A carriage ride trough Willingden

the cool morning by the river

Sidney had slept badly, whether it was due to his throbbing shoulder or the strange conversation with Mr Heywood, he could not say exactly. It could also have been due to the confused dreams he had had since his first night in the Heywoods' house.

Now that he was feeling better, he wanted to run down to the river and take a bath. He walked down the path behind the small estate, as the boys had explained to him the night before. It was early in the morning, the house was still in complete silence, although he could hear Mrs Heywood humming in the kitchen as he left the house.

After he had found a secluded spot surrounded by thick bushes, he took off his clothes. Looking around him to make sure that no one, especially no young ladies, were around, he let his body slide into the cool water of the river. It was a relief. Refreshing and invigorating at once. Even if the wound on his back was a little tugging, it was fun. He easily found his rhythm and swam the narrow river to the opposite bank and back again. The current drove him a bit, but swimming against the current was the kind of effort he needed now.

Sidney had a great desire to swim back a little further down the river to get a little more exercise and get rid of the tension that had been holding him for days. These unexpected and also unwanted feelings that burst inside him were extremely confusing. It seemed as if an old wound that he had been trying to hide and forget for years was about to burst open. But until a few days ago, he hadn't realized that he was longing for it. For a life away from his London and Sanditon commitments. He couldn't explain why it happened and why here.

Of course, deep down he knew this confusing feelings and what, or more to the point, who was to blame for it.

Since she was going to live with his brother for the summer, he had to banish her from his mind. He would avoid any interaction with her and see if that would not dissolve into pleasure. That she confused him was a very natural reaction, after all she was the only young lady for years who had come so close to him, not only physically. Yes, that was the point.

He sucked in deep air and dived quite a distance and when he came to the surface again he swam further up the river with strong strokes.

The only moments of peace and quiet Charlotte could enjoy at the early hour of the morning. She got up at the first light, even before her mother prepared breakfast in the kitchen. After she took the eggs out of the barn and laid them in the kitchen, and lit the fire in the oven, she went into the stable to help the boys feed the cows. At this early hour, she did not need to talk to anyone, no one wanted to talk to her. These were the only hours when she could be alone with her thoughts without being constantly disturbed by any of her brothers and sisters or her commitments.

Ever since the Parkers came into her life, she had a lot more to think about. Not only was this great and unexpected journey coming up, there was so much more to think about. Her father had already warned her about the place and the visitors there. Her sisters were a bit jealous of what she might experience there. Her brothers were all happy not to be invited, although a few detailed reports of the construction sites and sports activities were required. Their mother had made strange suggestions about happy happenings and had told her several times not to be too picky, especially when it came to dancing. Even if this would have been enough to make her think, it was obvious what captivated her thoughts most. Or rather who.

This distracting young man, who was so rude at first and now so friendly after all. He had enriched last night's dinner so much, all his reports about far away Antigua and his work had been so interesting. Apart from the fact that he was the only young man she had ever got so close to. Of course, she had to deal with the stable boys and harvest workers, her neighbors, the men at her father's construction site. But most of them she had known since childhood and nobody caused the strange feeling in her like Sidney Parker.