Sanditon: A Sisterhood Forms

43

Not a single voice could be heard in the carriage. Its three occupants swayed together in tandem, jolted in the same directions as the wheels met the uneven roads that led east. The silence was like a dead weight that pressed upon them, persistent and palpable, its only backdrop the continuous motion of horse and carriage.

Sidney looked determinedly out of the window, working in the quiet to calm his addled mind as his eyes moved back and forth over fields and greenery, his thumb absently tracing the outline of his lips over and over again. Every so often, a sudden intake of breath would pierce through, and he would try again to move his hand further along the seat, closer to her. Every so often, she would push it back.

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SOME HOURS EARLIER...

"Charlotte, it is time to leave. Go out to the carriage." Sidney stood, frozen to the third step, Linton just behind. His hand gripped the bannister, tighter, as his eyes remained fixed upon Lord Townshend.

"I believe that congratulations are in order," Lord Townshend said, all politeness, though his eyes had narrowed at Sidney.

"Oh, yes," said the landlady, "I nearly forgot. They have only just been married. What was it again? Three weeks? Honestly, you'd think it had been thirty with how they-"

"Lord Townshend," Charlotte started, "really, I can explain-"

"There is no time to explain," Sidney murmured.

"We are searching for a mutual acquaintance - a Miss Lambe, who has gone missing recently, and-"

"Charlotte, that's enough," Sidney growled, "please, don't speak another word of it to this man. He cannot be trusted."

"Cannot be trusted?" interjected the landlady in an affronted tone, "Lord Townshend? I've never heard such an accusation thrown about for as kind a man."

"Then, you had best form better acquaintances, Ma'am," said Sidney.

Lord Townshend swallowed nervously, "Perhaps we might...have a word. In private..." He darted an apologetic look at the landlady, and she looked back, affronted. "But of course, Lord Townshend. I've not the time nor the inclination to interfere with your private matters." But her tone said otherwise as she huffed softly, rushing off in the direction of the kitchens.

"What a way to speak to a Marquess," Linton muttered behind Sidney as he tracked her path, "she wouldn't last a day in service, I can tell you that."

"Miss Heywood," Townshend stepped a bit closer to Charlotte, leaning in as if consulting with her privately, "I must ask again...are you quite all right?" his eyes flashed back over at Sidney and Linton, who were continuing on their path down the stairs.

"I am perfectly fine," she said, crossing her arms, "now, say what you have to say."

"Sent you on an errand, did she?" Sidney cut through, the anger apparent in his voice as he approached them.

Townshend turned, his jaw set as he surveyed Sidney, "I don't understand your meaning, Sir."

"Oh, I think you do," he responded, darkly, "make no mistake, I know her well enough to recognise her own handiwork."

Lord Townshend swallowed again, not quite meeting Sidney's eye as he responded. "Mr Parker, I would advise you to ensure that Miss Heywood has a safe passage back to London."

"What are you planning to do to her-" Sidney cut off, his breathing picking up.

"Mr Parker," Linton came up behind him and placed a hand upon his arm, "Now is not the time." But Sidney did not move.