Beginnings Beyond Endings (A Sanditon Fanfiction)

The Strength Within

The previous evening had been largely uneventful for the residents of Sanditon. George and Charlotte had enjoyed a pleasant meal, the talents of mediocre musicians and songbirds and, between them, had lost four of the five card games they had joined later in the evening. It was fortunate for them that neither were inclined to betting vast sums of money for they would have lost a fortune that evening to their lack of skill at the card tables.

While Charlotte and George were enjoying an evening of entertainment and gaiety, Eliza had instructed a pot of the herbal tea be brewed for her husband. It proved quite effective at relieving the worst of his pain and their evening was spend more quietly, playing games and reading with their son after he had been returned home by his uncle.

The next day, when it came, also proved itself quiet for the most part. Charlotte and George favoured the shooting that would occur that morning over the tug-of-war to be battled out amongst the men in the afternoon. With their plans for the day set, they rose early to dress and enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Charlotte, at the suggestion of Lady Granville, took ginger tea with her meal and found herself much more able to stomach the breakfast wares they had been presented with.

There was something about the ginger tea that roused memories of her mother, though she could not quite reconcile the connection between the two. She knew her mother did not make a habit of drinking a ginger infusion as she typically found the bitterness quite unpleasant. Though, she had always seemed to have a pot of it to hand when her parents were expecting the arrival of each of her... Oh. Oh!

Her mother had only ever taken ginger tea when she was expecting. Charlotte remembered asking her mother once why she drank tea she disliked and had been told that being high in the belly unsettled her mother's appetites and the ginger tea, unpleasant as she found it, was the only thing that settled her well enough to eat.

But though Charlotte remembered her mother's later pregnancies quite well, she had not experienced the same unbearable sickness. Though some smells made her feel a little nauseous, she had yet to cast her crumpets. Charlotte knew, if she were indeed increasing, that the babe could not be more than 8 weeks grown for her last menses had come just days after her wedding, a fact that a quick counting of the weeks confirmed. She remembered how often her mother had felt unable to remove herself from her bed in those early weeks. Indeed, Anne had confided that their mother had claimed the sickness to be the first indication of her condition and that it had been a difficulty her sister had experienced herself when expecting her own children.

Charlotte shook herself out of her thoughts. Dwelling on the possibility would only serve to frazzle her nerves. No. She would find a time to visit Doctor Fuchs and have him confirm her suspicions. But this morning she would enjoy some sporting competition and test her skills with a shotgun against her husband's.

So it was that the Viscount and Viscountess arrived at Sanditon House for the shooting in short time. Lady Denham has generously offered up her late husbands' firearm collections for their perusal and use and the couple each selected a pair of satisfactorily serviceable shotguns for the game shooting.

It transpired that Charlotte proved herself a very skilled shot with that particular weapon and easily down a half dozen more birds than her husband. This was much to his discontent and George spent what was left of the morning grumbling bitterly about his loss, providing very great entertainment to all those who heard him and most particularly to the amusement of Lady Susan.

Having previously witnessed Charlotte joining her husband on his shooting excursions on the occasions that her friend had stayed with her family at their principal seat, Lady Susan could admit no surprise at the girl's skill. In truth she found nothing very shocking at all in the revelation that her young friend could beat most gentlemen in that pursuit. The same, however, could be said of the behaviour she observed from Miss Lambe throughout that day and on previous days spent in the wild girl's company.