And yet there will be happiness...

Looking to you

The room was dim, the flames playing in the fireplace, filling everything with soft highlights and such a welcome warmth. The rain that had been falling for most of the day did not want to end, persistently pounding on the roof of the fisherman's hut and on the small muddy windows.
Sidney stirred the wood, watching with pleasure as the fire devoured the defenseless tree. His heart was warm and bright. After spending the whole day with Charlotte, he felt like a happy man, whose dreams and aspirations were fulfilled as if by magic. They were together again, alone, and there was no one to stop them.
Sidney looked back at her. Charlotte had her back to him. Her long dark hair, flowing in waves from her shoulders, made her look weightless and mysterious. A wave of unspeakable tenderness washed over Sidney. Her silhouette, so enticingly visible through the undershirt she was wearing, made him take a deep breath. The rush of excitement was so intense that Sidney felt that he could not control it. His dreams, his desires, intertwined with reality, drove Sidney crazy and deprived him of the ability to resist, erasing all facets of decency.
He walked over to her and ran a gentle hand through her hair, lovingly caressing each curl and freeing her beautiful long neck. Sidney leaned over to Charlotte, inhaling only her own heady scent.
He touched her earlobe gently with his lips. Charlotte started and leaned back.
- I love you, Charlotte... - he said in a whisper.
Sidney kissed her slender neck, moving lower and lower to her shoulder, which was covered only by a thin, translucent undershirt. He untied the silk ribbon that held the collar of her shirt and released her rounded, velvety shoulder. He stroked it gently with his fingertips, making Charlotte tremble at his touch. Her breathing became ragged and rapid, and Sidney realized that he had lost his head completely. He pulled her close. Charlotte slowly turned to him, but instead of her beautiful face, wrapped in sweet languor, he was surprised to see cold blue eyes and tightly compressed lips. Sidney closed his eyes for a moment, hoping to ward off the appalling vision, but when he opened them, he saw Mrs. Campion clearly before him.
- Why do you hesitate? Kiss me, Sidney, I've been waiting for you for so long - Eliza said.
He staggered away from her, unable to keep his feet, and fell. Sidney jumped up and realized that he was standing in the dark. Looking around, he recognized his bedroom in Trafalgar house, his bed rumpled and his belongings neatly stacked on a table near the window. The room was cool and the sun had not yet risen above the horizon, but the morning twilight had already replaced the darkness of night. No rain, the fireplace and the hut of the fisherman was not in sight. It was only a dream, beautiful and terrible at the same time. With a sigh of relief, Sidney wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sat up slowly. The vision was so vivid that it took him a moment to recover.

He looked at her carefully. Behind all her confident gestures, words, and smiles, he still felt uneasy and agitated.
- Are you all right, Miss Heywood? - James asked.
- Oh, Yes, thank you, Mr. Stringer - replied Charlotte I'm all right.
- You seem a little upset - Stringer persisted - maybe I can help you with something? To listen to?
- Thank you - with smile told Charlotte - I know, that you very sympathetic listener, but I'm really fine. Very soon there will be a ball, and then a tournament. Many guests will visit Sanditon. I just wondered if I couldn't do it.
- No one can handle the tournament better than you, Miss Heywood - -without hesitation he replied - the regatta was only the first step, and the contest at the picnic would have gone just fine, if it hadn't started raining. A week has passed, and the city is full of talk about this competition. And now you have only a new step before you. I'm sure you can do more than that.
- You are too kind to me, Mr. Stringer - said Charlotte, - and I used to hope so, too, but now that everyone is gone, my doubts have taken hold of me.
- Gone? - Stringer asked.
- Yes, Lady Worcester, Lord Broome, the Babbingtons, and Mr. Crowe have left for London - said Charlotte.
Stringer looked at her sideways, not daring to ask the question.
Charlotte stared at him, as if reading his thoughts. James looked down, confused.
- Lady Augusta wanted to stay here with Lady Denham - she continued.
He smiled faintly and looked down at the papers on his Desk.
- So we don't have much time left. We still have a lot to do and discuss - said Charlotte, turning the conversation to another direction - we still have time to finish the stage for the street theater?