Sanditon Season 2: The River and the Man

Chapter 135

Groggy and eyes full of sticky residue, the result of heavy sleep had clouded Edwards sight as he awoke the next day from his long slumber but he did not know it yet.

He recalled eating breakfast, but the dryness of his throat made him worry momentarily that he was going to be faint. Blessedly he had been without a nasty hangover which he should still have if it had only been a few hours.

His stomach terribly pained him and he found himself deeply famished on top of his thirst.

Looking down at the desk in his room which bore the evidence of the letter he wrote immediately upon waking the first time. It had been done with great difficulty on account that it had to be written with his non-dominant hand.

It had been penned very sloppily, but considering the recipient was a lower born gentleman he would not be slighted.

A smile spread as he struggled with his buttons. Just a little letter to Willingden from a concerned gentleman to another, he thought with a sneer and then a wince because his hand hurt from the strain of buttoning himself in.

He had managed to send the correspondence if off before he had become achingly tired again. Edward suspected drugging but he could not imagine the hotelkeeper to have any motive. He had to have just drunk enough and wore himself out from the late nights he had been pulling at the gamblings tables.

No matter, he was now anxious to know the news of the day, and would greatly enjoy another chance meeting with either his dear sister or Mr. Parker and his little country girl.

Dressing sloppily with one hand he tried to line his clothes up straight but he knew he had to look quite the thing. If only he had the coin for a man to help him he would not look so like the degenerate he felt he looked.

The color of his hat was a deep maroon and cost a fairly steep price. He used it to state his elevated place among those around him, but without his clothes straight he just looked a mess and defeated the purpose of the hat entirely when he did not have a man to help him dress

Looking at his hands he winced to see the bandage on one and the other covered in ink stains from a very ill-contrived letter to Willingden.

Mr. Heywood would surely appreciate the perspective on events of the recent past regarding his eldest daughter. Edward had an inkling that she perhaps left a good many things out of her letters to home and he was more than happy to enlighten them. After all, it was the least he could do for a fellow gentleman.

He adjusted his collar and straightened it as much as he could and then left the room. It was probably near midday and he had much to catch up on.

Downstairs he found the Hotelkeeper eyeing him seriously. "Food and drink Sir Denham?" he asked from behind his counter, as he watched him seriously.

Edward nodded. "Yes, with my thanks." he inclined his head smugly.

"You were missed at cards last night," he said wiping the counter.
Sir Edward frowned as he sat down. "I played no cards last-night. It was the ball," he said dismissively.

The Hotel-keeper shook his head. "No Sir, that was the night before last. You slept near all yesterday away. I worried you took something." he scoffed. "You owe me for all the fuss I took checking you breathed. I even called that foreign doctor over to check to see that you were not blood sick from your wound."

Edward looked at him stricken. "I have been asleep a whole day?" he asked taking the offered drink and sucking it down as he slammed it down for another.

The portly man nodded. "Aye, you were." he shook his head. "I was fearful I was going to need to call the undertaker. Never a good day when a guest leaves without settling his bill," he said his tone heavy with meaning. With a glare, he handed him a plate of warm food. It was simple country fare which was not saying much for the palette to him.

Within a few minutes, he had cleaned the plate and drank down another four cups of ale when his eyes flashed to the door as a woman stood before him that he recognized.

"Mrs. Bartell?" Sir Edward said shocked. "What are you doing here?" he asked knowing her place was normally Sanditon House and she had very little reason to leave it.

She appraised him seriously. The woman had always looked down on him but today she looked to need a favor and he smiled wryly.

"Sir Denham," she said respectfully with an incline of the head. Although perfectly rehearsed and flawlessly executed there was still something in how she held herself that seemed to betray the view that she felt herself better than all around her. Esther had suspected that at one time she was the mistress of Lady Denham's husband before he died and that was why she felt herself in many ways equal to them all. Which was utter drivel if you had asked him. She was a pinched faced woman, and her hair was greasy and unremarkable.

Thinking again of why she was there he cleared his throat. "What do I owe," he smiled and shook his head. "-this pleasure?" he said with a slippery tongue.

His food had settled and he felt more like himself by the moment and somehow seeing her before him now felt like he was all the closer to his goals.

"It's your sister," she answered simply. "I believe her to be guilty of a most terrible deed." her words falling on his ears like a crashing wave.

He sat up his face serious. Mention of his sister had his interest in a perverse way. Esther knew his secret tryst with Clara, and now he wished to know one of her. Had she taken a lover? What kind of act could she be capable of?

"Go on Mrs. Bartell," he said leaning forward his eyes narrowing with intent. "I don't have all day," he replied.

The woman looked around the room. "I would like someplace more private to speak where others will not overhear," she said now with a concerned face.

He shook his head. "How about a walk. It looks muddy but it seems rains have ceased."

She nodded. "A walk would be a good time for this conversation. You have my gratitude," she said with an inclined head which he interpreted as mocked servitude.

"Please, allow me to get my coat," he said.

She nodded and he left her but was eager to know what she would tell him.