25/26th September, 1891 — Sanditon Season Close, during the hurricane
If they had left twenty minutes ago when he had wanted to, they wouldn’t be still be here, caught in this.
‘They’, he said, as if Caroline hadn’t stranded him in the ballroom earlier to go talk to friends of hers. As if, with the gale force winds blowing outside, uproar in the ballroom and crescendoing panic, when Evander hadn’t started pushing his way through the crush towards her, she hadn’t turned and gone the other way.
She just hadn’t seen him, he’d told himself. She was looking for him as well. And he had met her eye – he swore he had – but instead of meeting him halfway and getting out of here (or carefully waiting out the storm in some sheltered spot), something else had caught her attention, something seemingly important, and she had disappeared through the bloody doors.
Until this present moment, Evander had truly never known that he had married a fool. She must know storms like this – America had hurricanes, didn’t it? And her family knew shipping, surely knew the danger of weather like this – so she must know she would be no help saving anyone from it. Half in anger, half horror, Evander shoved his way across the ballroom, glancing left and right in the hallways beyond it and not seeing her. But there, one of the outer doors – someone had opened it, and the wind was left hammering it erratically against the wall. Gingerly, Evander approached it to squint outside – surely she hadn’t been that stupid – but a tunnel of wind surging into the building sent him stumbling back into –
“Alfred?!” Evander said as he turned and found his brother, too disoriented to decide whether he was dismayed or relieved by his appearance.
‘They’, he said, as if Caroline hadn’t stranded him in the ballroom earlier to go talk to friends of hers. As if, with the gale force winds blowing outside, uproar in the ballroom and crescendoing panic, when Evander hadn’t started pushing his way through the crush towards her, she hadn’t turned and gone the other way.
She just hadn’t seen him, he’d told himself. She was looking for him as well. And he had met her eye – he swore he had – but instead of meeting him halfway and getting out of here (or carefully waiting out the storm in some sheltered spot), something else had caught her attention, something seemingly important, and she had disappeared through the bloody doors.
Until this present moment, Evander had truly never known that he had married a fool. She must know storms like this – America had hurricanes, didn’t it? And her family knew shipping, surely knew the danger of weather like this – so she must know she would be no help saving anyone from it. Half in anger, half horror, Evander shoved his way across the ballroom, glancing left and right in the hallways beyond it and not seeing her. But there, one of the outer doors – someone had opened it, and the wind was left hammering it erratically against the wall. Gingerly, Evander approached it to squint outside – surely she hadn’t been that stupid – but a tunnel of wind surging into the building sent him stumbling back into –
“Alfred?!” Evander said as he turned and found his brother, too disoriented to decide whether he was dismayed or relieved by his appearance.
