Sanditon Season 2: Finding Their Way Back To Each Other

Chapter 39: A Child

~Charlotte~

Sidney and I finally made our way home after an extended stay with the Babington's. We were greeted with welcoming arms and lots of town gossip. As soon as we returned, Sidney got to work figuring out where to set up Mr. Fredrickson's art gallery in town as well as the library Alison and I had been trying to find a place for. Lady Denham's books needed to be shared with the world. My father had returned with my brother Simon to help with the Arab stallion area. Sidney was gone a lot helping and always managing something. Even though I wanted to be a part of it and somehow found a way to sneak into the action at times, I had to learn to take it easy.

It was getting harder to hide the pregnancy. Many of the staff knew but didn't say anything. Thankfully Alison was oblivious. I had suspicions Georgiana knew, but again she didn't say anything. At least not to me.

Sanditon was quite a bit busier than when we left. Nearly all the apartments at the Terrace were taken up for the season, new people were always arriving. There was much discussion about building a second hotel as well as the stable for the stallions.

Mr. Fredrickson had settled into a small partition among the shops in town. It wasn't quite as big as the place he had in London, but he was happy and thrilled with all the new business he was going to get in a resort town. As promised, he delivered the painting of the cabin in the woods and arrived to paint a portrait of me and Sidney. I had relented to Sidney's wishes and had the painting of him moved to the upstairs hallway. He wasn't thrilled about it, but he liked it there more than the front room.

Sidney and I sat together outside for the painting to start to take shape. Mr. Fredrickson was quite the artist. With focused attention, he moved his brushes and pencils across the canvas with so much ease. Sidney and I had opted to wear what we had worn on our wedding day. I loved the dress Lady Susan helped create and wanted an excuse to wear it again before it didn't fit anymore. Mr. Fredrickson positioned us sitting on the ground, with Sidney behind supporting me. I appreciated Mr. Fredrickson allowing us to be in a more relaxed position. Most paintings were stiff and dull.

"How is the town?" I asked Sidney as we sat very still.

"Very well," he responded. "Everything is coming together. Although, I'm not entirely sure what to do with all Lady D's asses. I never realized she had so many and there isn't much of a need for them."

"She swore by their milk. She thought it was the cure for everything," I explained. "That and sea water."

"Yes. But what do we do with them now? I don't know many people who still believe this."

"Perhaps we could keep just a few and donate the other's?" I suggested.

"I had a thought along those lines," he said.

"Please hold perfectly still," Mr. Fredrickson snapped.

Both of us stopped talking and straightened into position. "We can discuss it later," he whispered.

For most of the day, we sat for Mr. Fredrickson. Thankfully he did let us have a few breaks in between. He promised us he had enough done, and he could work on the finer touches at his gallery. He promised to bring it back in a week. We thanked him for his time and sent him on his way.

"Now, what was it you had a thought about?" I asked, taking Sidney's hand and leading him on an early evening walk. He grinned and squeezed my hand.

"What do you think your family would do with goats?" he asked.

"My family?" I questioned.

"We could give them to your family. Sustain them, but still have access to that milk if we were to ever need it. We could even build the Denham donkey sanctuary in Willingden. There's nothing in Lady Denham's Will stating it needed to be built here."