An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) (3 page)

These thoughts were still in her mind when she
suddenly
became aware that she was being approached by Mrs Berkeley, who had apparently noticed her sitting
alone and
slightly apart from the others
,
and determined on remedying the
situat
ion
at once
.

‘
And you must be the governess
-
Miss
Owens
?’ she asked,
looking down at her
with a shy little smile
. She surprised Maggie by
speaking with
a very slight Dorset lilt. It sounded quite appealing.
‘
May I impose upon you for a few minutes
?
I expect that you know very few of us well enough to feel perfectly at ease
here
.
I understand that the situation you find yourself
in is unenviable at the best of times. It seems a pity to make it even worse by leaving you entirely on your own.’

Maggie
wasn’t quite sure whether she ought to stand up and bob Mrs Berkeley a curtsy. She was rather unused to anyone of quality taking anything but a str
ictly professional interest in
her and Mrs Berkeley, she could tell, was definitely ‘quality’. However, Mrs Berkeley appeared to expect nothing of the sort and,
Maggie
having inclined her head a fraction in response,
she
sat herself down
comfortably
next to her and
proceeded to
accompan
y
her in her cool appraisal of their companions as they played out their roles within the room.

‘
I always find
it most illuminating to observe the interactions in a room,’ remarked
Mrs Berkeley, quietly
. ‘One can learn so much by seeing who sits where, who talks to whom and whom they are looking at whilst they do so. And you, like me, have t
he advantage of observing it
with a stranger’s impartial eye.
I wonder whether you are noticing the same sort of things as I am,
Miss Owens?
Y
ou
have not long
worked in the household,
I understand
?’

‘No
, no
t very long – a few months only,
ma’am
. The first governess did not last
many weeks
, apparently, and it took several months before Mr and Mrs Wright
were able to
employ
a new one
.’

Mrs Berkeley eyed her narrowly for a moment.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, I see. The youngsters are certainly a
handful
, that’s for sure, and I cannot imagine that their parents offer you
a great deal of
support.’

Maggie
was taken aback. It appeared that Mrs Berkeley had
ascertained
her
disagreeable
position
in the household
immediately.

‘You
will not
yet
have ch
ildren of your own
I expect
?’

Mrs Berkeley smiled.

‘We do indeed – three of them
, at present, and another expected in the autumn
. They are lively enough, I hope – their papa makes sure of that – although they are
quite
able to behave appropriately when required to do so – well, for most of the time at any rate,’ with another smile. ‘
Our little daughter, Kate,
is much of an age with
Perry –
s
he will be five
in March. Then there is
Rob
, who is three, and
our darling
Andy
, who is just eighteen months old. They bring us so much joy. Their papa is forever playing with them.’

Maggie
was somewhat taken aback that her confiden
ce in the recency of
Mr and Mrs Berkeley’s
marriage
should be
so
entirely
misplaced
.
A daughter aged four! Why, so they must have been married these five years or more. She could hardly believe it.
She
followed Mrs Berkeley’s eyes to where Mr Berkeley was talking and laughing
with his brother
-
in
-
law
as they stood together
by the fire
place
.
He was looking elegant and refined in his evening attire, the white cuffs of his shirt showing immaculately
from
beneath the sleeves of his tailcoat as he leaned casually against the mantel, but
there was an air of natural exuberance about him which was most appealing.
She could imagine him enjoying his children. He reminded her of a child himself.

‘You ar
e a fortunate lady, ma’am
,’ she found herself saying. Then, colouring: ‘Oh, pardon me – I’m sorry – that must have sounded
so
impertinent.’

Maggie
was not quite sure what had led her to say this. There was something about Mrs Berkeley that made her instantly
want to say whatever was in her head
.

‘Oh no, not at all,’ returned her companion, smiling. ‘I know how fortunate I am, believe me. I thank the lord every day of my life for all the blessings he ha
s
given us. You would
n
’
t believe just how different things could so easily have been.’

Maggie
immediately
felt that she would like to have known about Mrs Berkeley’s background and why
her words had sounded quite so heartfelt
. But she was equally aware that mos
t ladies in Mrs Berkeley’s posi
tion would have cut her dead for having the impertinence to make so personal a comment so early in their acquaintance
– and she a governess, too. So she coloured again and said nothing.

‘And how do you like Weymouth?’ went on Mrs Berkeley. ‘It is not a place that you have visited before?’

‘No, it is entirely new to me. I am still finding my way around. Not that I have had much chance to do so – the children ke
ep me very busy, you understand
-
I have full charge of the twins throughout the day
-
though
I am beginning to
know the beach quite well. Will
is particularly fond of the Punch and Judy, whilst A
ugusta
will spend hours digging
castles in the sand.’

Maggie could detect t
he faintest
of
shadow
s
cross
ing
Mrs Berkeley’s face as
she
told her
this
-
just a glimmer
-
which disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.

‘Well, perhaps we shall meet up on the beach some time.
Our three
have
a
whale of a time digging and building
upon it
. They must take after their papa. My husband was a landscape engineer before he inherited Belvoir House, you know. My first child, Bob,
had hopes of following him into the profession but unfortunately it was not ordained to be.’

‘I hope that your three can stand up f
or themselves then, ma’am
. I regret that Will, in particular, can become quite bestial at times if he does not get his way, while Augusta will happily make up the wildest stories in order to get
exactly
what she wants
.
They get up to all sorts of mischief, some of which, to be fair, can be quite entertaining in a sinister sort of way. Their welcome to me took the form of a particularly smelly and decomposing toad brought in by the cat, which they deposited within my bed, and I have had several repulsive gifts from them along similar lines since then. They are not great ones for making friends.
Prett
il
y
-
behaved children tend not to last too long with them, I’m afraid. I should hate for yours to find themselves in the firing line if they are not well
able to stand up for themselves
.’

Mrs Berkeley
smiled a little wryly and nodded her head
.

‘Thank you for the warning, Miss Owens,’ she said. ‘I shall make sure that they are not left alone with them, should ever they get the chance.
You must manage them well enough, however. I cannot imagine that Mrs William
would entrust them to anyone in whom she does not have
the utmost
confidence.’

‘Well, it’s
most kind of you to say so,
ma’am
, although I
must say that I’
m not perfectly convinced. My background has not really qualified me for handling two
...
. err
...
. lively six year olds.
I regret that my
attempts to instil the rudiments of the English language into a most reluctant little boy have hitherto been in vain, although Augusta is a little more advanced than Will.
I do like children, however, so I daresay that must help, and until I was
sixteen I had a governess of my own. She was extremely good. I try to model myself upon her.’

‘And what happened when you were sixteen?’

‘Papa decided that I should go to school for a couple of years – he thought that it would be good for me to make some acquaintance there
and
al
though I had gained a number of accomplishments he felt that I was somewhat shy and awkward
in company
.
I daresay he was correct.
He hoped that if I mixed a little more with ladies of my own age I might
develop
some
further
so
cial skills
. Unfortunately, a year later, he went bankrupt and was thrown into the debtors’ prison
in London
. He was a banker, you see, and one of his partners turned out to be corrupt. It br
oke his heart, as you might
imagine. He only lived there for a few weeks and then he died. I like to think t
hat he died of a broken heart
,
although that m
a
y not be strictly true
. I was fortunate, I suppose, as the school was just then looking for an assistant teacher for the younger girls and offered me the post.
So
rather than
completing my own studie
s I ended up teaching the children
there
instead
. It came very hard a
t the time, I must admit
, though I
suppose I should
be grateful
for the work
.’

Mrs Berkeley turned her deep brown eyes on her in ready sympathy.

‘Oh, my goodness, I can see how awful that must have been for you. To lose your papa so suddenly, and to have your own dreams shattered at the same time.
I’m so sorry. It must have been dreadful.
And what of your mama, Miss Owens? How did she cope with all the upset?’

‘Luckily my mother had died several years earlier. She was not put through the torment that my father had to endure. He felt the loss of his livelihood most deeply, as you might imagine – his lovely house, his status – but at least it was a comfort to him, I think, to kn
ow that my mother had not been
put through all that turmoil and shame as well as he.’

‘And so you have had to shift for yourself. You have probably done as well as you could have expected, under the circumstances, even if your career is not
quite what you might
have
chose
n
. But
what led you to leave the teaching work and apply for your current position
with a family
instead?’

‘I am quite
a quiet individual, ma’am
. I found classroom work most wearisome – trying to deal with so many girls all at the same time – it was most difficult. I was hoping, I think, to be able to have – well, perhaps more of an effect upon my pupils –
to
gain more of a sense of achievement through seeing them grow and develop
. But it did not quite work out that way. They learned very little, I fear, for rather than
actually
teaching them, for most of the time I
found that I
was merely
attempting to manage
their
behaviour.
So I thought that I should leave the classroom and work more individually with my pupils – help them to
gain in confidence and understanding
, enable them to learn.
Well, that w
as the intention at any rate,’ with a wry smile
. ‘But now that I am here I am not perfec
tly convinced that
I made the right decision. There doesn
’
t appear to be
anything much to choose
between the two
types of
employment
after all
.’