Sanditon: A Sisterhood Forms

27

"Well, then I'm surprised you did not say hello if you saw me," she said, feigning innocence, hoping that it would be enough to quell the storm that was about to hit.

"Oh, Miss Heywood, I suggest you refrain from that sort of act until you have learned how to do it properly," Eliza laughed, a nefarious glint in her eye as she met Charlotte's gaze. "If you will not own up to it, then perhaps I must be clearer. I speak of your encounter with Sidney. I will admit that the expression upon your face was very sweet, but not one that I would recommend using near another woman's intended."

"I was merely searching for the warmth of a hearth, I assure you," Charlotte said, defensively.

"And how, may I ask, am I expected to believe such a thing?"

"I have no wish to tell you what to believe, Mrs Campion."

"Oh, you poor girl," said Eliza, "I still don't think you quite understand. You see, if you continue to embarrass me as you did the other night, I will do whatever it takes to make certain that you are never seen in London again."

Charlotte could feel her heart pounding, could almost hear it as she fought to control her breathing, to refrain from revealing to this woman just how much she was affecting her. What she wouldn't give for Susan to burst in at that very moment, but for the first time, she was not there to rescue her.

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Sidney's heart was pounding at an alarming rate. The walls of the narrow corridor had begun to close in on him as his mind whirled with possibilities. Very few had a positive outcome. Why had he been led to a building that appeared to have been long abandoned? And yet, he followed the man who claimed to be Mr Bicknell, walking behind him down a dark corridor to God knows where.

At the very least, there was little chance that the gentleman before him could best him in a fight. He was not an inch taller than the man who had answered the door and at least twenty, possibly even thirty years his senior. And yet, the question remained, looming over him. Who else was waiting for them, wherever they were headed?

"Ah, Mr Parker, I believe that we have reached the rest of our party, at last," Mr Bicknell said, standing to the edge of a doorway. "After you."

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"Do you mean to threaten me, Mrs Campion?" Charlotte asked at last.

"Threaten you?" she asked in a tone of amusement, "Oh, I don't just mean to threaten, Miss Heywood. When will you realise that I will do whatever it takes to protect what is mine?"

"And what if I told you that I haven't even the slightest desire to stay in London?"

"Then I would call you out on your falsehood. You forget, Miss Heywood, that I was once in the very same position as you."

"No, Sidney was once in the very same position."

Mrs Campion laughed, "Oh, I can assure you that I had the worse end of it. Women always do. You see, Miss Heywood, I know what it is to be young and admired by Sidney Parker. But what you have yet to realise is that if the tables were turned, someday you would be exactly where I am now, watching him stare at another."

"He is not that sort of man, and if you think it, then you don't know him in the least."

"Oh, I don't just think it, Miss Heywood, I have lived it. And it would seem that I must point out what you have yet to see - that you have lived it as well. Has he not already cast you aside for me?"

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Sidney stepped into a lavishly decorated study, a large desk at one end and a roaring fire surrounded by ornate furnishings at the other.

"Now, Mr Parker," said Mr Bicknell behind him, "I believe that you are already acquainted with our other guests."

Sidney looked at him quizzically, then noticed that Mr Bicknell's gaze was focused on the chairs near the fire.

"Mr Parker, you've arrived at last," said the first voice.

"I hope we haven't alarmed you," said the second.

"What?" Sidney looked between them. "What on earth are you...How did you-"

"I have my informants, Mr Parker," said the first guest, glancing behind him, "Mr Bicknell and I are well acquainted, as you know."

"And I have brought something that you may wish to look over yourself," said the second.

"Is it the-"

"Yes, the very same."

He walked over for a closer look at the document he had no memory of signing. "And you knew of its existence as well?" he asked the first guest.

"Oh, Mr Parker," her laughter rang throughout the room, "Yes, you might say I had knowledge of it. After all, that very document was my idea from the start."