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Chapter 28
IT WAS SUMMER again when Charlotte awoke; the sea was calm the clouds had all been carried away and the sun shone down on the havoc caused by the storm of the previous night. The Parkers` first object, after breakfast, was to inspect the damage the wind and rain had wrought in all their favourite corners. Mr. Parker, with three uprooted trees to reourn in his plantation, could only shake his head at the canvas awning completely beyond repair. Mrs. Parker, rejoicing in only one broken pane in her greenhouse, helped Mary to disentangle her swing from overhanging branches, consoled her boys for the loss of their tree house and scolded them soundly for two sodden books and a coat found lying in a puddle of mud. Charlotte shared and sympathised in all these family concerns; but having walked all round the shrubbery to report upon hydrangeas and rhododendrons, pointed out two tiles missing from the roof and a lopsided weather vane, she paused for a moment on the edge of the lawn, wondering how much farther afield to wander in search of fresh disaster. And as she stood there, surveying the distant flotsam washed up on the beach, she saw Reginald Catton and Henry Brudenall pass through the entrance gates, change direction on perceiving her and walk towards her instead of the house. The gravity of both their faces surprised her; and she had no need of their constrained "How-do-you-dos to inform her that they intended something out of the ordinary in this morning call. But though neither of them looked or spoke cheerfully enough to make the encounter appear normal, they seemed unwilling to venture beyond a few vague comments on the storm, the wind and the despoiled trees across the down; and both soon fell into an uneasy silence. Convinced as she was that each was waiting for the other to begin, Charlotte made no attempt at conversation herself. She glanced only from one to the other, trying to guess their purpose, while the conviction grew in her that they had heard something from Sidney which caused concern to them both. She was sure whatever they had to impart would be disagreeable and the reluctance to tell her arose from their uncertainty over the extent of her own friendship with him. She did not feel equal to opening any such subject herself, but looked anxiously towards Reginald, expecting he would be the most likely of the two friends to lead the way. But it was Henry Brudenall who finally cleared his throat and began, "Miss Heywood, if you have time to spare us, there is something of great importance we should like to tell you." The belief that it was indeed Sidney -- that he had met with some accident during the previous night`s storm, had taken part in a duel or been overturned in his carriage -- flashed one after another through her mind: all immediately suggested by her fears as possible causes for so solemn a communication. Scarcely knowing what she did or how she spoke, she had faltered no more than his name, when Reginald impetuously intermpted his friend. "No, no -- it is not Sidney," he cried, taking her hand with a ready understanding which showed more feeling than sense. "How hopeless you are, Henry. It has nothing to do with Sidney, I swear it, Miss Heywood." A good deal surprised by his warmth and a good deal ashamed of her sudden weakness, Charlotte mastered enough of her agitation to beg him to speak and tell her the reason for such wretched suspense. The seriousness of his manner had by now prepared her, quite as much as his words, for something extraordinary. But Reginald, having made this one rapid outburst seemed to consider any further communication would be best made by Mr. Brudenall; and looking impatiently towards his friend, urged him to continue; while he, with a heightened colour and a hurried manner, floundered into yet another beginning. "Miss Heywood, the fact is that we -- that I -- have come to ask your help. Believe me, if there was another person in Sanditon at this moment to whom I could appeal, l would prefer to approach them. l know you will not wish to be consulted; I know you will not approve of what I shall ask -- " Charlotte could only stare at him in utter amazement while Reginald Catton, throwing up his hands in despair, said bluntly, "He means Miss Brereton has told him you would not approve of their elopement." "Their elopemeno Is Miss Brereton planning to elope with Mr. Brudenalo" A sudden wave of relief swept over her; and Charlotte instantly recognised this was not merely relief that Clara Brereton had no intention of eloping with Sir Edward. The real possibility she dreaded had never done more than cross the confines of her imagination to be instantly dismissed again. But she was honest enough with herself to recognise it had always been there to haunt her from the background. She had dreaded it so much she had never admitted or allowed herself to dwell on the possibility: that it was Sidney himself who was involved with Clara. "Only thing to be done now," said Reginald with a certain gloomy satisfaction. "Henry sails on Friday and it is too late to do anything else. What is the use in going on talking and contriving and achieving nothing? For weeks they have been trying to work out some better solution. Henry always wanted straightforward action: simply to tell Lady Denham he had Come to take Clara away; but the Breretons were so determined to keep their foothold with her, so frightened she would leave all her money to these Hollises or Denhams instead of to them, that they begged Clara to get her cousin installed in the place before upsetting the old lady. But Clara must be made to see there is no time for such fingle-fangling now." Charlotte looked her astonishment at these surprising and somewhat sketchy revelations, feeling she should at least phrase a few questions which would make Reginald`s confused sentences more intelligible to her. But before she could exert herself, he had rushed on. "If Sidney were here, he might be able to get round the old lady and make her consent to it all reasonably enough. But she`s much too selfish and set in her ways to be talked into sense by any of us before Henry`s ship sails. She hates anything to upset her routine. The performance she gave and the fidgets she went through before Sidney could get her to invite Elizabeth Brereton to Sanditon! He thought he had arranged all that in time. But now we seem to be a day or two behind in our calculations. This is the Tuesday Clara is supposed to be meeting her cousin at Hailsham!" "Yes, of course, I remember Miss Brereton`s cousin was due to arrive in Sanditon today," Charlotte said slowly, wondering where all these details were expected to connect. "But what about Mr. Brudenall`s cousin?" she added, still groping to separate new facts from old fiction. "Clara Brereton is his cousin, insisted Reginald firmly. "Distant cousin on mother`s side; and they have been devoted to each other since childhood. Sidney did spread a lot of moonshine about a broken romance to confuse all the Parkers, but he stuck to the truth whenever he could. They are cousins and they always intended to marry before Henry left for Bengal. There was never any secrecy about it among the Breretons; but they had not yet spoken of the engagement to outsiders when Lady Denham interfered and complicated all their plans. She took an instant liking to Clara and settled on inviting her to Sanditon House. The entire Brereton family entreated her to invite Elizabeth to stay with her instead. But no! She was certain there was some trick in it somewhere. The more they tried to put her off Clara, the more she insisted on having her; and she had become so suspicious by this time, they decided the plain truth was too much for her to accept without ill-will and disbelief. And as she was so unreasonable, and they were so anxious to keep on good terms with her, they persuaded Clara to put up with the arrangement for six months. Six months! It could be six years if nobody does anything more about it. Sidney has been arguing with Henry for months to come down and take Clara away from Sanditon. And for weeks now he has argued with Clara that these is no point in stretching this all out any longer. Let the old lady leave her money to the Denhams instead of the Breretons. Why should Henry and Clara have to suffer for io "Why indeed?" cried Charlotte; and she spoke with such warmth that Reginald, turning to his friend, cried triumphantly, "There, what did I say, Henry? I told you Miss Heywood would see everything the same way as we do. lt`s not as though Lady Denham were Clara`s guardian. lf both your families approve of her engagement to you, I have my doubts you can even call this an elopement. Miss Heywood is sensible enough to understand how it all is. You can see that for yourself, surely? And, pray, Henry, do you now proceed." Charlotte was only surprised that there still remained something left to get on with. Reginald`s own style of communication might be rapid, diffuse and disconnected, but the sentiments expressed were plain and matter-of-fact enough. He did not think very clearly and seldom gave himself the trouble of doing so when he could rely on Sidney to advise him; but the few opinions he did form were unshakable in both their honesty and common sense. And as she listened to his recital, if it did not perfectly justify an elopement, it proved Lady Denham to have been very unfeeling and selfish in her conduct towards Clara, deficient alike in sympathy and discernment. But Reginald had told her nothing which did not accord with her own observation and what she could imagine of Lady Denham. Her manoeuvres of selfishness and cunning had always been offensive and her reactions to any new suggestions had always been unpredictable. Henry Brudenall had none of Reginald`s gift for frank outbursts and, in Charlotte`s estimation, had always been a romantic and rather sombre figure. But now, as she faced him with an encouraging smile, he suddenly transformed himself in front of her eyes from a shadowy caricature into a real person. Confronting her, deeply earnest and full of some sensitive emotion, he said, "Miss Heywood, do you remember the stream?" "The stream?" echoed Charlotte in some bewilderment. "The stream that flows from old Sanditon and is blocked by the chesil where it reaches the open sea? I have been walking along that path this morning. Do you remember the first day we walked there and I said it was a poor stream to creep between pebbles instead of driving them left and right in front of io" "And Mr. Parker agreed with you," cried Charlotte as a sudden shaft of light revealed the key to that commonplace conversation. "But Miss Brereton -- " "Clara said it could not do that before the winter," said Mr. Brudenall. "But it has broken through its ridge of pebbles this morning. After the storm last night, the stream has swept everything before it and is now flowing straight and unhampered into the open sea. Do you not think this is a good omen for us? Will you try and help me convince Clara this is so?" "Really, Henry!" Reginald interrupted with exasperation. "What have all these streams and omens got to do with the case? Show Miss Heywood that letter you had in the post this morning to say your ship has sailing orders from Hull instead of London. Tell her you now have to spend three days travelling there instead of one. Explain that Sidney is not yet back with his carriage to take you there, that Clara will have to leave with you this morning instead of meeting her cousin at Hailsham. And for heaven`s sake, stop wasting precious time with streams flowing to the open sea." Charlotte laughed at such a typical outcry; Reginald`s prosaic manner might never have won him the hand of so romantic and fascinating a heroine as Clara Brereton; but having won it, she felt he would have carried her off with more resolution and less fastidiousness than his friend. His blunt announcement that an elopement which had the blessing of both their families could scarcely even merit the term had convinced Charlotte that some of the scruples over such proceedings could more easily be waived. If Lady Denham`s eccentricity was the only obstacle to the match, she felt she should offer what help might be required towards overcoming it. "Tell me what you are expecting me to do?" she asked Henry, But she was not at all surprised when it was Reginald who rapidly unfolded their present plans. His barouche, he explained, could hardly carry the fugitives all the way to Hull. They must drive with him to Brighton and hire a postchaise for the longer journey. Would she agree to accompany himself and Henry immediately and waylay Clara Brereton as she set off for Hailsham to meet her cousin? Clara could then write a brief note of explanation to Lady Denham for her cousin Elisabeth to deliver. Charlotte would take her place in Lady Denham`s coach and meet Elizabeth Brereton in Hailsham; and Elizabeth -- sensible, good-humoured and well aware of the whole situation -- could competently be left to deal with the tangle once she had been allowed inside Sanditon House. "But what," said Charlotte with some hesitation, "If Miss Brereton does not agree to all this? If she has been unwilling to consent to an elopement, and waiting till her cousin arrives before entering on any explanations with Lady Denham, do you think she will now throw all caution to the winds and risk her disapproval at the last minute?" "She must," said Reginald with childlike simplicity. "Henry has already postponed his departure for India three times. He cannot be kept dangling about forever in England doing nothing. Oh, his father has promised to arrange Clara`s passage and have her follow him; his family will do all they can to send her out to join Henry whenever she may. But surely she will see that more delays and postponements are hardly worth the risk? lt is a long way to Bengal and many things may happen during such a separation. If she loves Henry, she must now trust him to decide their future. Sidney told her himself," he added impressively, "That their whole chance of happiness might depend on her seizing one particular moment and acting on it before it was too late. Why spend a lifetime, as Sidney says, regretting wasted opportunities?" Sidney`s opinion carried even more conviction to Charlotte. For him, these sudden plans would have brought no element of surprise. He had been advising his friends how they should act for many weeks now and had been able to decide on their future Without haste and without confusion; and she was all at once quite certain that Sidney`s principles could be relied on. "I will be with you in a moment, she said, beginning to dart away, but not so impetuously that several very practical suggestions had not already raced through her mind. "I will need a wrap for the journey to Hailsham; and I must give some excuse to Mrs. Parker for being absent the whole day." It also occurred to her that she was the first of this little group to be committing herself to carrying through this deception, when she appeared round the greenhouse door a few moments later and told Mrs. Parker a downright lie in a steady voice. "I hope you will not mind, ma`am. Miss Brereton has just come to beg for my company on her journey to Hailsham. We would be away the whole day meeting her cousin there -- have you any objection to this?" Should she have complicated the whole story by a stammering long-winded explanation that Miss Brereton had not come herself but sent two young men, seemingly unconnected with this journey, as her emissaries? Unused to taking risks and intimidated by her own bravado, Charlotte held her breath at the possibility that Mrs. Parker might put down her gardening fork and hospitably decide to greet Miss Brereton in person. The pause which followed was very dreadful to her; and she could only command an outward composure by trying to look as unruffled as she knew Sidney would have been in the same circumstances. "What, my dear? No, no -- not at all -- if you would like to go," replied Mrs. Parker at last, raising her eyes from her flower-pots and bedding trays but leaving her mind resting behind on them. "Of course it will be more pleasant for Miss Brereton to have company on the journey. The carnation cuttings are coming along beautifully, you see. Only two plants damaged by that broken pane -- l have cleared away all the bits of glass already. What a pity she did not suggest this earlier! Be sure to take something warm -- the weather seems so changeable at the moment. No good at all letting old Andrew transplant anything out of doors. Well my dear, we shall expect you back by dinner then?" And Charlotte, making good her escape, realised she had gravely misled an open-hearted person for the first time in her life; and also that she felt not the slightest guilt in having done so. Because Mrs. Parker was guileless, her task had been easier; but it did not follow that such innocent people should against their will be involved in a similar predicament to her own. Mrs. Parker would be much more contented for the moment to know nothing whatsoever about an elopement; and Charlotte could honestly believe that in suppressing the tmth, she was protecting her. This comforting theory remained with her as she accompanied the young men down to the hotel; and helped console her further when she encountered the curious stares of the Miss Beauforts from the balcony of the corner house, as they drove in the barouche out of the hotel yard. She voiced only a mild protest to Reginald. "Do you not think all that luggage at the back must present rather an odd appearance to anyone who sees us?" "Henry can hardly set out for India without clean shirts," he replied sagely. "And do you blame me for packing up my few things too? No sense at all in my staying in Sanditon now and facing up to that old lady`s tantrums. I am very sorry, of course, that you may come in for some of them yourself. But it would scarcely help you if I remained behind too, you know. Bound to be uncomfortable whichever way you look at it." Charlotte had no quarrel to find with the soundness of this reasoning; and though still amazed to find herself taking part in so unlikely an adventure, was perfectly willing to bear the consequences on her own return. She felt some criosity, however, to meet Miss Elizabeth Brereton, who appeared destined for the role of her fellow scapegoat. A few enquiries of Mr. Brudenall elicited the information that Miss Elizabeth was thirtyish, kind and resourceful -- the very companion who should suit Lady Denham admirably if she could only step over her threshold -- a companion chosen long ago by her relatives as much more to her tastes than Clara, and far more capable of standing up for herself in any given situation. Charlotte began to hope the whole incident might turn out more pleasantly and more satisfactorily for everybody than she had first imagined. She had several uneasy moments, some twinges of doubt and a good deal of apprehension as they waited on the Hailsham road for Lady Denham`s carriage to appear; but Reginald`s cheerful certainty in the journey`s being no elopement at all, and Henry`s steady trust in Clara`s own reactions to this sudden wild proposal had already made her believe his plans were far less preposterous than they had seemed only an hour before. She had been willing to help him then from instinct alone; but logic witheld its approval of her decision till she had witnessed the scene of meeting between Henry and Clara. She could then have no further doubts. Once she had seen them together, she was determined they should stay together. She was only astonished she had never noticed their complete absorption in each other before. How could she have missed that soft glow of warmth in Clara`s eyes when she looked at him? Or that unmistakably tender quality which crept into Henry`s voice when he spoke to her? True, they were no longer dissembling before strangers but discussing their most intimate affairs before proven friends. But in failing to recognise something of this devotion to each other, Charlotte realised her powers of observation must indeed have been severely clouded for the past month. Had she ever, in fact, seen them together before? Connecting Clara with Sir Edward and Henry with his fictitious cousin, she had looked at them together but seen them apart. And they had been acting their parts to preserve this illusion. But now all reserve was at an end, and with it any pretence on Clara`s side that she would be unwilling to elope with Henry at any time he decided such a measure was essential to their happiness. Indeed her only concern, after staring and listening and agreeing with a now animated Henry Brudenall, was voiced in one feeble and very feminine objection. "But Henry -- after all this time -- to be leaving Sanditon without any preparation at all! Nothing with me for the journey! My clothes, books -- possessions -- " in some confusion, it must seem ridiculous to you but -- " "Oh, we have prepared for all that!" cried Reginald with another of his completely practical interruptions. "Sidney said he knew just how it would be once we ever reached this point. He said your own things could be sent after you when he managed to prise them out of Lady Denham; but in the meantime he sent my sisters on a shopping expedition last time he was in London. Very good taste, my sisters. Shrewd too. Laura writes that none of the clothes you have now would have been a bit of use to you in India anyway. Whalebone stays for instance -- they rot in the heat. Did you know thao Well, you must have solid silver ones when you become a memsahib, Laura tells me. I dare say you would never have planned out these details for yourself -- but your new wardrobe is all in that black trunk at the back; and Sidney says it is to be our wedding present -- his and mine." Miss Brereton smiled her appreciation of this admirable foresight and, taking Henry`s hand, climbed into the barouche without further argument. "Perhaps you and Mr. Parker would also like to write the letter I should leave for Lady Denham," she suggested with gentle irony. "No, no," disclaimed Reginald. "Henry can dictate a letter much better than I. But it must be done now. Miss Heywood will hand it to your cousin Elizabeth at Hailsham -- and she will be able to give it to Lady Denham when she arrives at Sanditon House. Much the best plan all round! A few sentences will do -- but you and Henry can word them best." All the same, Charlotte noticed, it was Reginald who had provided himself with paper and ink for the purpose; and having extracted them from his travelling case and handed them into the barouche, he walked with Charlotte a little way down the road to allow them to compose the letter. As you can plainly see now, Miss Heywood, Henry is a romantic idiot -- and Clara not a great deal better," he said with affectionate tolerance. Sidney says they are both like characters who just stepped out of fairy tales instead of houses. Any fairy tale at all, he says. Clara, he decided, could be Cinderella, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty and Henry could be any of the princes. And they have about as much idea how to manage things for themselves as any such hero and heroine. Unless a fairy godmother or a lilac fairy comes along and makes everything right for them, they would go on dreaming impossible fantasies and never get anything done at all. They have both been so compliant towards everyone else for so long that nothing was ever resolved upon for themselves. Far more feeling than common sense. Their hearts have belonged to each other for years -- but would they ever have united them without our interference? As Sidney says, meddling is a talent he was born with but had to start teaching me from our first term at school when we both met Henry." "You have known each other as long as thao" "Forever," said Reginald simply. "We are going to miss Henry in Bengal. He will have to learn to look after Clara but whom will we practise our skills upon in future?" "perhaps you will find a Clara of your own," Charlotte said lightly and was only conscious after she had said it that, whereas Reginald spoke in the plural, she had confined herself to the singular. She coloured a little at this slip but he appeared to accept it quite naturally. "Ah, but perhaps it is only the romantic Henrys who call forth such devotion," he sighed. "Do you think any Clara would run half across the world with me if l asked her? No, there are people who can inspire dreams and other people who can carry them out. And on the whole I feel more comfortable with the second best choice, though Sidney says -- " But Charlotte was not fated to hear what Sidney had to say on this interesting subject. "Hullo, have they finished their letter already? Yes, Henry, we are coming." Now all their preparations were complete and all her anxieties over, Clara Brereton wanted only a few last words with Charlotte before they set off. There was a new glow of animation on her face and her eyes were alight with excitement and anticipation: that total lack of constraint and radiant delight Charlotte had first noticed in her on the morning of their sea bathe. She remembered now that had been the morning of Henry Brudenall`s arrival in Sanditon. Clara spoke very quickly -- in a great rush -- as though she would never be able to finish all that she had to say. "I can never thank you enough, dear, dear Miss Heywood. I could never have left Sanditon without knowing Elizabeth would soon be here. In agreeing to drive with Saunders in the coach to Hailsham, you will finish what I have been trying to do here. Tell Elizabeth I would have liked to wait for her -- so much kindness I owe her family, I would have been glad to repay as best I could -- but Elizabeth will understand. She will make all right with Lady Denham if anybody could." "I wish," said Charlotte impulsively holding out her hand, "that I had let you complete your explanation about this elopement the day we drove to Brinshore. Did you ever realise I thought it was Sir Edward you had in mind?" "Sir Edward?" cried Clara in tones of genuine astonishment. "You could have believed that of me? It is a pity we never got to know each other well enough to exchange opinions about Sir Edward! Oh, his selfishness, his persistence! I never dared tell Lady Denham how often he waylaid me without her knowledge! And what stupid speeches and muddled proposals he continually made! Lady Denham`s fondness for him -- how could I have undermined io Had I told her of his foolishness, she would only have suspected me of setting her purposely against the Denhams. But Sir Edward and his sister have complicated everything for me as much as Lady Denham herself," with a sigh of regret and a shrug of relief. "The more I came to know both the Denhams, the more unpleasant I found them. Both of them so grasping and servile and determined to ingratiate themselves with Lady Denham. But I have never risked offending either of them -- I am sure Elizabeth will handle that situation more easily too. Now that I am really going with Henry, I begin to see I should have done so long ago. I am not very clever at managing people and should leave it to the Sidneys and the Elizabeths of the world." "And the Reginalds," interposed Mr. Catton with mock jealousy as he took over the reins from his groom. "just what I have been telling Miss Heywood myself. Now then, we must be off. " "And thank you, Miss Heywood, again and again," cried Clara. Henry Brudenall was even more effusive. Leaning down from the barouche at the last moment, he took both Charlotte`s hands in his, and with a great deal of genuine feeling but a trifle dramatically nevertheless, cried, "We may never meet again but Clara and I will remember all our lives what you have done for us today. I wish we had known earlier we could trust you so well. But I should have known -- I should have guessed what to expect from any friend of Sidney`s. God bless you, dear Charlotte." Reginald, flourishing his whip on the box, was more prosaic in his parting. "Our regards to Sidney when you see him," he called cheerfully. "He will be happy to learn how we all danced so merrily to his tune in the end. Goodbye, goodbye." Charlotte was left standing in the road. She watched the barouche disappear out of sight before turning back to Lady Denham`s coach and the waiting coachman; and in the long journey to Hailsham found time enough to indulge the thoughts and reflections such a morning of unexpected activity had helped her to resolve. She felt how improbable it was that she would ever meet any of them again. Within a few days she herself would have gone from Sanditon; and if Sidney Parker wished to steer clear of trouble with the same natural inclination as his friend Reginald, he would be wise to postpone his return there for several weeks. This was not, however, a reaction she expected from him. The disclosures of the morning had brought her a lot closer to an understanding of his character; and she really believed he would be prepared to face any amount of trouble and inconvenience on behalf of his friends. She realised now how well he had kept this secret, confounded his family and done everything he could to help Henry and Clara -- and all with that light-hearted gaiety which seemed to mean nothing, but only hid everything. At last she could also understand the reasons behind his pretence of a flirtation with herself, readily acknowledged its usefulness in distracting the Parkers from the real situation and forgave him for it without rancour. She was perfectly convinced now that he never had any serious design of engaging her affection. But with a strong desire to please, lively powers of address and a great deal of charm, Sidney had probably never realised how little he need do to captivate a heart like hers which had known no such previous temptations. And what in fact had he done which was not essential to his main purpose of bringing Henry and Clara together? He had insisted that Charlotte sit beside him on the drive to Brinshore so that Henry and Clara could be granted several long and necessary hours together to discuss their future. He had required an excuse to return to Sanditon with Elizabeth Brereton`s reply, Clara`s sea trunk and a final reassurance that all was in readiness for Henry`s sailing date. And what better excuse could he offer to his inquisitive family than a mild flirtation? Diana`s lively imagination had already credited him with this -- but as usual, she had muddled matters and selected Clara herself as his object. To correct this mistaken impression, Sidney had tried to lead her fantasies in a different direction. Even then, he had been careful to do no more than place his hand over Charlotte`s in full view of his sister after everyone else had left the tea rooms. He had practised no deceit; he had frankly acknowledged his object to her immediately afterwards and. confronted by an expostulating brother, had glibly produced yet another excuse to account for his trip to Sanditon. At the Assembly he had shown his good sense and his awareness that the scheme had been carried far enough for his own purposes and too far for her comfort by dancing with her just enough to keep Diana guessing, leaving her alone for the rest of the evening and apologising handsomely for his conduct. Charlotte had her own suspicions that Sidney may have realised by then that the prudence and common sense he teased her about were no longer sufficient barriers to her falling in love if he persisted in his attentions. Perhaps he had guessed it even earlier in the tea rooms? But his kindness, frankness and cheerfulness towards her had never varied. Beyond paying her a few charming compliments and amusing her with gay conversation, had he done anything at all to try and gain her affection? He had, Charlotte remembered rather wryly, done nothing except -- in a burst of typical high spirits -- bought and bestowed on her a hideous little shell box, which she would keep as a treasured memento. And she smiled to herself a little sadly when she reflected that this -- her most precious souvenir of Sanditon -- was, in fact, labelled Brinshore. The morning had indeed provided her with very full and detailed reasons for any attentions Sidney had ever paid her; and this rational explanation of them, which ended any hope she may have had that they could ever have been serious, at least brought her the consolation of being able to feel proud of him. She had always admitted his charm but doubted his integrity; but now, in finally losing what had never been hers, she found some comfort in this new pride she could take in Sidney. His principles were as steady as her own -- and he had a great deal more audacity in practising them. She had often compared him with his sister Diana and believed his interference was as officious and improper as hers. It had seemed that both of them took a delight in trying to modify the course of other people`s lives. Meddling or helping -- it came to the same thing. But Sidney`s solicitude for others had now been proved beyond any doubt to be legitimate and open, entirely prompted by genuine good will. He had no love of power for its own sake, no conceit in doing more than anybody else, no sentimentality about his duty to be useful to others. He merely helped his friends when they were in need. Of course Sidney could never have loved her! it had been presumptuous of her ever to have imagined it. But he had liked her, respected her and trusted her. At least, Charlotte decided a little wistfully, at least she could be grateful for that.
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