An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) (14 page)

‘Quickly,’ whispered William. ‘Slip between those bushes there. I will walk towards them on my own.’

There was not a moment to lose. The footsteps were getting ever closer. Indeed, their owner should no doubt
have seen them already had it
not been for a lucky bend in the path, which still hid each party from view. Maggie pushed herself between the bushes that William had indicated and held her breath.

‘Ah, there you are, my dear,’ she could hear him say cheerily. ‘I had thought you had come this way and was trying to find you – but I see
that
I was mistaken.’

Maggie could
then
hear the ponderous articulation of Mrs William. It was stemming from a spot not three yards
away
from her
.

‘And why on
earth
would you think that I had come along
here
, William?’

It was not an unreasonable question, but
one that
William was more than capable of
parrying
.

‘
But you
are
come along it, my love. Do I not see you with my own eyes?’

From her vantage point within the shrubs Maggie
thought this an extremely impressive response. She would like to have giggled but she
could just detect the portly form of Mrs William
through the leaves
, luckily angled slightly away from her but still looking curiously menacing for all that
, and desisted
. Indeed, for one awful moment it appe
ared that her gentle employer
was looking round, trying to detect whether
there was
something
else – or someone
else
-
w
ho was
in
the
shrubbery
and
w
ho
really
should not
have been
in
there
with William
at all
.

‘But I am only here because I saw you come this way. I thought that
awful
governess was with you.’

‘Miss Owens? Why, yes, I think she did follow me
in
for just a second – her shoe had become undone and she wanted to fasten it away from prying eyes
, I believe
.
She only followed for a yard or two – until she could be certain that no
-
one else would see. I just carried on along here. She must have found an alternative way out. There are plenty of pathways in this shrubbery after all.’

Maggie could see that Mrs William was not totally convinced but, her husband treating her to a similar display of affection to the one he had just shown her, she apparently decided to giv
e him the benefit of the doubt
and put her suspicions behind her
. G
iggling like
a young girl,
she
hit him soundly on the buttocks, called him not to be so stupid, and exited the shrubbery with him, arm in arm together.

Considering the traffic attracted
to it
that afternoon
it is probably fortunate that
Mrs B
erkeley’s
shrubbery
was as extensive as it was
. F
or no sooner
had Mr and Mrs Wright
disappeared from Maggie’s view and she was just beginning to wonder whether it would be safe for her to exit her hiding place than another set of footsteps
became
apparent and she was obliged to remain secreted
there
for a few moments more.

This time the footsteps belonged to two people. One of the people was known to her, for they heralded the dainty form of Miss Brewer, tripping along fairy
-
like in her soft kid slippers
and almost sheer
, white
muslin gown
. The other was not known to her at all, though
she recognised in him the driver of the curricle that had recently
come to a standstill
on the drive, and
he was apparently
more than
well known to Miss Brewer.

‘No, no, Augustus,’ she was lisping, ‘it was ’05, I swear, as I had only come out of school the previous summer and become betrothed to Berkeley a few weeks before I met you.’

The gentleman she was talking to gave a hearty laugh.

‘Well,
how ever many years it
is
it’s a monstrous long time
, Miss Brewer.
I had expected to find you married and with children by now. Yet here you are, exactly the same, and looking
even
more beautiful and provocative than ever
. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw you at the ball
.’

At this point Miss Brewer apparently bestowed a pout upon her companion, for he laughed again, rewarded the pout with a careless kiss of his own, and placed his arm around her waist as they continued their ramble along the path.

In spite of her own near miss, Maggie was finding her role as hidden spy
a most entertaining one
. She remained in her hideout for a few minutes more, allowing herself the idle luxury of wondering who else might stumble along the same way to provide her with
some amuse
ment
, but then decided that she may well be missed were she to remain at her post for the rest of the afternoon. So she made up her mind to move, pushed her way back through the heavy branches, and set off down the path in the direction from which she had come. Well, this
at least
was her intention. In fact, it did not prove
quite
possible for her to set off down the path, for no sooner had she extricated herself from the bushes than she found that she was being held back by a treacherous branch from that same hideout, which had somehow managed to attach itself to the rear of her gown and was threatening to rip it quite to shreds should she have the
temerity to continue on her way.

It should have proved quite straightforward to extricate a piece of branch from a gown but for some reason Mag
gie
found that she
was quite unable to do so.
She looked behind herself and sighed deeply.
It was apparent that her hideout had also been the chosen home of some low
-
hanging brambles and it was their spiky tendrils that
were holding
her in their
viciously
tenacious grip.
Indeed, s
o determined were they to retain her where she was that n
o sooner di
d she loosen one fragment than another piece grasped her in its stead.
She looked again and groaned.
Of all the bad luck. Why did these things always seem to happen to her?

She was still wondering this when yet another set of footsteps could be detected, coming along the self same path
way
as before. This time the steps were heavy and ponderous. They belonged to Mr Staveley, who was luckily on his own. He did not immediately see
Maggie as she struggled before him, but when he did so he stopped short and looked at her, puzzled, for a while.

‘Whatever are you doing, M
...
M
iss Owens?’ he asked eventually, stepping forward once again.

Maggie sighed and looked him in the eye.

‘I was examining this shrub here and have become entangled in the brambles,’ she replied.
‘I don’t suppose you could help me out, could you?’

Mr Staveley agreed that he probably could and proceeded to demonstrate the fact by deftly releasing the offending tendril
from her garment
and stabbing himself in the neck
with it
.

‘I
don’t suppose that you saw M
...
Miss B
...
Brewer c
oming along this way, did you,
Miss Owens?’ he asked her as they
finally managed to break
themselves free of the pernicious thorn
s. They set off back along the pathway together, as being the best thing to do just then.

Maggie was a little uncertain as to whether to admit to having seen Miss Brewer, as Miss Brewer had certainly not seen her. Luckily, just as she was about to issue a denial they happened to pass by the en
trance to
another small pathway
, leading of
f to quite another part of the shrubbery
.

‘I think I happened to see her walking along there, Mr Staveley,’ she said quickly,
gesturing vaguely towards it
.

‘And was she
...
was she
entirely
on her own?’

Maggie caught the anxiety in his question and for a fleeting moment she felt quite sorry for him.

‘I’m not
quite sure, Mr Staveley, though I have a feeling that she
may not have been entirely on her own
. I hardly saw her, really. These pathways are extremely winding. A person soon gets
quite
out of sight
along them
.’

Mr Staveley hesitated for a second. Maggie thought
that
she should take pity on him.

‘I was wondering whether you might be good enough to find me some refreshment?’ she suggested. ‘It is exceedingly hot, is it not
?
-
and
I
find that I
am develop
ing a slight headache.
I would
really
welcome a glass of lemonade.’

Mr Staveley roused himself.

‘Of course I shall, M
...
Miss Owens,’ he assured her. He seemed only too happy to be wanted. ‘P
...
please – take my arm and I will fi
nd you some in a
moment.’

The lemonade found, Mr Staveley gallantly provided Maggie with a seat at one of the little tables which were scattered about the
terrace
, and opened up its sunshade
for her
.
Maggie sipped her drink
and looked about her. Some guests were practising their new
-
found skills on the lawn. Others were gossiping in idle groups in the shade of the tropical trees. She wondered where Mr and Mrs Wright had disappeared to and whether Mr Wright might seek her out again.

Suddenly recall
ing that she was not on her own, however, she remembered her manners and
decided to
ma
k
e an effort to engage her new companion in some conversation for a while.

‘You were hoping to catch Miss Brewer on her own
, Mr Staveley
?’ she asked him, indicating that he was welcome to take a seat if he wished
to do so
. He sat down next to her
at the table
.

‘
Is it so ob
...
obvious?’

Maggie smiled
and accepted some
of the
little pastries that the servants were bringing round
.

‘Well, she is a very pretty lady and is good enough to allow you to escort her whilst you are in town. It would be only natural for you to – well – yes, wish to catch her on her own.’

Freddy looked at her a little glumly.

‘I had hoped that she m
...
might want m
...
me to,
Miss Owens,’ he admitted, looking sheepish. ‘She can be quite encouraging at times. B
...
but then, at other times
, it i
s
almost as if I do not exist. She is so love
ly. I wish she would not tease
me as she does.’

‘Yes, it does not seem quite kind,’ agreed Maggie. ‘Perhaps she does not know that she
does
it.’

Mr Staveley nodded his head, though he did not look entirely convinced.

‘Well, I can only do m
...
my b
...
best to win her,’ he muttered, as if to himself. ‘Per
...
perhaps if she sees that I am genuine she m
...
may look on me m
...
more kindly after a while.’

‘Perhaps she will, Mr Staveley. You cannot be blamed for trying, that’s for sure.’

It was as they were both musing aft
er this little exchange
that
Maggie became aware of
the sound
of crunching wheels
once
again
. She peered
down
the
terrace
. The smart curricle that she had seen arri
ving
so flamboyantly not so very long ago
was
already
being
reins
tated on the driveway
. She watched idly for a moment as the tiger
halted the h
orses and ran
to hold their
heads. A seco
nd later she saw the white
muslin
gown and dainty form of Miss Brewer emerg
ing
fro
m the saloon
in the company of
the young man whom Maggie immediately
recognise
d
as
the fortunate recipient of
Miss Brewer’s earlier attenti
on
s
. The young man handed her
elegantly
up into the carriage, took his own place in the driver’s seat, whipped the horses
on
and instantly sped off
noisily
down the drive.
Mr Staveley, too, had seen the somewhat abrupt departure. Maggie could see that he was looking rather low.