A Modern Day Sense and Sensibility: An Adaptation of Jane Austen's Classic (27 page)

“I’m so glad Lucy decided to go home early,” Charlotte cooed as they waited for their plane to take off.

Emotionally overspent after her ordeal with Francil and the Ferrars, Lucy had opted to return to California sooner on a seperate flight.

“Oh, yes,” agreed Mrs. Jennings, “The poor thing was in such a fragile state! I tell you, that Francil is a monster!”

“She and Jim are one in the same! Hurting two of the nicest girls!” Charlotte chirped, obviously not thinking about how the mention of Willoughby’s name might affect the passenger sitting across from her at the gate.

Both Ellie and Brandon glanced tentatively at Marianne. But if she had heard Charlotte’s comment, Marianne merely continued looking out the window without expression.

Although Marianne seemed unaffected by Charlotte’s slip-up, the indiscretion had ruffled Ellie’s feathers. She’d been trying so hard to prevent Willoughby’s name from ever being mentioned in front of Marianne—a task which hadn’t been easy but now would be nearly impossible in such confined quarters. The last couple of days leading up to their flight had been extremely difficult, as both Mrs. Jennings and her daughter were diligent in relating Willoughby’s every action as recorded by numerous gossip columns, twitter accounts, and entertainment websites. Throughout this ordeal, however, Ellie had become adept at making sure
Marianne heard nothing of their ramblings. Of course, this had been made easier by her sister’s preference to spend the majority of her time alone in her bedroom. Ellie knew the real test of her ability to dodge subjects would begin now. She hoped she’d pass.

Filled with trepidation, Ellie followed Brandon onto the plane, sitting next to him as he took the seat beside her sister. She understood Brandon’s desire to be near the woman who’d stolen his heart. Marianne, however, was oblivious to the pains Brandon took to care for and look after her. Too sullen and self-absorbed, Marianne’s behavior was increasingly commented on by acquaintances concerned about her deteriorating health and appearance. Even though Ellie observed all the same signs, she, most of all, was reluctant to admit her sister’s lack of vitality. Her hope was that as Marianne’s broken heart improved over time, so would her health and disposition.

“And to think,” Ellie heard Charlotte’s voice once again as they settled in the row behind them, “We can see Jim Willoughby’s ugly house from the edge of our property! Maybe we should have gone straight back to Oregon instead of stopping in Colorado.”

Ellie breathed an irritated sigh as Marianne roused at the mention of this. Ellie had forgotten until now that Mr. Middleton had mentioned something about Willoughby’s family home being in Colorado—apparently so had Marianne. She wished Charlotte would keep little nuggets of information like that to herself!

Despite Ellie’s silent annoyance, Charlotte continued, “I think I’ll have our gardener put up a huge fence or something.”

This attempt on Charlotte’s part to remedy the situation was unpleasant news to her husband however. James, having just returned from the airplane restroom, overheard his wife’s suggestion. “A fence? What are you talking about?” he asked sardonically. “You’ve never even walked to the edge
of our property—perhaps you’ve forgotten that we own over forty acres? And we can’t even see his place from our house! It would be a complete waste of money.”

Ellie watched Marianne as she turned to gaze out the small window once again. If only she had remembered about Willoughby’s residence in Colorado before arranging their departure. She blamed Mrs. Jennings and Charlotte for this oversight. Surely they could have spoken up before their plane tickets had been purchased. Shaking her head, Ellie mused over how ironic life could be at times.

The Palmers house in Colorado was breath-taking. Built in the basic log cabin style, its rustic appearance did not sacrifice any of the modern “necessities”: large bay windows overlooking the scenic sights, a wrap-around porch with a log swing, a well-manicured lawn, three-car garage, and an impressive front door entry.

They rode over in James’s SUV which had been parked at the airport, and when they had pulled into the driveway, Brandon patiently helped Mrs. Jennings descend from the over-sized vehicle.

Once safely on the ground, Mrs. Jennings turned to her daughter, “I’m going to head inside, dear, and take a rest.”

“Okay, Mom,” Charlotte nodded before observing Ellie and Marianne’s admiration of her Colorado estate. “Do you like it?” she asked. Ellie nodded. “James had it built for me on our first anniversary,” she wistfully explained, watching her husband hurry inside the house without a backwards glance.

As Marianne began edging her way toward the west side of the house where she had spotted a small garden, Ellie focused her attention on Charlotte’s apparent sadness. “How long have you two been married?” she asked.

“Oh . . . six years,” Charlotte answered with a tinge of melancholy. In an effort to distract herself from her unhappy
thoughts, she touched her pregnant belly with tenderness. “I am so excited about this baby!”

Ellie got the impression this baby was Charlotte’s last attempt to bring her marriage back to life, or at least to give herself a companion whom she could love and who would love her in return. The thought saddened Ellie, but before she could dwell on it for too long, her eyes caught sight of Marianne lingering at the corner of the house, as if debating whether or not to venture further on. Although somewhat distracted by this, Ellie tried to keep the conversation going. “So do you know if it’s a boy or girl?” she asked, then immediately blushed.
What if the baby’s sex had already been announced
? Her question would be very telling that she was not always the keenest listener.

“No,” Charlotte replied to Ellie’s reprieve. “My mom suggested that we wait and be surprised. She read an article somewhere that said mothers actually bond better with their babies when they wait till birth to discov—”

Seeing that Marianne was no longer visible, Ellie stopped her friend in the midst of an intriguing subject to excuse herself. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t see Marianne. I really need to make sure she’s okay.” Full of understanding, Charlotte graciously smiled and turned to go inside as Ellie walked toward the spot they had last seen Marianne. Turning the corner of the house, Ellie breathed a sigh of relief at finding Marianne in the side garden.

“Marianne!” she called out, and Marianne looked up. “Marianne, let’s go inside,” Ellie urged, “It looks like it might rain.”

Marianne nodded slowly but didn’t hasten to rejoin her sister. Instead, she took her time observing the beautiful flowers while dawdling in Ellie’s direction. Ellie found her sister’s expression troubling. It was obvious Marianne was enjoying being outdoors again—which was good—but there was something behind her eyes that worried Ellie. As the two
of them headed inside the house, Ellie made a mental note to keep a closer watch on her sister.

Following dinner, both she and Marianne opted to go to bed rather than stay up and watch a movie with the others. Once she was fresh-faced and in her pajamas, it didn’t take long for Ellie to doze off; all the traveling and constant worrying about Marianne had drained her energy. She fell asleep to a very soothing thought: it wouldn’t be long until they were finally home again in the comforting circle of their mother’s love and healing embrace. Oh, she could hardly wait!

The next morning, Ellie was surprised to find that she’d slept in till almost ten in the morning. Sitting up in bed and yawning, Ellie took her time extricating herself from the warm and cozy covers. After watching the rain tap her window for several moments, she finally forced herself to move and made her way to the bathroom which adjoined hers and Marianne’s bedrooms. Turning on the faucet and waiting for warm water, Ellie glanced through the opened door into her sister’s room to find Marianne’s bed empty. Thinking that Marianne must be downstairs at breakfast, Ellie splashed the tepid water onto her face. The liquid felt refreshing on her skin as it awakened her still lagging senses. Patting her skin dry, she examined her features in the mirror and had to wonder if it was just her imagination or if she really did look older and more aged since the trip to New York—or maybe it was just the lighting? It was hard to tell these days. Throwing in the towel, Ellie headed back to her room to get dressed.

Selecting a pair of jeans and a sweater, Ellie descended the stairs and made a beeline for the kitchen. Her stomach was growling, and she was parched. Grabbing a glass and filling it with filtered water, Ellie glanced out the window above the kitchen sink and took in the dark, rainy morning. On days like these, Ellie just wanted to snuggle up on a comfy couch with a good book and something warm and yummy to drink—she wondered if she could get away with that today.
Taking a sip from her glass, Ellie began to overhear some racket coming from the family room.

“What does it say?” asked a voice that sounded like Charlotte’s.

Curious, Ellie peeked around the wall and saw Charlotte lying on the carpet with James next to her. She noticed that James was intently studying the Lamaze book.

You’re not doing it right,” James complained. “You need to take longer breaths.”

“I’m trying my best!” Charlotte shot back, “If I exhale any more breath, I’ll faint!” Charlotte happened to look up at that moment and caught sight of Ellie. “Oh, good morning, Ellie,” she kindly greeted as James proceeded to ignore the both of them.

It was at that moment Ellie noticed Marianne wasn’t with them. In fact, she had yet to lay eyes on her sister. If Marianne wasn’t in her bedroom, the adjoining bathroom, the kitchen, or the family room, where else could she be?

Panicked, Ellie asked, “Have you seen Marianne?”

Charlotte sat up and began gently stroking her tummy. “Yes, earlier. Marianne said she was going for a walk.”

But wasn’t it pouring rain outside? Ellie rushed over to the large bay window and tried to see beyond the cascading rain restricting her view. “How long has she been gone?” her voice rang out urgently.

“Umm. . .” Charlotte began to blush, “Maybe an hour or so?” And then trying to calm away the tension on Ellie’s face, she assured, “It wasn’t raining when she left.”

Ellie was not relieved to hear that. All she could think about was why on earth Charlotte or James hadn’t said anything to stop Marianne, or checked on her to make sure she was okay after being out for so long. Even if it hadn’t been raining when she left, Marianne, in her present condition, was in no state to be outdoors for any length of time. And couldn’t they see it was now pouring outside, and with Marianne’s health—Ellie froze. Marianne’s health. Willing her
fear-stricken feet to take her to the door, she yelled back to Charlotte, “I have to go after her.”

“But you’ll get all wet!” Charlotte protested.

“Ellie!” James interrupted, surprising the women by his unusual interference. “It’s okay. Brandon already left to go find her. I think we can all guess where she went.”

“Marianne!” Brandon shouted, scanning what he could see of the backyard through the thick rain.

For the past half-hour, Brandon had searched every nook and cranny surrounding the log house in a desperate attempt to find Marianne. Having thoroughly completed three turns of the garden, garage, and side shed, he finally decided to venture toward what he thought was Marianne’s least likely route—uphill to the end of the Palmers’ property. Trudging up the slippery grass, Brandon wondered what could have been so interesting to have led Marianne so far from the house, if indeed she was at the top. There seemed to be nothing spectacular to see, only a large field that overlooked surrounding homesteads. Brandon halted. What was it that Charlotte had said on the flight about Willoughby? He remembered then her reference to the view of Willoughby’s home from atop the hill and quickened his pace, scolding himself as he did so for not recalling the incident sooner. Sure enough, a few hundred feet ahead, Brandon spotted Marianne’s slight frame as she struggled up the soggy slope. Increasing his speed to a near-sprint, he called out, “Marianne!” as he closed the distance between them.