The rain came suddenly, a curtain of silver droplets obscuring the streets of Bath. Catherine Morland stood by the window, her heart sinking. She had been looking forward to her walk with Eleanor and Henry Tilney, but now the weather conspired against her.
"Perhaps it will pass," she whispered, glancing at the gray sky. But the rain persisted, tapping insistently on the glass.
Around noon, there was a knock at her door. Catherine's pulse quickened. Could it be Henry? Eleanor? Her anticipation turned to disappointment as John Thorpe, Isabella, and James stood there, raindrops clinging to their coats.
"Off to Bristol!" John declared, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "A castle awaits us, my dear Catherine."
Catherine hesitated. She longed to see Henry, to feel the warmth of his smile. But John's words echoed in her mind—Henry had driven away earlier. Reluctantly, she joined them, her umbrella shielding her from the rain.
As they left Bath, Catherine stole glances at the passing houses. Would she glimpse Henry and Eleanor? Her heart fluttered when she saw a girl staring at her, but it wasn't them. She begged John to turn the cart around, but he refused, and Catherine's hope faded like a distant star.
The night at the Thorpes' was a blur of Isabella's chatter and James's adoring glances. Catherine sat in silence, her thoughts with the Tilneys. Isabella's lack of consolation stung; she wished she were at the ball, dancing with Henry.
"A sleepless couch," Catherine thought bitterly, echoing the narrator's words. She felt like a heroine abandoned by fate.
The next morning, Catherine walked to the Tilneys' lodgings. Eleanor was out, and Catherine's cheeks burned as she glimpsed Eleanor and her father leaving. Had she offended them?
At the theater that night, Catherine spotted Henry. His gaze met hers, and she feared his anger. But when she explained about John Thorpe, Henry's coolness melted. Relief flooded her when he realized her indifference to John.
They talked about the play, their voices low in the crowded theater. Catherine saw John speaking to General Tilney, Henry's father. The General's words reached her ears: "The finest girl in Bath."
Heartened, Catherine slipped away from John, seeking refuge with the Allens. The rain had brought her to the Thorpes, but it was Henry who ignited her soul. And as the rain continued outside, Catherine knew that sometimes, unexpected storms led to the sweetest encounters.
