Chapter Text
Sidney didn’t know if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if he was still overly fatigued by the highly dramatic 48 hours prior. As the dance with Charlotte slowed and came to a dreaded close, he spotted an elegant woman at the opposite side of the ballroom during the last turn of their dance. He did a double take because this attractive blonde women certainly resembled Eliza, but that was impossible. He had been informed she was happily married to Mr. Campion, along with his assets, and resided in Paris for at least nine years.
When Sidney and Eliza were engaged, she desperately wished to move from England for a variety of reasons. Most were, well, all were quite trivial. The poor naïve boy was unaware his affianced was not a favorite among the Beau Monde. She made Sidney promise they would leave England as soon as they were married. He reluctantly agreed but would move Heaven and Earth to ensure her eternal happiness. This would be the first time he and his siblings were separated exceeding 15 miles. It pained him deeply because the four of them were the only Parkers left. They only had each other since their parents had passed away. They were never far from one another even when their parents were among them. The Parker bond was unbreakable.
Eliza swore she’d never return to England. Mr. Campion had inquired why she abhorred this beautiful island, especially London. She prattled on how it was too cold, too windy, too wet, too foggy, too dull, ad infinitum. She willingly omitted the part that the Ton found her to be an ingratiating catty little wanna-be. That aside, what good reason could she even have to return to England? Afterall, her parents had passed away years ago as well. She was the apple of their eyes and their only child. They believed her the epitome of perfection, so they did not dare to try for additional children to fill their home. Those would certainly be inferior to their darling Eliza. Her parents were also each only children in their respective families. That left her with no familial ties here whatsoever. There was essentially not one soul who would probably miss her departure or gladly welcome her return.
Sidney quickly dismissed the ridiculous visualization. Hell, maybe he imbibed too much. Crowe was a terrible influence. Yes, Crowe should take full responsibility—him and him alone. Well, focusing the blame on him had always worked before! Libations or not, it took no effort for Sidney to dismiss this mistaken identity. He was hyper-focused on Charlotte’s gorgeous face and the sensation of her irresistible body deliciously, yet disgracefully, close to his own. Apparently, Charlotte didn’t seem to mind his scandalous proximity or else she would have distanced herself to avoid any possibility of impropriety. Well, screw the Ton! She could be a bit rogue-ish, too, by pushing societal boundaries. What possible harm could there be to indulge in a smidgen of rebellion on occasion? They had ridden alone together for miles towards Scotland for Heaven’s sake!
As they reluctantly stepped away after the final formalities of the dance, he bowed somewhat stiffly as he got another glimpse of the elegant blonde. She was directly in his line of sight. "Could it be?". As he lifted from his courtesy bow, the view over his shoulder became even clearer. Sidney had planned all along to retrieve some refreshments for them as soon as the danced finished. He thought himself quite clever because now he could spend more time in Charlotte's presence without looking improper. The bonus was that he could guard her (rather greedily possess her) from the crude rakes that littered Mrs. Maudsley’s ball room. Their astonishing debonaire attire presented them as respectable high society men, but it couldn’t hide their true testosterone-driven dispositions. He could almost see their lewd thoughts like words suspended in the air above their heads. Sidney would easily recognize such behavior because in truth, he was one of them. Heaven forbid if such words could visually linger above their noggins for all to see. Many "gentlemen" would have had their lights punched out by plenty of protective fathers over the years. Probably a few boyfriends and fiances, too.
As he aged, his thought process matured. . . some. He’d been raised to admire women and treat them with the utmost respect. No exceptions. His mother had ingrained this into all three boys. Their father would never tolerate anything less. Diana, the elder Mr. Parker’s precious daughter, was a Daddy’s girl indeed. The three boys dared not mistreat her because the wrath of Mr. Parker would descend upon them. No other boys at all would so much as give her a mean look or the wrath of four male Parkers would make the offender beg for mercy from his Almighty Maker. Certainly no man would never, ever meet the criteria to have Diana’s precious hand in marriage.
When he turned towards the refreshment table, she came into plain sight. It was her. Eliza. No mistake at all. And she was stunning!
He made long strides toward her without giving it a second thought. Roughly three strides into his haul, he realized this was not a good idea at all. In fact, this was a terrible idea. Worse yet, he abruptly left Charlotte without so much as telling her where he was headed. To add insult to injury, he hadn’t even escorted her off the floor! But he already was half-way to Eliza, and she had already spotted him. It was too late. Shit!
There was absolutely no way he could do a 180 degree turn without looking extremely awkward or just plain rude. He would look like a total socially inept idiot. At that point, he figured he should just continue forward towards Eliza, and they would exchange brief superficial pleasantries and then take his leave immediately. A brilliant plan indeed! “Sidney, you are so suave,” he thought to himself.
The briefest of pleasantries became a thirty-minute conversation covering events of the last ten years, significant or not. However, one quite significant piece of information gained from that exchange was she was widowed and worth over £100,000. She was presently the wealthiest widow in England. For a simple sweetheart from Sandition, she had done exceptionally well.
Mrs. Campion was indeed beautiful. She had aged gracefully and with so much class. Anyone could see it. But she was not nearly as beautiful as Miss Charlotte Heywood. Charlotte’s beauty was without rival. "Charlotte! Damn it to hell!"
Sidney madly fought his way through the field of gold desperately searching for her. Of course gold just had to be the themed color. Of course it just had to be a masked ball. Of course all women just had to have their hair pinned up. This magical evening was spiraling downward quickly. He continued zig-zagging throughout the large room as quickly and stealthily as possible as not to draw attention to his frenzied state. He was burning up from fear and just plain hot from the abundance of candles. Suddenly he was rudely jerked to the right by his arm.
“What the. . . ?!” he yelped. Then Lady Susan forcefully dragged him up the stairs to the privacy of her perch where’d she’d met him. She did not speak. She merely pointed to the settee and motioned for him to sit. Unbeknownst to him, she had watched him scrambling haphazardly like a maniac. She observed his wild panicked expression as it morphed into sheer terror. It was actually the most excitement she had experienced at one of these tedious balls in a very long while.
“Mr. Sidney Parker, I presume?”
He stood straight. “Ah, good evening Lady Worcester,” as he bowed as calmly as he could, but his hitched breathing certainly indicated his nervousness. She pursed her lips and asked, “Are you looking for my dear friend, Charlotte?”
He sheepishly replied, “I am, my Lady. Do you know of Miss Heywood’s whereabouts?”
“I do not, but I saw her speaking to the lovely Lord Babington about 30 minutes ago.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” he exhaled in relief.
“And then she left the ball with Mr. Crowe.”
He leaned his head back with his eyes squeezed shut and groaned. He loved that goofy bastard but could not trust him as far as he could pick him up and throw him. He breathed deeply to regain his composure and expressed his deepest and most humble gratitude. She curtly replied, “Certainly.”
He could still feel her eyes on him like daggers as he hurried off to find Babington. Of course every gentleman here wore black or any other dark color which looked black in this lighting. After a wild goose chase of another 15 minutes, he finally managed to find him outside relaxing taking a moment to himself to smoke.
Babington exclaimed, “Wish to join me, my friend?”
He passed on the offer although he desperately needed to in order to settle his nerves. “Where is Miss Heywood!?!” Sidney demanded.
“Well,” Babington began, “She’s no longer here.”
Sidney was seething and said through his teeth, “I can see that, you idiot!”
“Idiot? I dare say you should carefully examine the situation you find yourself in, and then you can determine who the real idiot is here tonight.”
Sidney was indignant and shouted, “I beg your pardon? I left her side for just a moment and haven’t seen her since!”
“A minute? A moment? I think not, Parker!”
He had witnessed Sidney’s huge blunder and hoped Charlotte could find it in her kind heart to forgive him. Babington contemplated what to say to him knowing he didn’t take kindly to harsh words, especially if they were the truth. But he couldn’t hold back.
“Sidney, you fool! I truly believed Crowe to be the most foolish of us three cads, but I’m grossly mistaken. You alone are by far the biggest fool here tonight, hands down!”
Sidney shot back, “How dare you—”
“I am not yet finished, friend,” he said as he tried to diffuse the tension. “I have seen how you look at her or gawk, rather. I’ve observed your words and interactions with her. You are smitten. You are irrevocably gone! And for some perverse reason, she seems to return this affection. As I and many others watched you on the dance floor, it was undeniable. So why, oh why, did you dash over to see Eliza, or Mrs. Campion, rather?”
Sidney let out a long hard sigh. He had no acceptable answer, but blurted out, “She is still quite attractive and has aged well, has she not?”
“Sidney, you are pathetic! My mother’s poodle is beautiful and has aged quite gracefully, too. She is also a mean, self-absorbed yappy little bitch in every sense of the word!”
“Yes, I see your point,” Sidney sheepishly replied.
“She was noticeably upset and understandably so, but claimed she was just exhausted from the unfortunate happenings over the last few days. I asked my driver bring my carriage around and take her back to Bedford Place. Crowe escorted her to ensure her safety. He should be returning momentarily.”
Sidney patted his caring friend on the back thanking him and left the ball. He met Crowe on the out and expressed his gratitude as well.
“How is Miss Heywood?" Sidney asked in desperation.
“Oh, she’s great now. That little Miss Heywood really does have a bit of spunk about her.”
“CROWE!”
“Steady on, man. No need to take that tone with me. You took my meaning all wrong.”
Sidney glared at him, but said, “Continue.”
“I was saying she is feisty one when she’s angry, but as we talked she calmed down. I believe all is well now,” he explained.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Crowe. You are indeed a good friend.“
“You know Sidney, I really have been given a special gift for soothing the young ladies,” he remarked and laughed hysterically as he began walking back to the ball.
“You disgust me, Crowe!”
Mr. Crowe just shook his head in disbelief and turned on his heel. He planted his feet and gave Sidney a frighteningly austere look. Then he proceeded to give Sidney a tongue lashing that made Charlotte’s look tame. “Sidney, you fool! I believed me to be the most foolish of us three cads, but I’m grossly mistaken. Parker, you are by far the biggest fool here tonight, hands down!” Sidney raised one eyebrow and thought that sounded vaguely familiar.
He stood alone for what seemed like an eternity then slid into Babington’s carriage gruffly asking the driver for one more trip to Bedford Place. Alone, without his Charlotte.