The Balcony

after the balcony

After they danced two further dances Charlotte was blushing of excitement and of course of Mr. Parker. Mr Sidney Parker.

It wasn't like her first dance. Suddenly it seemed as if everything had changed. He looked into her eyes and talked to her. About Sanditon, his brothers.
After the musicians took a break, Sidney led them to the refreshments and tried to learn more about her.

"You're going to hunt?" He asked courious, he almost didn't believe her. But she was such an honest and real person, it had to be true.

"Yes I do." She said a little embarrassed.
The redness of her cheeks made her look so young and innocent and Sidney had a guilty conscience as his thoughts were distracted by the look on her décolleté.

"What have you hunt so far?" he asked and his thoughts wandered once again into dangerous waters.
"Mainly rabbits, but I've already shot two deers." She said with a little hint of pride in her voice.
"Wow," Sidney said surprised and a warm feeling flooded him. He was proud for her.
"You should show your skills on Lady Denham's hunting trip." He grinned.
"No, I'd rather not." She looked at her hands.
"Why not?
"Well, first of all we kill animals just to...eat them and yes..."
"What?" he asked in a dear voice, he absolutely wanted to know the reason why she was stuttering around.
"It wouldn't be the right behaviour for a young lady."
"Why? Exceptionally to run around with a loaded weapon?" he laughed.

He blushed, for his thoughts drifted once again to the point that she always had weapons with her. The ones which have distracting him with the blue ribbon and bow, prevented him from fully concentrating on the conversation. The others looked at him big and dark like liquid chocolate, penetrating. As if she could look into his soul and read his dirty thoughts.

"No," she said laughing, "because I am lying on the floor. Most of the time I'm dirty from head to toe, so I have to undress immediately".
Sidney swallowed. He looked at her with his eyes wide open, but she didn't seem to have noticed her slip.
"That's not proper for a young woman." She said teasingly and prodded him playfully with her shoulder.

There's some things that are not proper, thought Sidney and he was angry for his unseemly thoughts, but he just couldn't stop imagining them. She laid in the grass, gun in hand.

"Yes, yes." He said distracted, as he now had an even better view of... her weapons.
"But, we can gladly go together. Then I can show you my skills." 

She said in an innocent tone and Sidney almost choked on his drink. Then he apologized a little suddenly and disappeared. He was lost.

A little disappointed that he didn't come back to the ballroom, Charlotte went home tired with Mary after another hour.
There they met Sidney in the salon and he was distant and strangely rugged towards her. Just like at their first dance. Charlotte was confused. A sense of loss permeated her and she could not understand why he was behaving like this.

She thought they would became friends.

When she then said goodnight, Sidney noticed her injured facial expression and was immediately angry at himself.
It wasn't her fault he was incapable. Incapable to let anyone into his heart again.
But at that very moment he knew it was already too late.

She had already settled in and he had the feeling that she was hard to get rid of.