Sanditon revisited

18: The end of naivety

A/N: After a pause because I got absorbed by my other story (The only reason to marry is love), I will now continue this one. This is the last chapter covering the 8 episodes on screen and after that I will dive into the continuation.

I am well aware that many great continuations have been written already so perhaps there is no need for another, but my intention was always to write the story I want to return to and read myself and then I need it to have an ending beyond what we saw on screen. I expect it will be a few chapters after this, but probably not a full-blown second season. I will continue to focus on Charlotte and Sidney because if I'm honest they are the ones I really care about.

Chapter 18: The end of naivety

In retrospect Charlotte would always think of her stay in Sanditon as divided in a before and an after. Not a before and after The Kiss, even if that in so many ways had rocked her world, but before and after The Fire.

Up until the fire, everything about Sanditon had been an exciting adventure and fairy tale. All the things she had seen and experienced, the new acquaintances she had made, her curious dislike for Sidney transforming into love - everything had been covered by a veil of rosy romance. Even the sadness she felt when she thought her feelings for Sidney unrequited had been romantic somehow.

The fire efficiently tore that veil apart, leaving harsh reality exposed to her eyes, though it took her a few days to fully grasp it.

Tom's grand apartment buildings were burned to ashes and with no insurance to cover the losses, so much else vanished in that fire. A furious Lady Denham withdrew her investment and Tom had to come up with a financial solution in terms of a new investor within a week, if he was not to be turned over to the debtor's prison and his family ruined. Charlotte had thought Tom to be a man of action, but now saw him paralysed, a visionary with a crushed vision. He whined like a sulking child with a broken a toy over the misfortune his own irresponsible actions had brought upon him. Instead of taking accountability he now looked to Sidney for help. Charlotte's respect for him crumbled to pieces when she saw how he, without hesitation, laid the heavy responsibility to find a new investor on his younger brother's shoulders. He simply shrugged his own saying that Sidney was so much better connected and what good would it do if he also went to London instead of remaining in Sanditon, consoling his family. He had deceived everyone; Sidney, Lady Denham, the workers and worst of all his wife and Charlotte found it impossible to understand what could drive a man to do such things. He begged for Mary to forgive him but in Charlotte's opinion did nothing to earn that forgiveness, just waited for it to fall in his lap. He showed little or no concern over Old stringer's death. He gave his condolences and attended the funeral, but the loss of a life seemed to be of minor importance compared to the destroyed buildings and his own financial trouble.

When the veil was removed from Charlotte's eyes she could see that Esther Denham indeed had been right that time when she said that Tom was a megalomaniac who would bring his family to ruin. He was a fascinating man whom she had admired, but in the end one who took far more than he gave without thinking of the consequences and realising the truth was a painful awakening. Once again, it dawned on her how naïve she had been in her judgment of people. Tom's intentions may be good, but the road to hell is paved with such and for the first time she fully understood why Sidney had been reluctant to help him.

She was deeply grateful that the events did not expose Sidney to be the same fickle personality as his brother. Quite the contrary. In the past she had accused him of stepping away from responsibility and not being there for Tom or Georgiana as could expected from a brother or guardian, but now he proved his worth to the point that she almost wished he was less loyal to his family. She loved him all the more for it, but at the same time secretly wished that it was someone else than him who had to leave for London and try to save the family. However, she did understand the cascade of serious events Tom's imminent ruin would cause. His shame would be the entire Parker family's, and not just Mary's and the children's but also his siblings'. If Sidney would ask her to marry him, she would undoubtedly accept because her love made her want to stand by his side through thick and thin, but she knew that an honourable man like him never would propose to a woman under such circumstances as it would mean sharing their disgrace. He had to save Tom not only for Tom's sake but also for everyone else's, and to secure his own future happiness.