An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) (26 page)

Maggie shot an anxious glance at her companion, who had determinedly dragged his gaze away and was attempting to cast her a reassuring smile, though she could see that the smile was
somewhat
insincere
.

‘I think I have suggested b
...
before that we have b
...
both b
een destined to love unwisely,
Miss Owens,’ he
sighed, regretfully. ‘I do wonder at m
...
myself –
m...milking the pigeon
-
thinking for one mo
...
moment that a lady as lovely as M
...
Miss B
...
Brewer would look kindly on
a blundering
beetle
-
head
like m
...
me. How could I even
imagine that she
...
.’

Maggie could feel his agitation. It seemed to infect her as well.

‘Well, in my mind the lady is much more a fool than ever you will be, Mr Staveley,’ she
broke in,
stoutly. ‘To prefer
gloss and swagger to honest love and a true heart – well – I know you will not like me saying this, Mr Staveley, but, really a
nd truly, she is not worthy by
half of you. She is not worth thinking of at all.’

Maggie was not quite sure how she had allowed herself to speak in so direct a manner
,
and as soon as she had said it she was worried that she had said far too much. She glanced at him, a little nervously.

‘You are too kind, M
...
Miss Owens. I know you
mean well b
...
but I think you
may be m
...
mistaken ab
...
about M
...
Miss B
...
Brewer’s character. I am sure that she cannot be quit
e as – quite as shallow as you
make her out to b
...
be. She can b
...
be most thoughtful at times.’

Maggie thought it best not to argue the point, so she simply inclined her head a little and looked out once more into the darkness of the sea.
She would like to have reassured Mr Staveley that her own heart, at any rate, was quite secure from the charms of
Mr Wright
– that his gentle warning to her had been welcomed and heeded – but she felt that the moment was not quite right – that the moment was all about Mr Staveley and his own disappointments
and not about her at all
– so she resisted the temptation and focused on his needs instead of
on
her own.

‘Well, I hope things turn out well for you –
you deserve a piece of luck
, Mr Staveley,’ she said, realising, regretfully, that they were approaching Grosvenor Place
once more
. ‘And that your journey to London goes without too much
unpleasantness
in the morning
. But thank
you so much for a splendid evening out. I have not enjoyed myself
so much
for a lifetime
. I shall remember it with pleasure for a very long time to come.’

She smiled
into his eyes
as she said this and allowed him to open the front door for her.
She had realised that she was just as reluctant as he was to see him go away.

‘I’
m so glad you enjoyed it. I have very m
...
much enjoyed it
all
m
...
myself.’

‘Well, you have to hand it to Miss Brewer – she is certainly a determined young lady and always gets what she
sets her sights
on in the end.’

Mr Berkeley had just informed his wife that
her observations at
the assembly had been quite correc
t, as usual, and that
Mr Rowley
-
Jones had
finally
submitted to the inevitable and acquired Miss Brewer’s
gracious
promise to become his
affianced wife
.
Andrew
had relieved Annie, her maid, for the rest of the evening and was busily engaged in brushing out
Kathryn’s
hair.

His wife
eyed him ruefully in the mirror.

‘I know she does. I’
m only relieved that she
set
her sights
on
broader horizons than you
,
when you were foolish enough to get yourself e
ntrapped
by
her
fascinating
little
ways
.’

‘I wouldn’t call Mr Rowley
-
Jones broader than myself, Kathy. If anything he’s a little more athletically built than I am. But in terms of income – and what she might plan to do with it – I would have to agree that he’d have run rings around me at the time. And thank goodness he could. I shudder even now at the thought of how close I got to losing you. Thank God I invested when I did – before she got access to the money. I wish Mr Rowley
-
Jones joy. I
somehow
doubt she’ll prove a tractable young
wife
.’

Kathryn silently agreed.

‘But what of poor Mr Staveley?’ she asked him. ‘Whatever will he do when he finds
out that
she has
simply
been leading him a dance
?’

‘I doubt he’ll be delighted, that’s for sure – although maybe he
’
ll
realise the error of his ways at some time
– as I myself
quickly
came to do. I must say that I thought the whole thing a little odd. Sophie Brewer is a sharp young thing. Even with his inheritance Mr Staveley cannot be worth more than a couple o
r three
hundred a year and
s
he could surely not rely on prize money to bring it up to
what she would see as a reasonable
competence
. I did wonder
for a
moment
whether
perhaps
she was truly attracted to him, though I thought it most unlikely. He’s not exactly – well, suave and sophisticated, is he?’

‘Not l
ike you, you mean, Andrew?’ smiling. ‘No, he is not – although I personally consider him to be much the better deal of the two. I always think there is something of you about him. Not in looks or anything (despite
you both being quite
generous in build
) – just – well, I don’t know. He just seems very kind and caring, that
’
s all.’

Maggie, learn
ing the
same
news from an overheard conversation between
Mr and Mrs Wright the next morning
, received i
t with feelings
which
very much
coincid
ed
with
those of
the
Berkeley
s
. She, too,
felt a
good deal
of sympathy for
Mr Staveley
. After all, he was a kind young man. He had suffered some injustice already in his life. He had obviously felt a good deal of affection
for
Miss Brewer, whether she was deserving of it or not
, and
,
as far as Maggie
knew
,
she
had certainly given him no consistent
indication that his attentions
to her
were
unwelcome
. He had left for Town reluctantly but
from
a strong sense of duty. And while he was away the object of his regard had
shown her hand at last and
achieved the outcome
which Maggie
, remembering their overheard conversation in the Berkeleys’ shrubbery that time,
now suspected had been a long time in gestation. Poor Mr Staveley. Maggie didn’t like
to think how he would receive the news.
She certainly didn’t want to think of him hearing the news from Mr or Mrs Wri
ght, without any
warn
ing
beforehand
. Of course, it was always possible that he might see an announcement in a newspaper somewhere – or that
perhaps
Captain Wright
m
ight learn of it in a letter from his wife, and happen to mention it to him
. But there was no guarantee
of
either of these
things
occurring
. And in the meantime, there he was in London, trying to secure a ship, whilst wishing all the time that he might be here in Weymouth
,
with the fascinating object of his a
dmiration nestled closely
by his side.
Maggie frowned
as she
mounted the stairs to the schoolroom. Perhaps Mrs Staveley might be in correspondence with her son? Maggi
e wasn’t sure
. Nor was she sure
exactly how much t
he
old lady
had known of Freddy’s attachment –
but
she was his mother, after all, and mothers often h
ave a second sense for that sort of thing.
Perhaps when she next visited her she might just drop
her
a hint
about it. For
Mr Stave
ley would
most
certainly
need
to be informed
.

So Maggie received the news with a good deal of sympathy for Mr Staveley, a symp
a
thy which she felt was genuine, and deep. But she also received the news with some
different feelings which related much more directly to herself.
For while she felt sorry for him and wished that he might not feel too hurt she also discovered that she had received the news of Miss Brewer’s engagement with what felt suspiciously like – well, joy.
Th
is
joy, she found, stemmed from two rather different sensations. The first – of purely altruistic origins – reflected the reactions of Mr and Mr
s Berkeley
.
Just as Mr and Mrs Berkeley had done, she
could only consider that
the
young
gentleman
ha
d actually had a lucky escape through
Miss Brewer’s defection
to Mr Rowley
-
Jones.
She felt that, although he may not recognise it for quite some time, Mr Staveley had nevertheless been provided with a most fortu
itous
deliverance from a potentially
disastrous
marriage
-
a marriage which could only h
ave resulted in disappointment
on both sides and, probably, a lifetime of debt and despair. The second
sensation
, though, was somewhat different. The second sensation was much more personal, much more intriguing and much more exciting than anything else
-
a novel thought which she was more than a little astonished to discover
lurk
i
ng
secretly
in her mind.
For Maggie suddenly re
cognised
that the feeling of joy that was just then coursing through her veins stemmed from
a totally unexpected
realisation
. It was the realisation
that
, now that
Miss Brewer was
entirely out of his reach
,
he should finally have to accept what his common sense had been telling him all along and abandon his romantic dreams
of making her his bride
-
that in time a
n affectionate
gentleman like
Mr Staveley must
most certainly grow to
love
again –
and the realisation that
it was she
, Maggie,
who
w
as ideally placed to reciprocate
that
love
.

As it turned out, Maggi
e was prevented from immediatel
y
visiting
Mrs Staveley
as she had planned to do
. S
he
herself
was fully engaged over the next two evenings
,
and on the third evening
it
so happened
that
it was
Mrs Staveley
who
was engaged,
as
Mr Robertson, her curate friend, ha
d
previously
promis
ed to see her whilst he himself was in town
. On the first evening
Maggie
had agreed to entertain some acquaintance of Mrs William on the pianoforte – Mrs William having determined that she might capitalise on the excellence of her execution without any
actual
exertion or expense of her own, and Maggie being more than happy just to indulge in one of her favourite activities – and, particularly, one of the activities which she had so enjoyed sharing with Freddy – in return.
She thought about
him as she ran through the
ir much
-
loved pieces
, and smiled
rather
unbelievingly to herself.
How strange life could be at times. What odd and totally unexpected largesse it could throw at people – largesse that came when
ever
and how
ever
they were least prepared for it. How little people
actually
knew about themselves, be they ever so wise. For her – Maggie Owens – to fall for Mr Staveley. The gauche, bear
-
like Frederick Staveley. The thoughtful, sympathetic, loving, lovable, adorable Mr Staveley. She sho
ok her head and laughed
wryly at herself
and executed her piece with
a great deal of
gusto
. He had become so important to her – so important to her happiness – totally without her noticing it. And ye
t, surely that was so like him
-
i
t was just like him to catch one unawares
like that
. He was
modest,
unassuming, unremarkable in many ways and yet – yet, there was such a spark to him, such a depth of humanity and sens
itive understanding. How could
he not have
become important to her
? She really didn’t know.