The Persuasion Parallel, Chapter Ten
Well, it's been AGES, but here's the next installment. This story should be finished before school starts. I'll post a big master list thingy with all the chapters once it's done. :)
Chapter Ten: There is nothing here worth me staying for…
If my passion has been put under a restraint my thoughts yet run free. I promise myself that I will forget you, and yet cannot think of it without loving you. My love is not at all lessened by those reflections I make in order to free myself. The silence I am surrounded by makes me more sensible to its impressions, and while I am unemployed with any other things, this makes itself the business of my whole vacation. Till after a multitude of useless endeavours I begin to persuade myself that it is a superfluous trouble to strive to free myself; and that it is sufficient wisdom to conceal from all but you how confused and weak I am.
--Abelard, letter to Heloise
“That was lovely Mr. Elliot. I was unaware that you knew the story of Abelard and Heloise,” Penny commented as Mr. Elliot shut the book he had been reading from and took a seat next to her.
Even more surprising to her was the fact that when he read there was no trace of his unfortunate speech impediment. It was rather curious.
“Wew, Penewope, I find that wuvahs such as Abewahd awe kindwed spiwits,” he said in a conspirational tone, leaning in close.
Thankfully, they were interrupted by the entrance of Jenkins, her father’s new butler.
“A letter for you, miss.”
She took it gratefully. Would Mr. Elliot’s overtures never end?
“Thank you, Jenkins.”
“Is there anything else that you need at the present time?”
“Not at all.”
“Very well then.”
He bowed and left the room.
“I wiw weave you to youw wetta, deaw Penewope.”
“Thank you, Mr. Elliot.”
“I shawew weturn wata to fetch you fow owa walk.”
He also bowed and left her to her own devices.
Penny immediately recognized the seal on the back of the envelope that she held in her hands. It was from Leslie.
She hadn’t heard from her sister in weeks, so she was anxious for news. She tore open the envelope and quickly perused its contents:
Leslie was feeling unwell (No surprise there).
Leonard was disappointed that the sporting season was at an end (When was he not?).
The Koothrapalis were coming to Bath (She already knew that, thanks to her frequent correspondence with Missy).
Bernadette Musgrove was to marry Howard Wolowitz.
Oh.
What?
She read the news again, certain that her eyes had deceived her, but, no, there it was.
She was all astonishment.
And then she realized what that particular bit of news really meant.
Sheldon was a free man now.
He would be coming to Bath tomorrow with his sister and brother-in-law.
She was all in a flutter.
She heard her father and sister return from their morning walk. She could not face them just then. She hastily retreated upstairs to her own chambers.
When she next met with him, she would observe Sheldon carefully. If there was any sign at all that she still had a chance of gaining his lasting affections, then she would do everything in her power to make him aware of her interest.
. . .
Later that afternoon, Penny and Mr. Elliot were taking their walk along Milsom Street when it began to rain. They turned and sought shelter in one of the little shops.
“My deaw, if you wiw wait hea, I shawe fetch you a cawage.”
“Oh no, Mr. Elliot! I am sure it shall pass. I would not mind walking home.”
“In that case, wet me fetch you an umbwewa.”
She began to protest, but he was already heading to the counter to engage the shop keep’s attention.
Penny shrugged and contented herself with waiting by the window.
Her shock was unimaginable when she spotted Sheldon hurrying down the street and it was greater still when he came through the outside door and very nearly walked into her.
“Oh! I do beg your…Penny?”
His face flushed at the sight of her.
“Captain Cooper!”
They gawked at each other for a moment before remembering their manners and exchanging the proper greetings.
“Forgive my shock. Missy said you’d all only be in town tomorrow. I did not expect to see you so soon.”
“We decided that our eagerness to be in town overruled any other practical consideration. Our bags were tossed into the coach and we were off!”
Penny smiled up at him.
“And where are you lodging?”
“Raj managed to secure the house in Queen’s Square.”
Penny nodded and they each looked away, wondering what to say.
Sheldon took a deep breath and decided to just tell her the news.
“You’ve perhaps heard that Bernadette Musgrove is to marry Howard Wolowitz.”
Penny colored. She hadn’t been expecting him to actually broach the subject.
“I have. I was most astonished.”
“As was I.”
Penny looked right into his eyes then. There was a serious look in them, but nothing of any kind of heartbreak. Perhaps she had a chance…?
She realized he was waiting for her to say something.
“I’m sure in time they will grow more alike. Captain Wolowitz will gain high spirits and sweetness of manner and she…”
Sheldon finished her thought:
“A relish for bawdy poetry.”
They both laughed. The awkwardness between them faded.
“Just so,” Penny said.
They shared a warm glance. It had been a long time since Sheldon had looked at her like that.
“With all my heart I wish them happiness. Miss Musgrove is a very good, sweet tempered girl.”
He paused, and his face became grave.
“And yet, Stuart’s sister was a very superior sort of woman. Wolowitz’s attachment to her was indeed profound.”
His face flushed. Penny wondered if he was thinking in particular of another previous attachment; his one for her.
“A man cannot recover from such a woman. He ought not.”
He took a step closer to her and looked down into her eyes.
“He does not,” he whispered.
Penny looked up into his earnest face with her heart pounding fiercely in her chest. He looked like the unsure young man he had once been, all eyes and flushing cheeks. She had long tried to lie to herself; convince herself that she no longer loved him. But, with him standing so close, and looking at her the way he used to, she could no longer attempt to deny it. She’d never love another.
This was it, the opportunity she had been waiting for, to make him understand that her heart was still his.
“Sheldon,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper.
And then the moment was shattered.
Mr. Elliot had returned with the promised umbrella.
“Hea you awe, my deaw,” he said, handing it to her with a smarmy grin.
Penny accepted the gift with as much grace as she could, though the ice in her tone when she said “thank you” would have frightened off a less determined man.
She remembered her manners though, and introduced him to Sheldon.
“Mr. Elliot, this is Captain Cooper, brother to Mrs. Koothrapali.”
They bowed. Mr. Elliot said not a word. Penny blushed for his ill grace.
Sheldon had the decency to wish him a “good day.” Penny knew that Mrs. Cooper had raised her son properly. Her present affliction was somewhat relieved.
“Wew my deaw, pewhaps we should go. We wouldn’t want to be wate.”
“Oh…Oh! Yes, that’s right!”
She looked at Sheldon again and smiled at him.
“Captain Cooper, there’s a concert this evening in the Pump Rooms. If I recall correctly, you enjoy Beethoven very much.”
He looked surprised, and still a little put off over Mr. Elliot’s rudeness, but he returned her smile.
“You do. I do.”
“Will you…will you be in attendance?”
The way he was continuing to look upon her made Penny feel 19 years old all over again.
“I…wouldn’t miss it for anything,” he said, looking at her meaningfully. “I love Beethoven.”
Mr. Elliot was all but pulling her by the elbow.
“Good.”
“Good.”
Penny forced herself to look away, to take Mr. Elliot’s preferred arm.
“Goodbye for now then, Captain,” she said, stepping outside and allowing Mr. Elliot to lead the way.
. . .
Sheldon watched their progress up the street until even their umbrella was out of sight.
. . .
They only had a short while before they had to leave for the concert, so dinner was a brief affair.
Mr. Elliot apparently thought there was plenty of time to lavish his unwanted attentions upon her though. She wasn’t sure why he was so determined; she had certainly never been very encouraging.
It was with great relief that she retired to her chambers to dress for the concert.
She knew exactly what she wanted to wear, but could not remember just then whether or not she had packed the item in question before she had gone to Jersey and her things had been shipped ahead to Bath.
She tore through her wardrobe like a woman possessed, but at last she seized upon the gown she’d been looking for.
It was a soft white muslin, with short bell sleeves and a demure pink sash about the waist. She’d been wearing it when Sheldon had proposed to her. She hadn’t had the heart to wear it since, but she hadn’t been able to part with it either.
She dressed with as much care as she could, despite her hurry. When she was finished she was quite satisfied with the result. She hadn’t looked so well in some time. She could even suppose she had something of a bloom to her cheeks.
She left her rooms and headed towards the stairs. Their party would be leaving in just a few moments.
A loud scuffling from Mrs. Vartabedian’s apartments gave her pause. Her first instinct was to call out to the woman to make sure she was alright, but then she heard a man’s voice coming from within.
It was Mr. Elliot.
He had no business being in Mrs. Vartabedian’s room.
There was no excuse she could make for his presence there.
Well, so long as they were behaving abominably, Penny felt that she would be able to live with herself if she eavesdropped for a moment or two.
There was a stifled laugh, and then she heard Mrs. Vartabedian’s voice.
“Tell me again of your plans for London. For me.”
There was a moment of silence before Mr. Elliot answered her. Penny’s stomach churned in disgust when she thought of what could have entailed that silence.
“Wew, you shawe have youw own home whea I can come see you. You shawe wiv in wuxury and neva want foa anything.”
“And you? Will you continue to trifle with Miss Penelope whilst you are paying attentions to me?”
Penny could practically see the pretentious pout on the woman’s face.
She thought her blood would boil when she heard Mr. Elliot laugh in response.
“My deaw, you and I both know that Penewope is to be my wife.”
Penny was sure that he had a better chance of catching the plague.
“Besides, what you and I have is more…viscerwal.”
Oh, yes. Plague. Definitely. Perhaps Sheldon could procure some for her?
Mrs. Vartabedian’s laugh nearly pushed Penny over the edge. How dare she? How dare they? Penny was not hurt because she had no actual emotional attachment to Mr. Elliot. But her situation in life, her position in society as an Elliot and a gentlewoman, demanded absolute respect. He had affronted her on every possible ground. If he were any sort of man, he would not be trifling with the widow of a tailor whilst paying attentions to the daughter of a gentleman!
Penny wanted to expose them right then, but one thought held her back:
Just why was Mr. Elliot gadding about with Mrs. Vartabedian?
Surely there were younger women of fortune that he could amuse himself with?
She could understand why Mrs. Vartabedian had been ingratiating herself to Sir Eric, but Mr. Elliot was only Sir Eric’s heir. He was not yet a baronet…
Oh.
There.
She had her answer.
If Mrs. Vartabedian were to marry Sir Eric and produce a male heir, Mr. Elliot would lose all claims to inheritance.
Clearly, the man would stop at nothing if it meant securing his future as Sir Barry Elliot.
There was a great commotion downstairs; their carriage had arrived.
Penny hurried down to fetch her coat, her mind still reeling. She could only hope to rectify the situation before her father lost his head entirely and proposed to Mrs. Vartabedian. Penny would have to enlighten the rest of the family to Mr. Elliot’s character before it was too late. She only hoped she would one day be able to see the look on the cad’s face when her father disinherited him as a blackguard.
. . .
Raj and Missy decided to accompany Sheldon to the concert. He was a bundle of nerves, and they were anxious for him to appear well before Penny’s family.
They left Sheldon standing at a window, so that he could have some time to compose himself before the Elliots arrived.
They were conversing with a Mr. and Mrs. Tilney when Missy overheard an unfortunate piece of gossip:
“Oh, look, Edmund, it’s the Elliots!” said a woman standing a few feet from her. “I hear tell that one of them, her name is Patricia or something, is to marry young Mr. Elliot. Smart match, if you ask me.”
Oh dear.
Missy pressed Raj’s arm in silent alarm, and they made their excuses to the Tilneys. Missy had to warn Sheldon…
Too late.
He had spotted Penny and was already approaching her.
. . .
Sheldon spotted her the moment she entered the room.
That dress…
He was taken back to another evening, so long ago now, when they had snuck away to gaze at the stars. He’d asked her to be his wife that night. He’d never since been as happy as he’d been that night.
Did she remember? Had she chosen the gown deliberately?
He lost his train of thought when her eyes found his. She smiled and the rest of the room could have been empty, as far as he was concerned.
He made his way over to her, feeling suddenly very unsure of where the evening would take him.
. . .
Penny stopped breathing for a moment when she spotted him. He was taking her in, head to toe. Had he remembered her gown then? She blushed at her boldness of choice, but was pleased by his reaction nonetheless. She blatantly ignored her family’s disapproving snorts when they noticed him and moved herself away from them.
As she came to stand before him and curtsied politely, she felt a flutter of apprehension over what this evening might bring.
. . .
Sheldon bowed politely.
“Miss Elliot.”
“Captain Cooper.”
“I…trust you are well? Your family?”
“Yes. Yes, we are all of us very well.”
“Good.”
Penny returned his polite enquiries, and then there was a heavy silence.
Sheldon could not help staring. How had he ever thought her altered? She looked as lovely tonight as she had all those years ago.
Her voice forced him from his reverie.
“Is the programme to your liking?”
“Ah, yes. I like nothing so well as Beethoven. I was most glad to see that we will be enjoying his Moonlight Sonata for the second half of the evening.”
“That always was your favorite.”
“It still is.”
He colored, remembering her playing it at Jersey, how he had watched her at the pianoforte.
“Well, Bath has much to offer those who are interested in music.”
“So I am led to believe.”
“And shall you be staying long? In…in Bath?”
Did she look hopeful?
He licked his lips, unsure of his answer. He knew he’d stay for as long as her family’s financial situation forced her to, but he could not in all reason declare such a thing aloud. At least, not in polite company.
“I…don’t know. That is to say, I’m not certain. It all depends…”
It all depended on how long it took him to pluck up the courage to renew his proposal to her.
“I see.”
Oh, for Newton’s sake man! Courage!
He cleared his throat.
“Penny--"
He did not get to finish his sentence, as Penny’s cousin, the Lady Beverly Hofstadter, chose that moment to make her entrance.
Penny was forced to leave him and acknowledge her relation.
He felt somewhat deflated, but he was determined to get her alone at some other point over the course of the evening.
. . .
Missy and Raj were looking very grave when Sheldon took his seat next to them.
“Why, you both look as if someone’s just told you the Earth is actually flat,” he quipped, giving a small, breathy laugh.
He sobered when they did not indulge his humor.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
Raj put a hand on his arm.
“You might be too late Sheldon. We’ve heard talk that Mr. Elliot is going to marry Penny. If there’s such widespread gossip, then she must at least to a point be encouraging his attentions.”
Sheldon’s head snapped towards the front of the room, where Penny was sitting next to the gentleman in question.
Had he been wrong?
“But…she wore the dress. She called me Sheldon, allowed me to call her Penny.”
He hadn’t thought that a heart could break twice.
Penny was smiling at something Mr. Elliot was saying.
“I’m sorry Shelley,” his sister whispered.
Perhaps he’d just been reading too much into Penny’s behavior. He’d always been rubbish at reading people. He must have been deluding himself these last few months. Interpersonal relationships had been the only subject he’d never mastered, after all.
He saw Mr. Elliot adjust Penny’s shawl and he couldn’t take it anymore; he had to leave. Now.
He got up and fled the room before the orchestra had struck the first note.
. . .
Penny was pretending to smile at something Mr. Elliot was saying when she heard a scuffling at the back of the room. She looked over her shoulder to see Sheldon leaving the room, just as the orchestra was beginning Beethoven’s Fifth.
She got up and hurried after him, feeling worried.
Was he unwell?
She caught him in the hall, just before he reached the outside door.
“Shel--!”
She remembered where she was.
“Captain! Captain Cooper!”
He heard her voice; he was obliged to turn and face her.
“Are you unwell?”
“No.”
“But, you are going already?”
“Yes.”
Why was he speaking so tersely?
“Is the first half at least not worth staying for? It is the Fifth, after all.”
Just then, she heard the doors behind her open, and a familiar tread upon the floorboards. Mr. Elliot.
“No. There’s nothing here worth me staying for.”
And with that, he was gone.
Penny could not fathom what had just happened. What had she done to make him turn so cold towards her? Everything had been going so well…
She had to force herself not to recoil in disgust when she felt Mr. Elliot’s hand upon her shoulder.
“My deaw Penewope, is aw wew? We’we aw so dweadfuwy concewned.”
“Yes. I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
She hoped her sharp tone would silence him, but no such luck.
He opened his mouth, no doubt to say something asinine, but Penny cut him off before he could speak.
“Should we not return to the concert?”
“My deaw Penewope, I have been awaiting the moment when I could speak to you awone…and now it seems to have come.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I am not at all in the mood for conversation.”
“My deaw, you aw faw too modest. I wuv talking to you.”
He leaned in far too close.
“Thewe aw many things about you that I wuv.”
He had gone too far.
“Sir,” she said, making the warning in her voice very clear.
“I do not expect an immediate ansa to my pwoposal, but I cannot in hona fuwtha conceal my intentions. Pewhaps tomowo night when we sup at youwa home you’ll feew aboe to make me the happiest and most fowtunate of men.”
He took her hand and kissed it.
Penny repressed the urge to slap him.
“Honor, sir? You speak of honor?”
She could not wait.
There were enough footmen present in the hall to ensure that the following bit of gossip would be all over Bath by noon the following day.
Penny would expose his true character now then.
“How dare you sir? How dare you speak of honor, and marriage, when not three hours ago you were making love to my sister’s companion beneath our very roof?”
For once, Mr. Elliot was speechless.
“Oh yes, I’ve figured out your plan to ensure you eventually get Omaha and your precious title,” she spat, poking him in the chest. “My father is many things, but he is still my father, and I will not abide by this shameful conduct.”
“And I can give you an immediate answer: No. A thousand times no. You are nothing more than a debauched, self-interested cad. I’d prefer to die an old maid before I’d ever marry you.”
She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm.
“My deaw Penewope…”
She slapped his hand away.
“Don’t make me go Omaha on your person.”
And with that, she stormed from the Pump Rooms and didn’t stop running until she had reached her front door.