If I leave with Philip, Sir Charles will never have me.Eleanor wanted to go to Philip, but then she would lose her chance at independence and have to return to Northanger, to oppression and loneliness and hopelessness.
Philip waited, and when she could not find her voice, he asked in a haughty tone, “Do you intend to stay here with Sir Charles?”
“We shall be along in a moment,” Sir Charles said.
“I await Miss Tilney’s answer,” Philip said firmly, not taking his eyes from hers. Something in his tone made Sir Charles clear his throat and shift away, and Eleanor gave a little relieved sigh.
“I am perfectly well,” she lied. Philip’s shoulders fell, and he gave her such a disappointed look. “I need a word with Sir Charles, and then we will be right along. Please apologise to Lady Alice and Lord Dryden for keeping them waiting.”
This answer did not suit Philip, she could tell, but he gave a curt bow and turned on his heel. All of her heartache burned in her chest, and when he was far enough away, she turned to Sir Charles and cried, “What were you thinking to put me in this situation?”
Sir Charles waved his hand dismissively. “He is a man of the world, although his fortune is nothing. What Brampton saw here was nothing to shock him.”
Eleanor blinked once at the complete impossibility that Philip was not shocked by what he had just seen. “Mr Brampton will think an improper connexion subsists between us!”
He gave her a look of utter perplexity. “My dear Miss Tilney, the intent is to learn if there could ever be a proper one, and you are making that very difficult.”
They silently rejoined the others, and Eleanor knew that Philip had confessed nothing of what he had seen. He did not speak to her, did not so much as look at her, and in fact was entirely silent while their party explored the Black Mountains. Sir Charles remained at her side, not acting ashamed about what had happened, and a weariness of his company crept over her before they had been walking an hour.
* * *
When they returnedto the village of Longtown, they immediately went to the inn. It was unlike those coaching inns in town with a central courtyard to let down passengers or with a gallery in two stories outside rows of rooms. It was a small establishment, with an internal staircase that led to a few sets of rooms. Eleanor thought that their party and their servants had hired out the entire inn.
Sir Charles immediately got himself a room and arranged a private dining-parlour so they could all have dinner together. Lord Dryden hired Alice’s rooms—a parlour for them to share and each their own bedchamber—and Eleanor supposed Philip did the same for her. They still had not spoken, and his studied avoidance was becoming unbearable.
The hostess showed her to her room, a neat drawing room with a bedchamber attached. Alice, Dryden, and Sir Charles were on the floor above them, the servants in the attic above that.
“Will this do, ma’am?” the innkeeper asked.
“Mr Brampton engaged a comfortable apartment, thank you.”
“His lodging room is just on the other side of your shared parlour, but he has his own door to the corridor.” Eleanor tipped her, and she left. She suspected Philip would not step foot into this parlour if it meant he would have to speak with her. Sighing, she went to the bedchamber to ready herself for dinner.
She looked at her reflection, again considering what was worse: betraying Philip, or staying at Northanger. At home, she was a motherless, sisterless woman, with no female company, no companion, no friend; not even Catherine was welcome any longer.
“I am still virtuous, still strong, if I marry in order to secure some power over my own life,” she said to the glass. She had nothing to prove to anyone, and if she had reached her limit in quietly resisting her father’s subjugation, that did not make her weak.
But will it make me resentful, bitter?She had never felt any bitterness due to her father’s subjugation, so it was not likely she would become that way with a husband. And she had the strength of mind not to blame Sir Charles for not being Philip. But embracing Sir Charles had been unpleasant, unnatural, andthatwas what she would have to overcome, and quickly.
They dined at five, and, as Eleanor expected, Philip was near silent. It was not his typical shyness. When he was in a large group, or amongst those he was not close to, Philip’s silence was watchful. He was attentive, often waiting for a moment to share an opinion, ready to answer when addressed. Tonight, his silence was a vexed fury she immediately saw through his clipped replies, taut shoulders, and the tightness around his eyes.
“I suppose this dinner is rather good,” Sir Charles said after they sat, “although I cannot say that the exacting General Tilney would approve.”
Lord Dryden laughed and then, looking at Eleanor, stifled it. He then winced, and Eleanor wondered if Alice, who sat across from her brother, had kicked him in the shin. Philip, who otherwise might have glanced commiseratingly at her, avoided everyone’s eye.
To put the others at their ease, Eleanor said simply, “Yes, my father is particular in his eating. However, I know he enjoys Lady Longtown’s table very much.”
“My mother shall be more like herself once she has recovered from the surprise of the loss of Lady Anne,” Alice said.
“Hopefully Vaughan has a pleasant visit with that circle,” Dryden added, and he and Sir Charles shared a knowing look. They seemed to want Philip to join in their smirks and winks, but he pointedly refused.
They talked over the excursion to the castle for a while, until near to the close of the meal. “Four shillings for a bedchamber and sitting room, plus tips and food,” Sir Charles was saying between large bites. “It is a nuisance to pay for travel, is it not, Brampton?”
“Not at all,” Philip said shortly, not even looking at him. Sir Charles was not one to take notice of a price, and Eleanor wondered why he was trying to speak to Philip. Perhaps Sir Charles was more embarrassed at being caught by the castle than he had shown. Philip had rebuffed everyone’s attempt to engage him in conversation, but Sir Charles seemed intent on provoking him into speaking.
Sir Charles tried again. “I understand that you rent a house from Lord Vaughan, near to the Hall? Does he often dine at your table?”
Eleanor watched Philip scarcely deign to nod his head.
