Sidney Parker (sidneyparker) wrote in sanditon, @ 2021-01-29 10:18:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | character: esther denham, character: sidney parker, player: kate, player: mira, status: in progress |
Who: Sidney Parker and Esther Denham
What: An actual interaction
Where: Outside the Crown Hotel in Sanditon
It had taken quite a bit of explaining to Tom why Sanditon's being mentioned in Lady Whistledown's Society Papers was, indeed, wanted press. We aren't on any map, printed or otherwise, Sidney wrote in response to a flurry of letters, sent to him from the coast like a flock of seabirds whose plumage was completely illegible. But now we are on the tongue of every member of the Ton, where we have always wanted to be.
If only Sidney was where he longed to be.
When the time came to depart London, Eliza suddenly made her displeasure with the arrangement known—and when Sidney would not relent on his travel plans, she attempted a new maneuver and insisted that she would remain behind in Town. When Sidney did not behave as expected in light of this change, and set out unfailingly for the Sussex coast the next morning—only then was Eliza forced to re-examine her intended's loyalty to his brother. Solitary days stretched before her, now, on which she would conspire how to best redirect that loyalty.
Less easy to explain than Whistledown's place in the cultural conversation was Sidney's intention to stay at the hotel for the duration of his visit. Once he had unloaded his trunk he stepped out of the establishment, a tall figure dressed in funereal black, and swept his hat on. Almost against his will his gaze began to parse every denizen who passed by in skirts. He was so intent on locating one familiar face in particular that he completely overlooked another—until, strolling down the thoroughfare, his broad shoulder clipped a more diminutive one. "Apologies," was his curt, and completely inadequate excuse, until he recognized the flash of copper curls beneath the hat, and realized the sharp shoulder had stood up quite well against his own.