembly, there was no further news of Sidney. lt was not, however, till the actual day of the Assembly that Charlotte gave up all expectation of seeing him present at it. She had been relying on that impetuous streak, so prominent in the Parker family, and believing Sidney would arrive without notice, late at night on the eve of the Assembly, and walk in to surprise them all that very morning. The sound of the doorbell while they were at breakfast seemed to confirm this guess, and though Miss Diana`s appearance banished the first flutter of her spirits, she still expected every moment to hear her announce his arrival. But Miss Diana, most perversely, would talk only of blackberries. "The most abundant crop of blackberries this year on the downs! I have never seen anything like it -- it would take scarcely an hour to fill a basket. Two baskets, Duckworth and I have decided would be enough for a fair-sized syllabub. And I had it all arranged so well; indeed nothing could be clearer -- if four of the young ladies spent only one half-hour each -- " "Well, and is he come?" Mr. Parker eagerly interrupted. "What are you talking of, my dear Tom? Who is come?" "Sidney, to be sure. Are you not come to tell us he has arrived? Drove down late last night I dare say?" "Oh Sidney! No, no, I know nothing of Sidney -- or at least I can tell you he has definitely not arrived because I have just come from the hotel myself. But what difference will Sidney make to our arrangements for the Assembly? I am here on purpose to tell you and Mary about the blackberries for the syllabub this evening. Can you not give your attention to what I am saying?" Charlotte`s disappointment was so intense that she was unable to comply with this request herself; and though Miss Diana`s strict disregard for anyone else`s concerns often diverted her, it was some time before she felt equal to appreciating this latest example of her absurdity. Diana`s original and optimistic plan had apparently been that all the young ladies of Sanditon could employ themselves on the day of the Assembly picking wild berries for a blackberry syllabub to be made by Duckworth, the hotel cook, at the very last moment -- the freshness of the fruit being the most important ingredient in Miss Diana`s special recipe. And she had been astonished by the selfishness of these young ladies, when they pointed out they did not wish to tire themselves stretching and bending, exposing their complexions to the hot sun, nor to attend the Assembly with blackberry stains on their fingers and scratches across their arms. "So what is to be done now?" she cried despairingly. "Duckworth has no time to pick the blackberries himself. That man is a positive treasure -- a born cook, most willing to cooperate and quite devoted to me -- would do anything I asked -- but of course I would not dream of suggesting he should pick the blackberries. Oh no! Duckworth and his kitchen staff are fully occupied today with preparations for the rest of the supper, And nobody could expect me to go picking all those blackberries -- as it is I shall be busy till sunset supervising last minute details. The success of the entire evening depends on me. I am wearing myself out in the service of these same young people! incredible! quite incredible they will not do something for me in return!" Mrs. Parker`s mild suggestion that the absence of one blackberry syllabub would make little difference to everyone`s pleasure in the evening met with all the scorn Miss Diana felt it deserved. On the contrary, the blackberry syllabub would form the main attraction of the sideboard -- no Assembly was complete without one -- and, in short, Miss Diana was determined to have her own way, her obstinate resolution of providing a syllabub which nobody else particularly wished to eat only increasing with the opposition she encountered. Charlotte`s offer to tramp from one blackberry bush to another till she had collected the two baskets by herself was made less to please Miss Diana than to spare the others her complaints. Every prospect of her own pleasure in the evening now seemed most unlikely; and she felt it no great sacrifice to undertake what any sensible person must regard as a most ridiculous quest. Nor was it part of her disposition to imagine she was being imposed upon, so she was able to reply to Miss Diana`s effusive thanks by saying, with perfect sinceriry, that she would honestly enjoy two hours` ramble in search of blackberries on so sunny a morning. Her wishes for the evening now centred almost entirely on Miss Lambe in hoping that she, at any rate, would be in spirits enough to enjoy the Assembly. And as she was persuaded Mrs. Griffiths` wishes must be the same, she was not at all surprised, on joining Arthur on the Terrace at midday, after delivering her two baskets of blackberries to the hotel, to discover his proposal for a seaweed expedition that morning had been firmly rejected. "It is all such nonsense," complained Arthur. "I have just been calling on them and Miss Lambe is in better health than I have ever seen her. She begged Mrs. Griffiths to let her come down to the beach. And I am quite sure she would prefer sketching seaweed this morning to attending a ball this evening." Charlotte, with some amusement at the Parkers tenacity in their own selfish projects, attempted to convince him an Assembly would rate as the more agreeable alternative with most females. But Arthur obstinately insisted Miss Lambe`s propensity as a naturalist had been developed so early in life, and her knowledge of such subjects so extensive, that it would be a great pity to squander her talents in any other direction. "Do you know what she told me today?" he cried, still rather awed by the disclosure. "Goats are the only animals which can eat arsenic without ill effects. Now what do you think of thao" These odd and irrelevant scraps of information, always imparted suddenly, shyly and quite gratuitously, were of absorbing interest to Arthur; and in exclaiming over this latest example of Miss Lambe`s emdition and wishing for the twentieth time he could have met her remarkable father, he was some time in recollecting he had a message for Charlotte herself. "Well, I will walk with you now as far as the tea rooms," he said at last. "You will find everyone there." Charlotte thanked him for this kind offer but denied her intention of joining any party in the tea rooms. "Oh, but you must," Arthur said simply. "Sidney told me to take you there." The surprise of this announcement made her quite speechless for a moment. And even when she had scolded back her self-possession, she was grateful there was only an unobservant Arthur present to overlook her stuttering. "Has S-s-s -- your brother -- returned to S-sanditon thenY" "Oh yes. More than an hour ago. lt was before I went in to call on Mrs. Griffiths. They were all standing here on the Terrace at the time, even the Miss Beauforts. Miss Letitia was telling Miss Brereton how busy she was over some new hair style and had only stepped out for a minute to greet everyone. And my sisters were here too talking to Lady Denham about some tart cases her cook had promised for the supper tonight. And Sir Edward, Mr. Catton and Mr. Brudenall -- you can imagine how delighted they all were when Sidney drove up -- jumped straight down from the carriage and left his groom to turn it into the hotel. `I am in luck,` says he.-Here is all Sanditon out to welcome me. But where is Miss Heywood?` " Charlotte, only half-attending to what Arthur was saying was arrested by the sound of her own name and listened more carefully while he repeated all the commonplace observations everyone had made about her absence. How Diana had boasted of the blackberry syllabub she would supervise the hotel cook in making as soon as Miss Heywood had kindly picked all the berries; how Susan had argued Miss Heywood could not possibly still be doing it now the sun had grown so hot and maintained she must be helping Mrs. Parker in her greenhouse; and how Arthur (as soon as he could make himself heard) had settled the matter by announcing Miss Heywood would be joining him at noon for a seaweed excursion. Although the charm of her own name was likewise present in all of this, Charlotte found it no longer pleased her. It was quite a long time before Arthur worked his way back to Sidney again, but she was finally rewarded by hearing that he had charged his brother with the office of escorting Miss Heywood to join the whole party in the tea rooms. "Even Diana has gone off there, though she says she still has a thousand things to do. And do you know why?" smiling broadly. "She has taken a notion into her head that Sidney has come down to the Assembly on purpose to see Miss Brereton," Arthur confided. "Oh, I saw myself he made straight for her directly he arrived and handed her some note, which he said was a letter from some cousin of hers. But as he said the same thing and gave another letter to Lady Denham, I dare say it was." Charlotte had recovered herself sufficiently by now to treat these suppositions with what she hoped was no more than a proper degree of interest. "You yourself, I take it, do not think there are serious grounds for your sister`s suspicions? Oh well, as to that, he could not definitely say, was Arthur`s unsatisfactory reply. Diana always had been wrong in any of her previous conjectures about Sidney. "She goes on this way whenever he takes particular notice of anyone at all. She will pry and gossip! But my belief is that half the time Sidney only pretends to have flirtations to tease her. However, when it came out he was only down for the one night, I overheard Diana telling Susan he must be serious. If he had travelled all the way from London just to dance with Miss Brereton, they had best go as far as the tea rooms to observe them together." Arthur then reverted once more to his own concerns and she was left to recover her composure while he talked on about seaweed and Miss Lambe. Charlotte was glad he had warned her of Miss Diana`s suspicions. She was ashamed of being so nervous in meeting Sidney again herself; and Arthur`s words were of a sobering tendency which helped allay this agitation and determine her on appearing detached and unmoved by any attentions Sidney might decide to pay her. The fact that these attentions were more likely to be directed to Miss Brereton should -- indeed must -- relieve some of her anxiety. In their walk across the shingle she tried to arrange her own feelings a little better, to tell herself how unaccountable and absurd it was to be thrown into such confusion by the very natural arrival of Sidney Parker on the day of the Assembly. She had even predicted it herself. A few hours ago it would not have surprised her in the least! But she was extremely grateful for the few moments of preparation she was being granted now before entering the tea rooms and seeing Sidney himself. The few moments were over far too soon; and Charlotte was bitterly conscious how slight a control she exercised over her own heart, when the faces which turned towards herself and Arthur in the doorway all became blurred and indistinct. For one second she distinguished Sidney`s but moved her eyes quickly and resolutely away from it, fixing at last on Miss Diana Parker`s. She was further indebted to Miss Diana for the first words she could distinguish from the babble confronting her. "... and here at last is Arthur with Miss Heywood. Have you picked all the blackberries, my dear? Oh yes, I can see your hands are all stained and -- oh! what a pity! -- the brambles have pulled so many threads in your gown!" Charlotte, who had forgotten all about her dress, was now made miserably aware of its being the oldest one she possessed -- a faded, shabby blue cotton she had chosen specially to pick blackberries in and not bothered to change for Arthur`s seaweed collecting. "You must come and join our table, my dear. But where will Arthursio" Charlotte had already sunk thankfully into the nearest chair at this nearest table before registering that the other occupants were Miss Denham and Miss Parker; and two further tables were likewise fully occupied. While Arthur was gravely explaining he needed no place for himself and preferred to wade out at this low tide for his seaweed, she managed a fleeting glance round the room and once again caught Sidney`s eye. He was sitting with Lady Denham on one side, Miss Brereton on the other, and Mr. Brudenall opposite. The attention of the others being politely directed towards Arthur, Sidney took advantage of it to raise his teacup in the mock-manner of toasting her with a wine glass; and to smile very warmly at her over the rim. Charlotte felt herself blushing and turned away quickly as she realised that in this single, simple gesture he had succeeded in demolishing all her carefully constructed defences. She could no longer attend to anything that was said and felt herself the greatest simpleton in the world to be affected by so harmless and friendly a greeting. When she had criticised herself back into being sensible again, she discovered Arthur had already gone, and Miss Diana needed no assistance in conversation at their own table; she had returned to a theme she had been expounding on before Charlotte`s arrival: an account of her transactions with local musicians. "Two violins, I said, were quite enough for a small Assembly -- with the piano and violoncello as well; for I dare say there will be no more than sixteen couples. Now if we could have counted on twenty or twenty five, I might have added a harp -- " Like Miss Denham, who was yawning, and Miss Parker, who was daydreaming, Charlotte gave up attending and tried to overhear what was going on at the next table. Miss Letitia and Miss Beaufort were both competing there for the attentions of Sir Edward and Reginald Catton. But Sir Edward, at least, was in full flow about cottages ornes and ignored all their remarks about the Assembly and their broadest hints on the modern fashion of securing partners for the first two dances in advance. "A friend of mine," he was telling them, "has lately requested my advice on converting his little hunting lodge into a cottage orne similar to my own." "It is always done in London these days, I believe," said Miss Beaufort. "And Miss Nicholls tells me it is quite the thing in Ramsgate." "But a conversion, you know, is never as satisfactory as building in the original style. You can, of course, throw out a few canopied porches with ironwork trellising; and nothing easier than to add barge-boards, verandahs and Gothic-pointed windows -- " "Well, Ramsgate is a more fashionable place than Sanditon, you know, tittered Miss Letitia. "But I agree with you, Lydia, there are great advantages to some of these modern customs -- one hates arriving insupportably early at any Assembly merely to secure a partner before the music strikes up -- " "Oh really? That is quite easy, is it, Sir Edward?" cried Reginald, feigning as much interest as he could in a similar attempt to remain deaf to the Miss Beauforts. "Easy enough -- but it has not the same effect as if it was planned into the main structure. Not the same effect at all. Careful planning is an essential of so intricate a style." Charlotte, relieved that this conversation could amuse her, and beginning to feel quite normal again now she was surrounded by such banal topics, relaxed her determined effort at concentration; and she was just resolving to steal another glance in the direction of Sidney`s table, when Sir Edward reclaimed her attention by uttering a very familiar place-name. "Willingden Abbots -- not much above five or six hours` drive, I should imagine. My friend Atwell has gone to Switzerland for the summer and left me his keys. So one of these days, I shall drive over there and draw up some plans for his conversion. Somewhere due east of Hailsham, I believe." Very pleased to discover she was at last capable of forming and pronouncing a complete sentence, Charlotte was on the point of interrupting Sir Edward with the correction that Willingden Abbots lay seventeen miles south east of Hailsham, when she realised from a sudden scraping of chairs at her own table how far her attention had indeed wandered. Sidney and his table companions were already at the door. Miss Diana, with a significant look at Miss Parker, hurried across to join them; and Miss Denham, who seemed equally determined to eavesdrop on any conversation between Sidney and Clara Brereton, darted so quickly after them that their table had been deserted before Charlotte collected her wits sufficiently to realise what was happening. "Oh! Miss Heywood," cried Diana, remembering her with reluctance and turning back from the door. "Perhaps you are not yet ready to walk with us to the Terrace?" `Yes, of course, I -- " began Charlotte in some confusion, starting to rise but scarcely noticing she still held her cup and saucer. "No, of course not, " Sidney contradicted. He took a few swift steps across the room and removing the saucer from her hand, placed it on the table again. "How thoughtless you are, Diana! Naturally Miss Heywood wants to stay and finish her tea.` He sat down at the table. "And I will stay to keep her company." "Oh, but -- I am not -- the tea -- really -- " Once again she was overwhelmed with shame in being so nervous; despite all her careful resolutions of maintaining detachment over any friendly notice from Sidney, she had become almost tongue-tied with embarrassment at finding herself now sitting alone with him But her legs seemed to fail her at the same moment as her tongue; and though she could see everyone moving past her to the door, she felt incapable of any movemenr whatsoever. Miss Diana marched back, inquisitive and perplexed. "Well, Sidney! it is all very well for you to say so. But I am sure Miss Heywood herself would prefer -- " "Of course," Charlotte repeated again, mechanically beginning to rise for the second time. "Miss Heywood prefers to stay here, said Sidney with authority. Charlotte`s hand had been gripping the table as she prepared to rise and he placed one of his over it as though to emphasise the command. "I do say so, Diana," half-turning towards his sister, "We will catch you up before you reach the Terrace. Now, off you go and join the others." Without removing his hand from Charlotte s, he swung back again to the table. She tried to convince herself that this circumstance -- this contact between them, so precious to her -- meant nothing to him beyond a rather absent-minded kindness, And yet it was difficult to maintain such a belief when Diana was regarding them both with unrestrained wonder. Charlotte caught a glimpse of her face and the startled glance she gave the two linked hands, in full view on the table top, before she whisked herself out of the tea rooms as quickly as possible. She left Charlotte staring shyly at Sidney, and Sidney smiling back at her in a half-teasing but wholly enigmatic fashion. For a moment neither of them spoke. Then Sidney withdrew his hand from hers and laughed. "Do you know what Diana has gone off to tell Susan?" he said in a tone of evident satisfaction. " "Sidney and Miss Heywood are flirting prodigiously together in the tea rooms.` Would you take it amiss?" The idea darted through her mind that there had been nothing absent-minded after all in Sidney`s prolonged retention of her hand. It had been coolly deliberate. He wanted Diana to report this incident to his relations, to mislead them into believing she, Charlotte, was his ostensible object on this journey to Sanditon. With his quick perception, it could not have escaped him Diana was following everything that passed between himseIf and Miss Brereton. And this interlude with her was nothing but a ruse to assist him in concealing some more essential purpose. The conviction helped Charlotte considerably as she struggled for speech. "I do not think l would mind," she said very carefully, "if that is what you want her to tell Miss Parker. But all the same, I do not think she will report it quite like that." No, said Sidney with a great sigh. "You are quite right. She will only say `Sidney is flirting prodigiously with Miss Heywood in the tea rooms. Miss Heywood is being as sensible as ever.` " Charlotte was fully aware of being less at ease with him than formerly, but it heartened her that he could still believe she was as sensible as ever. She made a great effort and tried to make herself so. "Your return seems to have been most unexpected," she said in a firmer and more prosaic voice than usual. "Will you be staying long in Sanditon this time, Mr. Parker?" "Only for the Assembly, Miss Heywood," he replied in accents of solemn mimicry; and then relaxing into his normal tone, `-I hope you have saved me the first two dances, as that, I assure you, is my only reason for driving all this way from London." "Or so you would like everyone to believe," agreed Charlotte pleasantly. "But you cannot really expect me to believe it." For a moment he looked at her with smiling penetration before replying, "Would you believe it was half the reason then? if you are so unwilling to accept the compliments I give you, I shall try to remember to halve them in future. And if in return you will agree to double yours, I will promise to believe them too. Have you missed me at all, Miss Heywood? I have missed you exactly half the time I have been away. Now will you believe that or do I still sound too much like Sir Edward?" You could never sound like Sir Edward," said Charlotte, completely forgetting the cheerful unconcern she had fully intended to convey. "No? Well I sound very much to myself as though I am trying to sound like Sir Edward. Gallantry is truly a fine virtue to practise. A pity the coin has become so debased in Sanditon one hardly dares use it. But no, why should Sir Edward frighten me off from saying something I very much want to say to a pretty girl? Miss Heywood -- oh, are you indeed ready to go?" "We must," said Charlotte rather reluctantly. "The others will have nearly reached the Terrace by now." "We shall walk very quickly," he said, rising and tucking her arm into his. "But I am not going to be cheated of my compliment. Miss Heywood, as my brother Tom would say, the Sanditon breezes have brought your beauty to perfection. "And you see how cunning I have been," he added gaily as they walked across the shingle. "By putting the words into Tom`s mouth, I can get away with a full compliment. Half perfection would not sound nearly so well." Half would have been quite enough for Charlotte. She dared not even hope Sidney meant as much; she well knew that such beauty as she herself possessed was unlikely to tempt so popular, polished and lively a young man, that her fortune was nonexistent and her personality a trifle narrow and over-decorous for his tastes. But for the purposes of his present schemes and their present acquaintance, she was also willing to believe he found her a more sympathetic friend than the remainder of Sanditon`s limited society afforded. He could scarcely be blamed because a simple country girl, who had scarcely travelled beyond the borders of her own parish, should have been reckless enough to fall in love with him on such very slight encouragement. She told herself she should at least retain sufficient pride not to allow Sidney or anyone else to realise it; but she had thrown even this last instinct of caution aside before she was conscious of having done so. "Caution and Miss Heywood go so well together." But why should they go together any longer? What harm could there be in returning smile for smile and in allowing the most charming man she had ever met to conquer the few remaining corners of her heart where common sense retained a last fleeting hold? She wished he would remain stationary long enough for her to behave towards him with the restraint she knew was required; but it had been her fate, on every occasion they had met recently, that another announcement of a speedy departure panicked her into acting exactly as she felt and not as she knew she ought. Had Sidney intended to remain in Sanditon, she might have had time to pause and consider, to try and check her feelings, her delight in his high spirits and her indulgence of his faults. But now, once again, there seemed only time to enjoy his company; and for a brief period, Charlotte chose to be happy rather than wise. She felt herself in good humour with all, paid no attention whatsever to anything that anybody except Sidney said, knew not how she parted from the group on the Terrace, was scarcely aware of Miss Diana accompanying her up the hill, and walked on towards Trafalgar House, seeing nothing of the view, feeling nothing of the sun`s heat and smiling to herself repeatedly. "I will just look in at the greenhouse for a moment and talk with Mary," announced Miss Diana. "No need for you to come with me, my dear. So many matters as we still have to discuss together before the Assembly this evening," she added -- but not very convincingly. "Oh, yes -- the Assembly," said Charlotte, smiling absently at Miss Diana too. Such of her thoughts as she could understand made her feel kindly towards the whole world and to pity everyone she saw as being less happy than herself. But as Diana so clearly did not want her in the greenhouse, she wandered in a bemused way into the garden, where she found little Mary, seated on a swing with her new parasol; and on a sudden impulse ran towards her and picked her up in a warm, swift hug and embrace. "Oh! Miss Heywood. You made me drop my parasol," complained Mary. "I am very sorry," said Charlotte, setting her on her feet again and picking up the parasol, a little embarrassed by her own outburst. She decided she had perhaps gone far enough in indulging this heady emotion of happiness. "Did not you like being kissed?" "Oh, yes. I liked that," said Mary, still looking surprised. "But it is so very strange. You have never done anything like that before." "No," said Charlotte, properly humbled now. "I am sory if I startled you." "But I did like it," repeated Mary, slipping her hand into Charlotte`s. "Now I am used to it, I liked it very much," regarding her speculatively for a moment. "You do look different today too, Miss Heywood. Much prettier than before." This involuntary tribute from Mary restored Charlotte to all the early enjoyment of her happiness. They strolled about the garden very contendedly together, picked a daisy chain out of the side lawn and waved Miss Diana down the drive with the same artless pleasure. And Charlotte then had to stand a fill minute outside the greenhouse door before she reined in her smiles enough to present herself in front of Mrs. Parker. But the tranquillity she sought still eluded her. "Dear ma`am," she exclaimed in her new and uncharacteristic manner of impetuosity. "You have been working here all day! How tired you will be for the Assembly tonight." "Yes," agreed Mrs. Parker easily. "But l shall be very contented. And it is because of the Assembly, you know; that I have been able to finish these new primrose seedlings. Except for Diana stepping in for a few minutes just now, nobody has come to interrupt me all day." "But let me help you finish this last box," Charlotte offered eagerly. "You will want to see to your dress and arrange your hair -- oh! are not you looking forward to the Assembly? Now that it is so near, I am beginning to enjoy the thought of it, l own, to an extraordinary degree. What very great pleasure a meeting of this kind, with music and dancing, can give even in a circle accustomed to seeing each other every day." She seized a flower pot and began filling it with earth. "I suppose Miss Diana Parker told you her brother has arrived back in Sanditon? "Yes," agreed Mrs. Parker even more easily; and it seemed to Charlotte she was subjecting her to the same speculative look Mary had given. "And that he is staying only the one day. They are all surprised by that and cannot imagine why he comes for so short a time. But usually, you know, there is a very good reason for everything Sidney does. He may joke and pretend he moves about for his own amusement, but it is seldom really the case. l myself am quite sure that this time his business has something to do with Mr. Brudenall which he wants none of us to guess." Mrs. Parker was bending down to firm one of her plants into position; and it may have been because of this exertion that her Face looked flushed when she straightened up. "I am very fond of Sidney," she said with candour. "He has been the kindest of brothers to me since my marriage. But I must confess I have never fully understood him. There is such a mixture of levity and seriousness in his nature that it is always difficult to know what he intends. But what he says and what he means are sometimes very different; and from what Diana said of his high spirits this morning, I gather he is determined to mislead us all very thoroughly during this visit." This was quite a long speech for Mrs. Parker and, vague as it was, Charlotte felt it was meant to contain several hints to guide her own behaviour. "He is always a very pleasant companion," she said, carefully untangling the roots of two interlocked seedlings and trying to assume a detached expression. "Yes," agreed Mrs. Parker again. "Clever people can always make themselves agreeable when they wish it. And Sidney is certainly the cleverest by far of any of his family. He knows how to amuse; and in the main he has integrity and good principles too -- but what are these if steadiness and decorum are both abseno people can be hurt as much by thoughtlessness as by heartlessness." She paused as though she might have added something more; but the mingled expressions in her young guest`s face made her change her mind and decide she had said quite enough already. "There! We have finished the box and now we shall both go to our rooms and rest. Tom proposes we should dress for the Assembly after dinner; and as we have only ourselves and our own comfort to Consider, it seems to me a very good plan." For Charlotte there was much cause for reflection in this conversation. Her mind was in a state of wonder and agitation which made it impossible for her to be collected. The dancing, singing, exclaiming spirits were still there; but now she also felt a measure of fear, though she knew not of what. She wanted to be alone and to be with people, both at the same time. But till she had spent a period of quiet, serious reflection, she knew she was unfit to talk to anybody at all. She went to her room to indulge in this very necessary interval of meditation. But two hours later, when summoned to an early dinner, she discovered she had done nothing but sit holding an ugly little shell box in her hand, reliving a few moments in a curio shop and a few others in some tea rooms.
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