Sanditon: A Sisterhood Forms

40

"Why must you always direct the blame at Georgiana?" Her voice rang throughout the Parker carriage as it sped along the Great North Road, the countryside reduced to a blur on either side.

"Perhaps," came the sharp reply, "it might have something to do with the fact that she has a penchant for getting into trouble and always has."

"And yet, if you gave her even a degree more of your trust instead of dismissing her outright, labelling her-"

"Trust her? You think that I should have more trust in someone who has run off with a compulsive gambler - a man who will soon have control over her entire fortune if we do not discover their whereabouts?"

"You don't know that. She might be arriving at Bedford Place at this very moment."

"Do you really think that I would have gone to the trouble of this very journey if I weren't so certain of Mr Molyneux's effect on her? She is incapable of thinking rationally when he is near."

"And you seem to be incapable of believing that anyone might be capable of change - not even when you, yourself, have undergone such a transformation."

Sidney huffed in answer and broke eye contact with her in favour of the window.

"What, am I wrong in that?" Charlotte exclaimed irritatedly.

He clenched his jaw in response, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes, I thought not," she said.

"And yet I wonder," he said, his voice returning, "why you will not trust in me to evaluate the situation based upon the extensive history that I have with both parties involved."

"Extensive history? You must learn to forgive instead of dwelling on events that are so far gone. I fear it is clouding your judgement."

"Clouding my judgement?"

The carriage shook violently as it veered to the side of the road, causing the three passengers to lurch in tandem to the side. Linton awoke in an instant, and quickly suppressed a heave. "Good God, not again," Sidney muttered as he leaned in warily to make eye contact with the drooping form seated next to him, "Shall I stop the carriage again?"

"No, no," said Linton, his cheeks puffing out as his stomach rebelled against the very words, "I am...quite alright, Master Parker."

"Sidney, you must ask the driver to slow down," Charlotte censured. "The motion - it is too much for him." She leaned forward to open a window as Linton's cheeks puffed out again.

"I told you," he said through gritted teeth, "we can't afford to lose the time."

"So you would rather stop every ten minutes? Because that is the very situation in which we are about to land, Mr Parker."

"Huuuaaaaaghhhhh," Linton responded.

"You see?" she asserted as if he had just emphatically agreed with her.

"Might I remind you, Miss Heywood, that time is of the utmost-"

"Yes, I realise that," she said with ferocity, "and we must take the chance."

Linton groaned, reaching his arms out blindly for something to hold onto as he pushed himself back into the seat, appearing as if he hoped for nothing more than the carriage to swallow him whole. "Stop the carriage this moment," Charlotte commanded, "or I will."

He glared across the carriage at her as silence fell, leaden, between them, then exhaled sharply before the handle of his cane shot upwards to tap the ceiling, "Driver!"