The Future of Sanditon

Christmas at Bedford Place

"Well Miss Heywood," the voice of Lady Denham pierced the rosy haze in his brain and brought him back into his skin. "I see that our Christmas gift has had the intended effect! This entire room is speechless at your entrance. I daresay that color becomes you very well indeed as Esther thought it should, and is most festive for the season.'

Charlotte's cheeks were nearly the color of her skirts by the time Lady Denham was done congratulating herself on her choice of present.

"Happy Christmas, Miss Heywood!" Tom practically shouted from the fireplace finally breaking the tension enough that Charlotte was able to gather herself and break into a large welcoming smile at the greeting.

"Happy Christmas Mr. Parker! Mary this is truly a lovely surprise! I am so pleased to see dear Lady Denham and Lord and Lady Babington! What a merry party we will be indeed!" Charlotte sounded as though she was positively bursting with happiness, though Sidney noted that her exuberance had become more tempered with age and experience than it was last summer. Customary greetings were exchanged and Charlotte seemed to have much to say to Esther so Sidney did not have an opportunity to approach her. Rather he made himself content to watch her from across the room. Quietly observing each turn of her cheek, deep intake of breath and cheerful smile and her laugh filled his heart with a lightness that he was unaccustomed to. After what seemed like ages dinner was announced.

Soon enough Arthur and Diana joined them, bemoaning leaving their hearth in this weather, even for a jolly family gathering for the holiday, and worrying about how long they could stay with the condition of the London streets becoming worse by the minute. Their faces finally rounded to smiles when Tom announced that they could all stay over if necessary, as the men could walk down the way to the club for the night and leave all the bedchambers to the ladies if necessary.

"Shall we all go through? I do hope that dear Miss Lamb is alright. She said she felt unwell and has not come down for dinner. Sidney! Please escort my dear Mary to the dining room," as he moved to escort Charlotte himself.

Frustrated, Sidney glanced over to Babington who was bowing before his wife to take her hand, but watching the scene from the corner of his eye.

Dinner was much longer than expected. Sidney found himself listening intently to every word that dropped from Charlottes lips as though it were the most precious sound in the world to him. Especially since she was seated next to him so it would have been unseemly of him to stare at her during their meal. From this vantage he was able to observe each small reaction she had to her meal, tiny sounds of appreciation and pleasure that she made, likely without even realizing it. Sydney found himself unerringly speaking French and Spanish throughout the meal, much to his own frustration, though he knew it was because some part of him was so greatly engaged elsewhere that he could not find the right words in English.

When their meal was over, rather than retiring to smoke in the library the men joined the ladies back in the drawing room to exchange more gifts and play some party games. Yet before anyone could sit, Tom announced that they would first be making a short trip to the music room.

Upon first entering the music room it appeared to Sidney that Tom and Mary had purchased a new pianoforte. It had a large ribbon on top and a card which explained that it was a gift on loan from the Darcy's in order to aid Sidney with his business affairs until he fully recovered from the accident. It functioned much as a piano, with keys, yet when pressed, each key would stamp a corresponding letter onto paper which fed through the machine itself.

Each key had an engraving of its letter upon its surface and by pressing sequential letters, one could write a letter or transcribe with much more ease than expected. The children immediately took to writing out an alphabet to see what each letter looked like when it was printed while Tom and Mary tried to keep them from breaking the unusual, and likely quite costly piece of equipment. Sidney was flabbergasted at how thoughtful his family had been, though inwardly he laughed because it would take more time for him to use the machine effectively to be worth learning than it should take him to recover. He put his hands in his pockets and realized that he still had a small box in his right jacket pocket.