A Modern Day Sense and Sensibility: An Adaptation of Jane Austen's Classic (15 page)

“Marianne loves to draw. She is always painting,” Diane explained, giddy at discovering such a beloved hobby shared between the pair.

“Do you plan to study art?” Willoughby asked Marianne.

“Not so much study it as create it,” Marianne answered honestly, peering up at her artwork with satisfaction.

As she did so, Willoughby studied Marianne as if she herself were a priceless painting. “Ahhh, a true artist,” he said with admiration. “I would love to see more of your work.”

“Then you shall,” Marianne answered, her eyes displaying her equal esteem.

Having completed her task, Margaret returned from outside, out of breath after sprinting from Mrs. Jennings’s. She
plopped down next to Ellie and after a moment leaned over to ask her eldest sister a question. In a whisper which was loud enough for the others to hear, the curious Margaret inquired, “Did I miss anything?”

Every day for the next week, Willoughby was a constant visitor at the apartment. Whenever he wasn’t working at the art gallery, he could be found with Marianne, often staying until late in the night. Ellie felt sorry for his aunt, whom no doubt wouldn’t get to see her nephew at all during his visit. When the weekend came, Willoughby stole Marianne away all day Saturday, only returning her by ten o’clock sharp at Diane’s request. It was obvious that the initial spark between the two was becoming something much more substantial with every moment spent together. The lovebirds were inseparable. During the first few encounters of their romance, the eager couple spent the majority of their time admiring Marianne’s paintings or exploring new pieces presently circulating in the artistic world. Then, when those subjects had been exhausted, the couple started venturing outdoors, strolling around the grassy field about the apartments or the local park.

One particularly sunny day, Diane noted that Willoughby and Marianne had been outside several hours. Unable to contain her curiosity as to the couple’s status, she turned to Ellie who was knitting quietly on the couch nearby. Glancing up at her mother, Ellie knew what it was Diane wanted.

“Ellie, you should take Rover for a walk,” Diane hinted.

“Mom, they’ve only been gone two hours,” Ellie replied without pausing from her task.

“Closer to three,” Diane corrected. “Too long for just a simple walk. Please Ellie? It won’t look so snoopy if you’re the one who accidentally stumbles upon them.”

“What you really mean is that you’d rather have me be known as the nosy one,” Ellie replied.

“Please, Ellie?” Diane pleaded. Begrudgingly, Ellie signaled her surrender by setting aside her knitting. “Oh, thank you!” her mother exclaimed in victory, and then in a conspiratorial voice she continued, “Now, I suggest beginning your walk around the outer rim first.” Diane hurried to the wall where Rover’s leash was hanging and handed it to Ellie while she continued to divulge her plan. “Then when you find them—of course it will be an accident—come back and report to me what they were doing.”

Ellie felt like a spy—but not a cool spy like James Bond or anything like that—more like a peeping Tom sent to do her mother’s meddling, and she didn’t like it very much. Yet the summer air was so refreshing that Ellie had to admit she was glad for an excuse to be outdoors. Having attached the leash to Rover’s collar, Ellie set about to fulfill her mission. Rover, thank goodness, seemed to be on his best behavior, and Ellie found that holding onto his leash was an easy task compared to the last time she had tried to walk him. On that particular adventure, Rover had practically dragged her for a mile in pursuit of a neighborhood cat.

As she approached the edge of Mrs. Jennings’s property, Ellie looked back at the apartment to see Diane peering at her through the window. It surprised Ellie when Diane signaled for her to hurry up. Sighing with exasperation, Ellie continued her quest, heading first to the park. She started the search by walking around the park’s outer pathways to see if the couple were occupying any of the surrounding benches. Instead of seeing the pair though, all Ellie saw were elderly people taking their daily stroll or reading novels. Glancing down at her watch, Ellie counted the minutes since she’d left home.
Thirty minutes and she still had yet to spot the love birds! Where could they be?

It was when she ventured down to the dog’s playground area that Ellie realized she’d made her first mistake. Although there were a few secluded benches in the bushy areas around the leash-free field, reaching them required one to walk past a commonly busy area where dog owners took their pets. Here, their dogs could run, play fetch, or romp around with other dogs—and at that moment, that’s exactly what Rover wanted to do. The dog had grown tired of having Ellie trail slowly behind, so when he saw the freedom other dogs were experiencing Rover revolted. Yanking Ellie almost off her feet, Rover flung forward and began sprinting toward the field. At first, Ellie tried to keep up with the animal, ignoring the shooting pain in her arm as she held on to the leash for dear life. But it quickly became apparent to Ellie that she wasn’t fast enough, and if she didn’t let go soon, she’d wind up face down on the ground. Shying away from the thought of facial reconstruction, Ellie had to make a decision—she let go. Panting, Ellie dropped to her knees on the cement and watched Rover disappear into the distance with his leash trailing behind him like a scarf. She attempted to yell after her sister’s pet, but her throat was so parched that Rover’s name sounded about as audible as a mouse’s squeak. Collapsing backwards onto the ground in complete exhaustion, Ellie felt something soft squish around the middle of her spine. She instantly froze, feeling every tired muscle in her body tense. Ellie’s mind raced as she tried guessing what she’d just laid down on, all the while knowing exactly what it was but not wanting to believe it. Slowly sitting up, Ellie shifted to get a better look at the ground behind her and saw precisely what she feared. It was a fresh pile of poo, and it smelled something terrible.

“Uughhhahaha,” Ellie let out a wail, quickly removing herself from the mess. She felt dirty all over. If only she’d worn a sweater, Ellie could have taken it off and sported her
t-shirt back home—but it was a warm day and she hadn’t needed a sweater, and was now stuck wearing a smelly, pooinfested top. Ellie would have hightailed it all the way home that instant but for the fact that Rover was still on the loose and she’d never hear the end of it from Margaret if she came home without the dog and he was lost forever. Although she wouldn’t mind never seeing that dog again, she couldn’t disappoint her youngest sister. Letting out a frustrated grunt as she stood up, Ellie stamped her foot like a child before dragging her feet forward in the direction which Rover had run off.

Complaining under her breath with each step she took, Ellie resumed her search not only for the missing lovebirds, but now also for the “annoying beast” (as she was now calling him), who would be in the doghouse for the next year if she had her way. “Rover!” Ellie called out occasionally, her voice full of irritation. “Rover!!!” For fifteen minutes Ellie went on like this, feeling her anger increase with each minute that went by in which she didn’t spot
that
dog. Coming to a sharp turn in the pathway, she rounded the corner in a half-jog, but stumbled to a halt upon seeing what lay beyond. Lo and behold, sitting on a secluded bench were Marianne and Willoughby. And not only that, but sitting with them, lavishing in their attention, was none other than Rover. The couple looked up with surprise when Ellie approached them, and a frown instantly clouded Marianne’s face. Marianne had thought perhaps Rover escaped from home and wandered toward them haphazardly, but now she suspected her sister had been sent to spy on them and she was not happy.

“I’m, uh, I’m sorry . . . he got away from me and I’ve been looking for him all over the park,” Ellie apologized, fudging the truth just a little bit.

“I thought maybe he had run away from home,” Marianne said in a tone Ellie understood all too well. Willoughby, obtuse to the tone’s meaning, continued to rub Rover’s ears.

“I’ll go ahead and take him and leave you guys alone again,” Ellie said quickly, getting a hold of Rover’s leash from the ground.

“Hey, no problem,” Willoughby tried to put Ellie at ease, “It was a nice surprise.” He then proceeded to place his hand on Marianne’s knee to relax her stiffened composure.

Two things went through Ellie’s mind before making her exit. One: Willoughby was touching her sister intimately and she wasn’t sure how to feel about that; Two: She had dog poop on her back and really didn’t want them to see it. Instead of replying to Willoughby, Ellie’s mind was occupied with plans of how to escape without revealing the back of her shirt (which still had fresh poop on it because, obviously, she didn’t want to touch it). Deciding her best option was to back out of sight, Ellie tried to stay cool as she attempted to maneuver Rover toward her intended direction.

At first, both Marianne and Willoughby gazed at her oddly as she dealt with the uncooperative dog while taking steps backward. Unfortunately, Rover wasn’t too anxious to leave his loving friends, and wasn’t a fan of the route Ellie had chosen. The terrible scenario of Rover revolting again flashed through Ellie’s mind, and she pictured him bolting around the opposite corner which would swing her around—revealing the back of her shirt. Luckily though, it seemed as if Rover sensed her impending horror and instead finally conceded, following Ellie as she backed out of the couple’s sight.

As Ellie put some distance between herself and the pair, she was filled with a mix of emotions. Not only had it been embarrassing being caught invading her sister’s privacy, but Ellie felt wary of Willoughby’s motives—for heaven’s sake, Marianne barely knew this man! Feeling it her duty to voice this concern, Ellie determined that when the time was right she would speak to her sister.

Although exhausted after a long afternoon at the hotel, Ellie forced herself to stay awake while waiting for Marianne to return from the bathroom. She needed to talk with Marianne. Her sister’s intimacy with Willoughby only seemed to be increasing, and now Margaret had reported seeing Willoughby slip something “glittery” onto Marianne’s wrist. Although Margaret wasn’t able to elaborate more on the details, what little she had witnessed was alarming. Yawning as she glanced at the clock, she sighed at noting it was nearly eleven at night. Reminding herself that she had to be up early the next morning, Ellie was about to give in to sleep and put off the discussion when Marianne walked in. Watching her sister finish patting her face dry as she sat down in front of the bedroom mirror, Ellie cleared her throat, “Marianne. . .” she began.

“Uh-huh,” replied Marianne, picking up her brush and running it through her damp hair. She looked at Ellie through the mirror.

“I’m sorry I interrupted you and Willoughby at the park the other day,” Ellie apologized, avoiding Marianne’s gaze.

Her sister’s reaction proved she was still upset about it and Ellie braced herself. “Were you spying on us?” Marianne accused, turning to face Ellie.

“No!” Ellie immediately blurted out, but knowing it was a lie quickly added, “I mean . . . not spying, really. . . .”
Visibly upset, Marianne turned back to the mirror, brushing her hair with even more vigor. “It’s just. . .” continued Ellie, “Marianne, you haven’t even known Jim that long. . . .”

“And. . .” Marianne said, her tone laden with annoyance.

“. . .and someone noticed Jim slip something expensive-looking onto your wrist. I’m just concerned. . .” Ellie’s voice trailed off at seeing Marianne’s expression through the mirror. It made her think perhaps she’d said too much.

Putting down the hairbrush, Marianne shifted toward her sister. “Let me guess, Margaret, that little
tattle-tale
, told you about Jim’s gift. Well, I have nothing to hide,” Marianne continued as she grabbed something from within her jewelry box and came to the edge of Ellie’s bed. “Ellie, you don’t understand Jim and me. We have such a connection. Honestly, I feel closer to him than any other person . . . that is, except you and Mom,” Marianne quickly reassured as she sat down next to Ellie. “What Margaret witnessed was Jim giving me a this amazing diamond bracelet.” Marianne slipped on the delicately crafted white gold bracelet with round and baguette diamonds and lifted her wrist for Ellie’s closer examination. “Time shouldn’t matter in relationships, Ellie. I mean, seven years could be insufficient for some couples, and seven days more than enough for others.”