The Persuasion Parallel, Chapter Nine
Title: The Persuasion Parallel
Author: mrssnape13 (immortalbeloved13)
Spoilers: None
Rating/Warnings: G/ AU
Word Count: 1,633
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Summary: Penny makes the best of her current situation and the Koothrapalis prepare to head to Bath with Sheldon in tow.
Chapter Nine:
Madam, withouten many words,
Once, I am sure, ye will or no.
And if ye will, then leave your bordes,
And use your wit and show it so.
And with a beck ye shall me call.
And if of one that burneth alway
Ye have any pity at all,
Answer him fair with yea or nay.
If it be yea, I shall be fain.
If it be nay, friends as before.
Ye shall another man obtain,
And I mine own and yours no more.
--Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, “Madam, withouten many words”
Howard finished his speech and waited breathlessly for Miss Musgrove’s answer.
She had made remarkable progress over the course of the last month. Once she had been well enough to get out of bed, he had taken to reading to her by the fire in the downstairs parlor. He had also been taking her for short walks. They would stroll slowly to Stuart’s shop and then back home again. The exercise had greatly increased her stamina and strength.
During the course of that month, Howard had come to understand that he was falling in love with her. She had changed since her accident: her spirits were still the cheerful ones that he had first been drawn to, but she had become quiet, more gentle. Her sweet disposition warmed his heart and made him feel a quiet sense of contentment he had once despaired of ever knowing again.
He lived for the moments that he could make her smile or even laugh.
If she were to become his wife, he knew that they would have a good life together.
He had decided to take her out to the Cobb for his proposal. She had not been there since the incident, and it was his hope that he could replace one bad memory with a much happier one.
She had turned crimson when he had declared his intentions, and her silence as he recited the poem he had memorized for her was disconcerting.
Finally, she looked up at him and smiled.
“Yea.”
He was so happy that he kissed her right there, in front of all and sundry.
. . .
“Sheldon, there are letters for you!” George called.
He was walking in the garden planning a new layout for next spring, and had just received the small scraps of paper from an express messenger.
Sheldon came out to join him, blinking against the bright sun and shivering a bit in the late October chill.
He took the papers from George and sat upon a nearby bench to read them, heedless of the coldness of the stone seat.
George watched him closely. He’d been worried about his younger brother. Sheldon had done nothing but work for the last month, only eating and sleeping when George forced him to. There were dark circles under his eyes and he never smiled.
George wondered if his brother would have done better to have never seen Penny again at all.
. . .
Sheldon had to read the first letter twice; he could not bring himself to believe the words in front of him:
Sheldon,
They are to be married. You are safe. Pray do not keep Miss Elliot waiting too long this time.
Stuart
He swallowed hard.
George sat down next to him. He had been watching him carefully the entire time.
“Shelley you’re awfully white. What does the letter say?”
Sheldon handed his brother the letter and opened the other.
Sheldon,
Missy and I are going to Bath tomorrow. A most wondrous piece of news has reached us, and we think it may be in your best interest to come along. Do not wait to seek Penny out this time. I will tell you more when you get here.
Yours, etc.,
Raj
George had been reading along over his shoulder.
“Go get your things. I’ll have Mayhew bring the coach around immediately.”
Sheldon did not need to be told twice.
. . .
George watched the departing coach until it had faded from view.
He had very rarely felt so helpless. If things did not turn out favorably this time…well, he shuddered to think what would happen to his brother.
He never wanted to see the shell of a man who had been with him the last month ever again.
He did the only thing he could: he prayed for the best.
. . .
Penny didn’t like Bath any better for having spent the last month living there.
What with the time of year, it was dreary, cold and perpetually damp. She much preferred the sunshine, so this left her feeling almost always cross.
When she had first arrived, she had been surprised by how glad her family was to see her. That had not lasted long, though, as she soon realized that they were only interested in the latest gossip from home. After that, she had been left to her own devices.
For once in her life though, she found that this didn’t bother her at all. She may not have been able to enjoy her new home, but she found ample activities with which to occupy herself.
Despite the abominable weather, she had taken to going for walks again. She’d gotten to know the city very well already.
Lady Ramona, who was also in Bath for the season, had suggested that they visit the Pump Room whenever the weather was particularly wet so that Penny could continue her regular exercise. Penny had readily agreed; she hadn’t enjoyed such good health for some time.
The only drawback was that Lady Ramona always brought up the worst topics for conversation. Penny loved her godmother, but this was undoubtedly the lady’s most irksome defect.
Her new favorite? Mr. Elliot.
That gentleman had been paying obvious attentions to Penny almost from the very moment she had arrived in Bath and he had recognized her as the pretty woman he had seen in Lyme.
Lady Ramona’s dearest wish was that he would make an offer of marriage to Penny.
“Only think of it, my dear,” she said one day as they made a turn about the room, “you would be Lady Elliot, mistress of Omaha. Your home would be yours once more.”
Penny could admit that the prospect was an enticing one.
“And he is very amiable as well.”
“He certainly gives all the appearance of good will, yes. And yet…”
Penny was still very suspicious of him. His sudden reappearance after so much time and his subsequent, rushed affection for her did not sit well in her mind.
“And yet?”
Penny shook her head. For now, she would keep her thoughts to herself. She would not accuse him of duplicity until she had actual proof.
“It is nothing. I believe I have forgotten my train of thought.”
Just then, they spotted the very man they had just been speaking of.
Lady Ramona bowed and excused herself.
Mr. Elliot fell into step beside Penny.
“My deaw Penewope! How aw you this mowning?”
“Well, thank you, only I wish you would call me Penny, if not Miss Elliot.”
As usual, he ignored her wishes on this account. Ever since they had met, he had been insisting that Penelope was a much more suitable moniker for her, ‘Penny’ being too common.
She hated it, and never failed to at least attempt to dissuade him from using it.
“Do you have any news today, Penewope?”
She cringed inwardly, but decided to just let the impertinence pass for now.
“Yes, actually. My friends, the Koothrapalis, are to come to town on the morrow.”
She knew exactly what he thought about her being so close to her father’s tenants, so naturally she brought the subject up whenever possible.
“I see. Wew, I commend you on youw compassion fow and kindness to those beneath youw station.”
She answered with an arch smile.
No matter how she behaved, he appeared determined to pursue a courtship. She would ultimately refuse any proposal, of course, but would continue to encourage him until she had found his motives. She would tell no one of her plans until she was sure that these were the actions of an opportunistic cad.
. . .
Sheldon arrived at Omaha late in the evening, but Raj and Missy were still up waiting for him.
He embraced them both and sat by the fire to warm up some before it was time to retire.
Raj wasted no time.
“So you are a free man.”
Sheldon smiled at him.
“Yes.”
Missy squeezed his hand, looking very serious.
“What is it?”
An all too familiar sense of dread settled in his stomach.
“There is a chance that it may all be for nothing.”
“What do you mean, Missy?”
She began to relate what Penny had told her in her letters of Mr. Elliot.
“The way she describes it, I believe he has every intention of asking for her hand.”
Sheldon was tempted to despair, but he steeled himself. Nothing was certain; he would continue to hope as long as he could.
“I will determine the veracity of these claims once we have established ourselves in Bath.”
Missy was glowing with pride. Raj clapped him on the shoulder.
“That’s a good man.”