Sanditon revisited

Chapter 19: An unexpected encounter

A/N: Before I continue beyond episode 8 I want to mention a few things;

I have not read any other continuations because I did not want to be limited by what others have written. I hope I will not duplicate someone else's plot but if I do it is accidental.

I have not written an outline, I never do, so I'm not sure how this will go except that I guarantee a HEA. I do not aim to write what I believe would happen on screen, I will write what I want to happen to Sidney and Charlotte.

Lastly, thank you for patiently following this story and thank you for all your lovely comments!

Chapter 19: An unexpected encounter

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In which Sidney feels trapped in his own life and makes an unexpected re-acquaintance.

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Eliza's shrill laughter cut through Sidney's absentmindedness and brought him back to Mrs Willard's drawing room. An after-dinner game of whist was played over by the table, but he had reclined in an armchair at some distance, feigning reading a book. It had been lying at a side table and he had grabbed it as an excuse to be left alone, but when he turned the first page it turned out to be a collection of quotes by Heraclitus. He could barely hold back a hollow laughter. Charlotte continued to be ubiquitous in her absence. He did not want to forget her, in fact knew he was incapable of it, but the ceaseless reminders of the woman he loved but could not have were painful. Yesterday he had thought he caught a glimpse of her through the carriage window but knew it must have been another brown-haired woman walking down the street.

His eyes fell on Eliza. It seemed she was laughing in triumph over winning the game. He could not help but constantly comparing them. She was everything Charlotte was not; competitive, ungenerous, spiteful and manipulative. In every aspect she came out short. He resented her more for every day and wondered how he was supposed to survive spending his life with her. He answered himself in his next breath; by continuing to avoid her as much as he possibly could. They would naturally not live under the same roof until they were married, and he was grateful that she insisted on such an extravagant wedding that the preparations had brought them into late autumn and she then wanted to wait until spring so there would be fresh flowers. He had the feeling that she wanted to parade her wealth, beauty and her new young and handsome husband for the entire London society and a sumptuous wedding was more important to her than the wedding happening promptly. It only confirmed to Sidney that she enjoyed the idea of marrying him more than actually loving him. Anyway he was grateful because she had given him a few more months of respite, being as free as an engaged man could be.

She frequently attempted to drag him along to different social events and this evening he reluctantly had allowed her, but he often told her he had business to attend to. It was not the first time he had buried himself in work, but never had it been such a welcome distraction as now.

"You don't need to work so hard, now that you will marry me", Eliza had wined recently when he once again rejected a dinner invitation.

"Do you really think I would want to live of your late husband's money?" he answered with disdain.

"It didn't stop you from taking them for Sanditon."

He froze. It was a cheap shot but true. He knew she would use this as a weapon for the rest of their lives and it made him wonder for the thousandth time if it had been the right decision.

"That's different. I did that for Tom and because you made sure that there was no other solution. Remember? I need to work to provide for myself, I will not abstain from that."