by Jane Austen
In such cases as Charlotte’s, the confidence of a sister is often considered the best place to lay troubles and Abigail Heywood, if a little fatigued from her journey and from Mr. Parker’s enthusiastic account of Sanditon, had never been so happy to see her sister and had never been so surprised by her appearance.
“Oh my goodness! I was prepared for you to appear quite altered by your time at the coast, Charlotte, but I confess an improvement was expected.”This last was delivered with sisterly concern.
Charlotte defended herself.“I am quite well,Abigail, a little pale today but I think perhaps you have been too readily influenced by Mr. Parker’s declarations of Sanditon. If you came in anticipation of a dramatic change in me, then I fully comprehend your disappointment. Sea air is no miracle.”
“No, Charlotte, you do not disappoint me, but I admit I had expected to find you … happier.”
It could not be concealed. Charlotte could master suppression of her feelings with the good citizens of Sanditon, but from her sister’s eye, the truth could not be hid and must be owned outright. When all the necessary introductions had all been made, the two went to Charlotte’s room where the latter described the events leading to Sidney’s proposal.
Abigail, being still young, was at times distracted by the romanticism of her sister’s story and she leapt up from the bed at one point to ask irrelevant questions with inappropriate curiosity.
“Was it from this very window here that you heard him?”
Charlotte, all heartache and irritation, implored her young sister, “I wish to keep to the facts, have some heart, it pains me enough to recall the situation without my feeling it necessary to reenact the parts you favor, we are not at the theater, Abigail!”
“Oh, Charlotte, you mistake me, I do not mean to make light of your distress, but it is somewhat farcical, is it not?”
“To you, Abigail, it may well seem to be. You know I like to laugh whenever I can but I confess that in this matter all humor is lost to me.”
“Please say you are not angry with me though?”
The sisters were not long aggrieved with one another and the younger, despite her natural disposition dictating otherwise, was soon to find enough sympathy to appease the elder.That sympathy was neither sought nor received readily on Charlotte’s part did not lessen the fact that it had been genuinely given. To relate her distress and the causes of it afforded Charlotte a degree of relief and she was soon better able to indulge her sister by telling her about the good people of Sanditon.To Abigail this was delight itself.
“How exciting. I should dearly love to meet this Sir Edward!” cried she.
“Should you indeed?” Charlotte inquired. “I suppose Mr. Parker has puffed Sir Edward up into an object of fascination?”
“Oh, he told me a lot about him, he talked all through the journey. I never knew a person could talk so much in a carriage. He has a very clever way of speaking above the clatter you know. But is he handsome, Charlotte, this infamous Edward Denham?”
“He is considered gloriously handsome by silly women and sensible ones alike. Handsome is a relative thing though, Abigail, a man’s physical attributes are quickly rendered less becoming if his character is ugly and the reverse is often the case, a less well-favored man who has gentleman-like manners and earnest feelings will eventually outshine all dazzling rivals.”
Abigail laughed. “Then I take it Sir Edward Denham, even in your eyes, is very, very handsome indeed, but I am obliged not to like him because you do not!”
“It is true, I do not like him. There you understand me perfectly. I confess he is a beautiful-looking sort of man but I should not care to look upon his elegance with regularity, there is almost certainly a high price to be paid for the privilege.”
“Is he charming?” was Abigail’s next question, and her sister answered with as much patience as could be roused in her, for she was convinced that Abigail would risk herself in liking such a man.
“He is an expert on captivation, the very embodiment of all that is charismatic. He is attentive, when he chooses to be, poetic, well-mannered, and accommodating. He is elegant in a contrived way. He wears the finest clothes. Feel free to faint away when you see him in his green coat, Abigail. He is something quite spectacular in the way of appearance and attractiveness. But all this derives from nothing more than learned skills and applied appeal, he has no genuine sentiment, women are mere instruments to him, he knows how to play them well enough but I fear the music will always be slightly off-key. I declare he believes himself capable of seducing any woman in the world.”
“Your black-hearted account of Sir Edward does not correspond with Mr. Parker’s description, Charlotte.”
“I would not expect it to. Mr. Parker cares only for numbers. Sir Edward Denham is but one person amongst many who stay in Sanditon, that is all the recommendation our host needs. Besides, Mr. Parker has not been subjected to Sir Edward Denham’s wiles!”
“And you have?” cried Abigail with eagerness.
Charlotte scolded her sister. “Calm yourself, his attentions do nothing to make me unique, any woman, be she equipped with arms, legs, and a head is a likely victim.We are all, from the plainest to the fairest of us, subjected to his poetic ramblings at some point. They may set sillier hearts aflutter but they have little effect on me.”
Abigail’s fascination could not be concealed.“Oh my goodness, I do hope he picks on me next, I long to have a man recite poetry to me. Nothing ever happens in Willingden, I should be glad of the opportunity to enjoy a little flirtation. I do so adore the idea of a man who can recall poetry at whim. There is a dreaminess in it. I wish him to choose me.”
“It is a harmless enough wish, Abigail, but I fear you will have to content yourself with someone other than Sir Edward Denham, he is to leave for London tomorrow morning. But do not be down-hearted, you may well be picked out for a florid farewell.”
“You think I will meet him before he leaves then?”
“Depend upon it, Abigail, what little I know of Sir Edward leads me to say with absolute certainty that he will make a great performance of his departure. He will, you can be certain, overshadow Garrick, Kemble, and Kean.”
CHAPTER 21
It was to Abigail’s delight and Charlotte’s chagrin that Sir Edward Denham called at Trafalgar House prior to his departure. He fawned enough over the younger Miss Heywood to satisfy her desire for flirtation; he was overt in his feigned admiration, expressive in his speech, and permanently poised on the edge of overfamiliarity. Abigail felt she would never be done with swooning but it was to Charlotte that Sir Edward directed his most poetic farewell.
“Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!” cried he, grasping Charlotte’s hand amorously.
“A farewell and then forever!” retorted Charlotte, with a little too much emphasis on the “forever.” While her misquoting of Burns might afford Sir Edward a small feeling of superiority, her adamant delivery made him quite uncomfortable.
“You disapprove of me, Miss Heywood,” cried Sir Edward, his face the very picture of mortification, “that much is evident, but I shall continue to think fondly of you while you think ill of me.”
As good an opportunity as this to put such a man to rights could not be squandered by Charlotte and she responded with more than a little relish. “I fear you misunderstand me, Sir. I certainly shall not think ill of you, indeed, I shall venture not to think of you at all.” The curt manner of this farewell piqued Abigail’s interest and after the gentleman had departed (he certainly felt his dejection more than he showed it), she made clear to her sister that she wished to pursue the matter that was intriguing her.
“Why so strong a disapproval, Charlotte? He is flirtatious to be sure, but can you not conceive that his behavior represents little more than an innocuous amusement? I confess to enjoying his attentions.We get nothing of the sort from the farm boys at home. He is sophisticated. He seemed a true gentleman to me.”
“Abigail, pleas
e! You are too willing to approve of him, your youthful enthusiasm is admirable and refreshing, but that you want him to be good will not necessarily make him so. I understand your excitement, and when compared with farm boys, Sir Edward will appear noble. But you have not had the chance to observe his character, you cannot ascertain what he is.”
“I know very well that the man is a compulsive tease, I do not need your powers of observation, or your seniority, to deduce that, but are you not a little hasty in making so harsh a judgment of him?”
“I assure you, Abigail, I am not. I had not been at Sanditon a week before I witnessed the severe effects of Sir Edward’s artifice.”
Abigail heard Charlotte’s interpretation of how Clara Brereton came to be so indisposed with alarm. She was reticent to believe that Sir Edward Denham was entirely responsible for Miss Brereton’s misfortune; furthermore, she was startled by her sister’s readiness to accuse when the facts seemed so scant. Could he be wholly culpable? What had gone before? Charlotte was ever inclined to judge quickly, but to judge so wrongly? Abigail could only wonder. Her elder sister, whom she held in high esteem, had recently confessed that the effects of her propensity for rapid appraisal had resulted in tragic personal circumstances. If she could so misjudge a man who she loved, then heaven knew how ill-equipped she was to judge properly one she so disliked.
Viewed in a prejudiced light Sir Edward Denham would indeed be seen as little more than a philanderer, but, viewed with benevolence, he might appear no more villainous than any other young man with a penchant for female admiration. There was, Abigail thought, something healthful in his manner.Where Charlotte was quick-witted, fast to judge, and clever, Abigail was slow and less inclined to think ill of people than her sister was. Curiously disposed to frivolity, and yet not fickle,Abigail Heywood’s propensity for fun was merely the product of her youth, her country upbringing, and an innate impulse to view life as a means of entertainment. When in Willingden she had begged to be allowed to go to Sanditon. Now there, she would certainly be eager to go to London, but until such time as that would be allowed she must content herself with Sanditon. There would be no lack of diversion, the Hollises had arrived, and the new surgeon and his nurse would follow.
“You will like my Dr. Wellscott, Mary,” said Mr. Parker during dinner that evening. “He is as fine a fellow as could be found anywhere in the world and very eager to be settled here. His nurse, as we shall call her, is a very accommodating young woman, very accommodating indeed. I showed her my ankle you know and she had the presence of mind to suggest I keep clear of false calves! My goodness! I laughed at the idea but truly, my dear, was not that inspired? I am somewhat surprised that she took me as a man of fashion. I confess I never once thought of shaping my legs in my entire life but if ever I had, her advice would surely prove invaluable. Perhaps she meant to flatter me! To think of an old man like me padding my legs! But it says a lot for the place, do you not think, that she has the idea of us being such leaders, so à la mode. I daresay she has Sanditon in her mind as a fashionable spot like London. In any case, great improvements shall now take place here at our treasured little town. We already have the Hollises, that makes a total of five new faces to the town! Five!”
“Six, if you include me, I love Sanditon so much already I could stay forever,” said Abigail.
“Of course!” cried Mr. Parker happily.“Pray do not feel yourself overlooked, child. I think it fair to say I see you so much as part of the family that I missed your head in the count. So there it is. Six new faces, we shall be bursting here at Sanditon, and what a happy overcrowding it shall be.”
“Not so overcrowded, Sir, we already have the loss of Sir Edward to consider,” said Charlotte solemnly, “and I am sure I am not the only one who believes that the absence of his vanity alone leaves a space large enough to fill with several more personalities.”
Mr. Parker laughed. “Ah, you are a free spirit, Miss Charlotte, you speak as you find, it is no wonder my brother was so captivated by you.”There was a silence at once uncomfortable and telling. Mr. Parker, seeing his error immediately, attempted to lessen the effect of his blunder, thereby attracting more attention to it and worsening the situation. “You and Sidney are both great wits, my dear. I am sure you will enjoy laughing together at some future date, for where there is no love lost there is always room for amusing reflection.”
Charlotte remained quiet and, thinking Mr. Parker at his most ridiculous that afternoon, deigned to distract him. There was no difficulty found in trying to steer him from the subject of Sidney, one had only to mention some trifling aspect of Sanditon to be ensured of an overlong but enthusiastically given narrative.This she did and all the members of the party gained some small measure of satisfaction from being afforded the opportunity to eat and drink and listen without a single one of them being troubled to say anything at all.
Had he been merely a new visitor to Sanditon Dr. Wellscott could have relied on an exuberant welcome, but the rather embarrassing truth was that his status as surgeon afforded him a reception the grandeur of which would not have seemed out of place had it been designed for a monarch. It was decided by Mr. Parker, with his long suffering wife’s approval, that Dr. Wellscott must be very properly received; a formal invitation to Trafalgar House would afford the good doctor the opportunity to meet a small selection of those who were soon to become his patients, and, likewise gain introductions to those who were not. Mrs. Parker heard her husband with trepidation.
“Pray do not consider another garden party.” Her quiet tone displayed nothing of the violent reservations she was harboring.“It is all too soon,Tom.Why, the lawns have scarce recovered from the last one. I noticed some fashionables wore those dreadful high red heels.The grass is quite spiked through since.The gardener cannot put me at ease on this point with his talk of aerating the earth. I think we may have over-ventilated our garden.The grass is simply punctured, a muddied mess of holes and unsightly divots.”
“No, no, Mary! A garden party will not do in any case,” said Mr. Parker with no reference to or sympathy for his wife’s concerns for the lushness of the green. “I have in mind a smaller, more select guest list for an indoor assembly, a supper or dinner party would do very well, and I think it prudent to invite those persons who are most likely to consider themselves in need of medicine in the future by way of promoting the doctor.”
Charlotte could not remain silent.“On that premise, Mr. Parker, you shall surely end with the sickliest of company!”
“My dear, Miss Heywood, I do not expect all of Dr.Wellscott’s patients to be unwell!”
“In all honesty I do not expect any of them to be unwell. For what ailment can thrive in such a sanatorium as Sanditon?”
Mr. Parker exclaimed,“My dear girl, you have quite my way of thinking on the matter, I’ll wager the majority who seek Dr. Wellscott’s prescriptions will be as sound in body as you or I but, if their purses allow it, they will seek his advice just the same. It is simply the way of things, a good doctor we have needed and a good doctor we now shall have, the effects will be far reaching, Miss Heywood, the incapacitated shall flee from Bath to Sanditon as soon as news reaches there.”
The Miss Beauforts and Mrs. Griffiths were included on the guest list.
“They travel about, you know, that is as good an advertisement for our town as any, it would be improvident to overlook them. Alas! Miss Lambe is already gone away, but there is a girl who would sincerely benefit from Dr.Wellscott’s expertise. And I sorely miss her presence her for there is something exotic in her looks that adds appeal to the place.The English thrill to meet foreigners, especially in their own country,” said Mr. Parker.
Lady Denham was judged too unwell to accept an invitation but, considering it remiss to exclude her, Mr. Parker issued one in the full expectation of its being declined. “I shall compensate accordingly, I do believe she would be most grateful if Dr.Wellscott were to go to Sanditon House and visit her personally.”
&nb
sp; “How can you be sure of Lady Denham’s welcoming your doctor, Sir? Does not she blame a physician for her husband’s death? I am sure she attributes her general good health to the avoidance of all remedies but the salt water, the sea air, her milch asses, and Mr. Hollis’s chamber-horse,” said Charlotte.
“I do not think Lady Denham has ever used the chamber-horse, Charlotte,” cried Mr. Parker. “And as for her remonstrances about the medical profession, well, those were merely the sentiments of the robust! And long-forgotten, I daresay. Lady Denham has since fallen victim to illness. Her milch asses may have served her well when she was in good health. Likewise the sea air; everyone knows I can always account for the good of the sea air and salt water, but I am now persuaded,” this with a knowing look at his wife, “that my good doctor will be graciously received and welcomed at Sanditon House. In confidence, I am inclined to believe that Lady Denham resented the ten fees the old doctor charged to attend her husband. My Dr.Wellscott is different, he has something of fairness in him I am sure.”
“In fairness then,” said Charlotte with a wry smile,“let us agree that the payment of ten fees, for the service of killing one man, once, does seem excessive.”
CHAPTER 22
The dinner provided in honor of the surgeon’s newly taken residency at Sanditon was arranged with all the expediency of an emergency and all the reverence that might usually be reserved for the nobility. Lists were drawn up, menus discussed with the housekeeper and cook and, although it pained Mr. Parker to admit it, it was agreed that some supplies must be ordered from London. There were heated arguments over the removables and the corner dishes, and an attack of hysteria, on the part of the cook, at the suggestion of buttered lobster and several French dishes. Each detail of the arrangements might have been more carefully considered had Mr. Parker not been so infused with urgency. On his wife’s inquiring about the necessity of a fancy centerpiece he said, “Nothing too large nor too small, my dear, something elegant but not overpowering, something representative of our good town. Something appropriate for a surgeon.”
