Dear lovely readers,
Thank you for reading this story. This is the last chapter and also the last story of my "What if...?" series. I hope you enjoyed and will also read my other stories.
Stay safe!
Charlotte didn't know exactly what to do with this new knowledge and spent the next few days thinking more about what Sidney would have to say about this than what she should take on the wedding trip to Sanditon.
Of course, she was looking forward to this journey immensely. Finally she would be able to smell and see the sea. Could bury her toes in the sand and watch the sun sink into the ocean.
They would meet Sidney's family there, also the newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Crowe, who even send them one of their carriages. Charlotte would get to know his hometown. At the thought of finally being allowed to be close to him, her heart leapt with anticipation. The thought of sharing a room and sleeping in the same bed was so thrilling that she could only barely suppress a bubbling giggle.
What silenced her immediately was the fact that it was only a few hours until she was finally his wife. And what might happen after church and the festive dinner in the barn was so abstract, so far from her mind, that she could not think clearly. Not even the bird-like chatter of her sisters could distract her. Her heart was beating so loudly that she could only hear their voices from a distance as they pinned up her hair and helped her into her wedding dress. Even her skin was so tense that she hardly noticed the fine linen. They could give her one of the potato sacks without her noticing.
In the church it was all a blur, she noticed neither her family, nor all the new and old business partners. Only him. He was the focus of her thoughts. Sidney was her sun. Every heartbeat revolved only around him. Charlotte could hardly believe that she was allowed to slide her cold hand into his warm one. That Sidney looked at her like that. With admiration and deep affection, love manifested with tears in his eyes. She was so happy. So happy that she thought she would shatter into million pieces.
The festivities in the big barn with all the inhabitants of the village lasted until late in the evening. The children squealed and rubbed their tired eyes. Charlotte also seemed to become more exhausted with each passing minute. There was nothing left of her drive and joy for dancing. The guests had looked deeply into their drinks, some were already snoring in one of the corners.
It had been naïve of Sidney to think he could steal away from the spectacle with his bride at some point unseen and spend a few undisturbed moments with her. He had been so busy with work for the last few weeks, and had also been helping on the farm, that he had not thought as far as to look for a place where they would be in peace for their first night as a married couple. Willingden did not even have a hotel.
Sidney felt cheated as he could only hold his wife in his arms during the three dances they shared. Constantly she was led away or he from her to receive gifts or congratulations. When he finally managed to break away from the men patting him on the back, wishing him as much manliness as his father-in-law and congratulating him on taming the little twirl Charlotte Heywood, Sidney was completely exhausted.
Charlotte had already left an hour ago for the house, where they would spend their first night together in her old room, which she had shared with her sister until the morning. Although he had walked this way from the barn to the house countless times before, it seemed to get longer with each step. Like the three-minute walk to the courtroom for Tom's trial back then. When the people had threw rotten fruit and nasty words at him and his family, he had walked faster and yet had not reached his destination fast enough.
