Sanditon: Episode 9

7

»I hate him.« Georgiana was sulking again. If there was one good side to Mr Heywood's decision, it was this: Georgiana had finally found someone she hated even more than her guardian. »How can he do that to you?« she asked for the hundredth time.

»He's my father,« Charlotte replied for the hundredth time. »You know how it works. It's the same with Sidney and you.«

»But Sidney is just my guardian. He's supposed to be cruel and indifferent to what I want. This is your own father ruining everything for everybody!«

»Sidney is neither cruel nor indifferent to your welfare, and neither is my father to mine.« Charlotte sighed. She felt quite exhausted after the excitement of the ball, the sobering announcement of her father and a night spent tossing around in her bed without finding any sleep. Georgiana was about to lose her best friend and only confidante. She was about to lose everything she'd come to value over the summer, unless a miracle happened. And she did not believe in miracles. The last one she had witnessed had come in the form of Mrs Campion saving Sanditon, with Sidney Parker attached to her as a marriage prize.

»But how can your own father do such a thing to you?« Georgiana was still at it. Yes, how could Mr Heywood determine to impair his eldest daughter's prospects at social elevation and improvement? He had explained it to her in detail, in a most painful conversation in Mrs Griffiths' drawing room once they had returned from the ball. It had been late, the room sparsely lit by a few candles, and in the retrospective of the next morning – a bright and sunny morning indeed – the whole discussion appeared to be out of the world, having taken place in a different sphere.

Mr Heywood had not said a word on their way back from the assembly rooms, but once they had arrived at Mrs Griffiths', he had taken her to the drawing room, placed her on the sofa, stood in front of her and said: »And now I want to hear everything. The whole story.«

»Which story, Papa?« Charlotte had asked, for there were in fact many stories to tell, and most of them not suitable for her dear Papa's ears.

»The story of what has been going on here.«

»I'm not sure what you mean, Papa.«

»Charlotte! I'm not young anymore, but I'm also neither blind nor deaf nor stupid. I remember telling you to be careful, warning you that these seaside resorts could be odd places, with their relaxed manners, but this ... this ... What I have witnessed in the few hours since I have arrived here exceeds my worst expectations. Mr Thomas Parker, who presented himself to us as a keen businessman: a bankrupt projector endangering his family and you, you, my dear, with his recklessness! This lady of the town whom you speak to so insolently, lacking any respect ... this bunch of drunkards and hypochondriacs whom you call »friends« ... this young builder, talking to you freely in the middle of the street as if you were old pals ... this rich girl that sulks at everyone and everything while her governess flirts with the priest ... this Lady Susan, fluttering around you and giving you ideas that go far beyond your station in life ... and finally ...« Mr Heywood had to take a deep breath before continuing, and Charlotte took a breath, too, bracing herself for what was now inevitable to come.

»Finally, Mr Sidney Parker.« She could hardly make out her father's face in the twilight of the candles, and she hoped that the same was true for her face, because she knew that her cheeks were glowing in the deepest red now. »Engaged to a rich and elegant widow.«

»Yes,« Charlotte simply said.

»Holding his wedding for promotional reasons at this god–forsaken place.«

»Yes.«

»Saving his brother's life and business with that wedding.«

»Yes.«