An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) (17 page)

‘I require some
immediate
attention,’ she announced, in her slow, ponderous but very loud voice. ‘I am in a
very
great hurry. It will not be possible to wait.’

The couple by the trinkets, perhaps realising that the
y should feel quite
harassed
should they stand their ground
and insist on the newcomer awaiting her turn
, gave way immediately to Mrs William’s
resolute
demands
. They
were rewarded by a haughty nod
-
presumably intended to demonstrate that gratitude was not required, as
precedence over everybody else
was unquestionably her due
-
although luckily for Mr and Mrs Berkeley they failed to relinquish the position
which screened them still from sight
. The assistant turned his attention to
his demanding new customer, and bowed
.

‘I have this
old
jewellery
, young man,’ said Mrs Wright, imperiously. The assistant
,
who must have been fifty if he was a day
,
bowed unctuously
once again
and awaited the conclusion of this announcement. ‘It is no longer required. I wish to exchange it for something a little more up to
date
. What would you advise?’

‘I would need to ask Mr Wend
to value it, madam,’ was the reply. ‘It would be for him to decide exactly what it is worth.’

‘Then
ask
Mr
Wend
to attend to me.’

‘I am sorry, madam. I am
very much afraid that Mr Wend
is not available just now. He will be back later. Perhaps you would care to leave the jewellery with me and I can ask him to value it on his return?’

Mrs Wright looked less than impressed.

‘Not available? But why
ever is he not available at
this
time of day? How can he expect to run a shop if he is never available to see people?’

‘I’m afraid he has had to attend a funeral. He felt obliged to go. He will most definitely be back later this afternoon.’

Mrs Wright tutted irritably but she had little choice but to accept the inevitable and agree to
calling in later, when Mr Wend
should most certainly be b
ack. Muttering only to herself
-
and within the hearing of the whole of the rest
of the shop
-
that ‘it
really
wasn’t good enough, not the thing at
all
to take time off during the day like that’ she retr
eated out of the shop
again
, opened her umbrella to the skies, and strutted pompously
onto the
drizzly
street beyond.

Mr and Mrs Berkeley looked at each other. They didn’t need to say a word. They could see the jewellery as the assistant moved it to a shelf behind him – a poesy ring and a heart pendant on a heavy
gold
chain. It certainly did look old. Perhaps it had belonged to Mrs William’s grandmama.

Andrew waited for a few moments before b
ow
ing over his wife’s hand and kissing it
respectfully
.

‘I think it should be safe to resume my journey now
, my dear
,’ he told her.

They exchanged a parting smile.

‘I think it should,’ she agreed.

The drizzle had quickly developed into
rain. Maggie hesitated in the doorway
of Harvey’s library
for a moment, looking up at the sky. Though the clouds seemed patchy, a particularly dark grey one had
mercilessly
established itself directly above t
he Esplanade and appeared
determined on
punishing
anyone who possessed the temerity to venture out
beneath it
. Maggie looked at it again and sighed. Even though the library was only a few steps away from Grosvenor Place she would still get exceedingly wet. T
he prospect of a cold shower felt
singularly unattractive just then.

Just as she hesitated, however, she suddenly became aware of a slight figure with a large umbrella, hurrying
purposefully
down the road. She thought that t
he figure looked familiar and
she glanced at it again. I
n another second she recognised the girlish
, though burgeoning,
form of Mrs Berkeley, who app
eared intent upon joining her at
the library
door
. Maggie made room for her to pass, fully expecting her merely
to
nod,
and
walk
directly through. But as soon as she noticed her Mrs Berkeley stopped
, and gave her a shy little smile
.

‘Why, Miss
Owens
,’ she said,
shak
ing
her umbrella
briskly
. ‘I see
that
you are
caught
by the rain. It appears to be set in for some time, I’m afraid.’

‘Mrs Berkeley,’ with a slight curtsy
. ‘It does indeed. What a bind. I have borrowed some
of M
r Scott’s poems – I
adore ‘Marmion’ and am hoping that ‘The Lady of the Lake’ will delight me just as much – but now the rain has quite set in and
I
am
frightened that the
books
should get
quite
wet and spoil.’

‘Well, I am come this way primarily for a coffee.
I am no great reader, I’m afraid. My visits to the library are strictly social!
Perhaps you would care to join me?
With any luck
the rain will have eased a little by the time we
are done
.’

Maggie found herself s
urprised and quite flattered by Mrs Berkeley’s kind notice,
so she decided to
accept the unexpected invitation and follow her hostess back in
to the library
. They found a vacant table in the
elegant blue
-
and
-
white
coffee
area
overlooking the bay
and watched the rain as it spattered on the w
indows
outside
.

‘I expect you are pleased to be free of your charges this afternoon, Miss
Owens
,’ said  Kathryn, ordering the refreshments. ‘Though I do not envy
poor
Susan
, having to care for them all
.’

‘No indeed. It seems to me that t
he youngest are enough of a handful
,
without the added complication of the twins.’

‘I dare say they are
. Mr Berkeley
and I both love children, but even we are hard pushed to admire that rowdy brood. I expect they drive their papa to distraction. I can
’
t imagine any gentleman happily putting up with their noise and devious
little
tricks.’

‘No,’ said Maggie. ‘I think they do.’

‘And how do you get on
with Mr and Mrs Wright?’

Maggie looked across at Kathryn, who was smiling at her, somewhat thoughtfully, across the table. The innocent
-
sounding question seemed just a little – well, singular, somehow. The waiter returned with their coffee, poured it respectfully, and offered them
some
cream.

‘Well enough,’ she responded, cagily. ‘The position of governess is always a slightly awkward one, I fear.’

‘Yes,’ said Kathryn, stirring her coffee briskly. ‘I expect it is. You will want to make it as comfortable as possible, I suppose. You will not want to make things any worse.’

Maggie caught her glance for a second
time
and felt compelled to study her cup. The awful thought flashed through her mind that Mrs Berkeley might suspect 
her involvement with William
.

‘What do you mean
, Mrs Berkeley
?’ she asked her
, cautiously
. Kathryn was still looking at her.
She found it quite unnerving
.

Kathryn hesitated for a moment.

‘I just wanted to be a friend to you, Miss
Owens
,’ she said, eventually
.
‘
I know that you feel quite alone here in Weymouth, despite living in
that large household of yours, and I fear that y
ou find yourself in a somewhat indelicate situation.
I wanted – I hope you do not take this the wrong way – I really do not wish to offend you at all – I just wanted to remind you that you are not alone and that God will watch over you and ensure
that
you are
safe
.’

‘And why ever do you feel a need to do that?’

Kathryn blushed.

‘You are telling me to mind my own business,’ she said. ‘I suppose you have every right to do so. It’s just – well – I daresay you are not familiar with my own history, Miss
Owens
. I made
a
big mistake when I was younger that it is no exaggeration to say very nearly cost me my life. I can see that you are in danger of making a
major
mistake
of your
own. I just wanted to point it out to you, that is all.’

‘A mistake? What mistake?’

‘You are mistaken in thinking that Mr Wright is in love with you. Y
ou do think that, do you not?’
Here Maggie blanc
h
ed just a little. Kathryn apparently saw this, as she felt emboldened to carry on. ‘And indeed, I can well see how you would think so. He
receives precious little attention from
his wife, I can tell
, and he is not the sort of gentleman to live without attention for
very
long.
I can see how his eyes follow you around the room.
They follow you all the time. I have seen it many times and I have seen that you are not immune to them.
It is quite intoxicating for a young lady to know she has s
o marked an effect upon a
gentle
man.
Indeed,
I expect that h
e has probably tried to make love to you
, has he not?
It would not surprise me in the least. And as for you – you are lonely and isolated and ready to be loved by any handsome gentleman who should happen to pay you
some
attention. You are grateful for his looks – they flatter you. You revel in the importance they give you in your own eyes. You think yourself in love with him just as you think him in love with you. But please, Miss
Owens
, do not be misled. You are not in love with him and he is not in love with you. Far from it. And even if you were, it would be entirely wr
ong for you to accept his attentions
.
Your feelings you cannot help, though you may not fully understand them at times. But your behaviour you can. Do not make the mistake of allowing yourself to get sucked in by his charms. Even without the moral reasons, which I shall not insult you by mentioning, the practical consequences are simply too awful to contemplate. Should Mrs Wright find out – should she ever even suspect that such an affair was going on under her own roof – well, you can no doubt imagine the ramifications of that. You cannot rely upon
Mr Wright
to do the right thing. You would be thrown out without
ceremony
, without even a ‘character’ to set you on your way.
I am sure that you do not wish for that.
’

Maggie was feeling extremely uncomfortable. She had never even
suspected that anyone should p
e
r
ceive her situation in the way that Mrs Berkeley obviously had. She was also feeling perfectly chagrined.
Who was this woman to tell her what to do?
She was the most annoyingly
self
satisfied woman in the universe.
She had probably never been within a hundred yards of temptation
in her life before
. What could she possibly know about the longing, the desire,
the desperate attraction
that she – Maggie – was feeling for
Mr Wright
?