An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) (37 page)

‘How do you think your mother will fare at your cousin’s house once you have gone
back
to sea, Mr Staveley?’

After their little successes at the bank
Mr Berkeley
was
accompan
ying
Mr Staveley t
o
Captain Wright
’s house, where the two
officers
had agreed to
finalis
e
their arrangements for taking control of their ship.

Mr Staveley looked
across
at him a little glumly.

‘I hardly know, M
...
Mr B
...
Berkeley. It is
something that I a
...
am trying not to think of.
My cousins treat her like a child, I fear, b...but she is terrified of saying anything to offend them.
She is not hap
...
happy
there
even with
me to see her every day. I hate to think of her b
...
being neglected as soon as I have gone away
, b...but the alternatives seem even worse to her
.’

Mr Berkeley nodded.

‘Yes, I thought as much,’ he said. ‘It cannot be very comfortable for her there and you have mentioned before that she longs for some company.’

‘She does indeed. I a
...
am not quite sure what b
...
best to do
about it, though.’

‘Well, perhaps I can help you out, Mr Staveley. It is just a thought – you may not like the idea above half, in which case please feel free to reject it out of hand – but you may not know that I own a number of properties around the Weymouth area. Most of them have been built on t
he reclaimed land over there,’
pointing
down
the river
to where some building work was still in operation
‘but I also own a property just a couple of doors down from my sister’s
over
here.
I had thought that she might like it for herself at one time, should she have a family, but as it
is she is perfectly contented with
her current
one instead. After all, she is here on her own more often than not and it is plenty large enough just for her. So I have recently co
nverted
t
he other one in
to apartments. There is a lady on the top floor who looks after the building, sees to the cooking, the washing and so forth, and a little maid who attends every day to clean the rooms
. T
here are two small apartments on t
he middle floor which have
been recently let
to some very genteel elderly ladies
, and one on the ground floor that has
just
been taken
on
as well
. But there is a very pretty apartment still vacant on the ground floor, overlooking the quay, and I was wondering whether your mother might like to have a look at it and maybe take it off my hands. It is quite small and easily managed – a bedroom, a little parlour, the usual facilities – but, for her, the main advantages might be in its situation here on this side of the river. It doesn
’
t have a sea view, of course, but the quayside
would
provide all sorts of entertainment for her to look at –
boats going in and out,
all the loading and unloading, carriages coming and going – that sort of thing
– and being on the ground floor, of course, she may also find it a little easier to go out
. My sister would happily call on her most days and see that she
’
s
well catered for
, and Mrs Berkeley, I know,
will be pleased to do the same
once
her
confinement is over
. It may be that
Miss Owens
would be prepared to bring Kate along to see her, too
. Indeed, little Kate
loves older people. She
has often bemoaned the lack of a grandmama
. A
friend of hers
is
still
possessed of
one and
she
regales
Kate
with all sorts of stories about all the fun they have together
.
I
feel sure that she
would like to
do the same with your mama
.
As I say – just an idea. I offer it to you to think about and accept or reject, just as you both see fit.’

Mr Staveley and – as soon as she had heard about
all
the
advantages that this particular
apartment had to offer – his mama were both so enamoured of the idea that they
straightway hired a chaise and
returned
in it
to High Street later that very da
y in order to take a look
. And indeed, the apartment was such a pretty one, with such tasteful furnishings and so entertaining a view over the river,
and offered on such exceedingly attractive terms
which were well within reach of even Mrs Staveley’s very limited means
,
that their minds were made up in an instant and Freddy agreed to take it
on
immediately
. The only slight concern – the fact that there was only the one bedroom and hence that there would be no accommodation for Freddy whenever he was not at sea – was quickly overcome by the open offer of a room at Belvoir House
for as often and as long as he should need it
. And so, on the afternoon immediately
preceding
his journey across to Portsmouth
,
Mr Staveley found himself, together with Mr Berkeley, Captain
Wright, George the footman
and Maggie, packing his mother’s things
,
and his own
,
and getting her, and them, across the river to her brand new home
on
the southern side of the
quay.
Mrs Berkeley, too, had wanted desperately to assist the Staveleys with their removal from Grosvenor Place, but her time was so close now and her own discomfort so evident that Mr Berkeley had absolutely refused her the permission to attempt it and sent his sister up to Belvoir House
instead
in order to retain her inside.

Mrs William
had at first been inclined to cavil at the loss of Mrs Staveley’s rent from the family income and, even more,
at
the need to find and return the several hundred pounds which she had previously invested in their property
-
and which more than made up for the losses accrued as a result of
Mr Wright
’s most unwise investment of her
capital
. However,
having been gently reminded
by her sister
-
in
-
law
that she had been let off extremely lightly in terms of her unfounded allegations against M
iss Owens
, probably wisely
she
eventually persuaded
herself
that the genteel thing would be to allow the transaction finally
to
go ahead
, and only made sure that the rent was paid-up for the full month in advance before reclaiming all her furniture from the Staveleys and making herself scarce for the
actual removal itself
.

Maggie had been gratified to be received most affectionately by Freddy’s mama
when they first came across each
other in the
pretty
new apartment
that the old lady would thenceforth be calling her home
.
Maggie
might have been even more gratified had she spotted the look
of satisfaction and approval on
Mrs Staveley’s
face when
she
had
noticed the enjoyment th
at she and Freddy
were getting from working constantly together on the various little tasks that needed to be done, and in their most infectious laughter together whenever they got something wrong.
The work they were doing reminded Mr Berkeley of a popular song. He started to sing it out loud as he worked. Mr
Staveley
quickly joined in
to make it a duet
, and before they knew it everyone in the apartment was singing
along
, too
,
with even Mrs Staveley contributing her thin, wavering warble to the chorus, and with George and Maggie
dancing
surreptitiously
to the rhythm and
thoroughly enjoying the fun
.

It was as they were transporting the final load of the day that
Freddy
spotted a number of
somewhat inept paintings of warships
festooning
one of
the walls
at the far end of
the hall
. He
studied
them
,
bemused
,
for a while.

‘Do you know,
I have never seen
such
a ship
in
m...my life
before
, Miss Owens,
’ he assured Maggie
, drawing her over to him in order to point something out, ‘
and I should certainly never wish to
go
aboard such a thing
m...myself. I cannot imagine how
any rigging such as that could eve
r
b...be thought of as sufficient
for
all
those sails
. Why, they should be down again in a
n instant
as soon as we got her underway.
’

At
the end of a long day Mr
Berkeley retired to Captain and Mrs Wright’s house for some tea and a rest prior to making the steep climb back up the hill to Belvoir. Freddy, perhaps mindful of his long journey on the morrow,
declined his share of the invitation and
, having taken a fond leave of his little mother,
asked Maggie
,
rather shyly,
whether she would
wish to
join them
too
.

He was rewarded for his consideration by a little smile and an assurance that no, if there was something that he would rather do, she was not in need of any
rest
at all.

‘I just wondered whether we m...might wander up to B...Belvoir together?’ he suggested, diffidently. ‘I have a hankering to stand with you and look out to sea. I know not how long it will b...be before I am b...back here again. I would like to rem...remember the two of us together, on our own, on the long days that lie b...before me.’

Maggie was aware of a most pleasurable tingling sensation as he said this, a sensation so powerful that for a moment it
made it difficult for her to formulate her response
.
So she nodded at him instead, took his arm, accompanied him past the brewery in Ope Square and then set off with him at a steady pace up the grassy hillside which led to Belvoir House.

‘You are not looking forward to returning to sea, Mr Staveley?’ she asked eventually, breaking a silence that had threatened to last for the whole of the walk up the hill. ‘You seem just a little – well, down.’

‘I would rather not b...be going,’ he confessed, grinning at her sheepishly. ‘I su...suppose I have quite got used to having m...my time to myself.’

‘Well, perhaps all the activity out at sea will help you to forget Miss Brewer for a while,’ she ventured, a little shyly. ‘After all, once you....’

‘M...Miss B...Brewer?’ he broke in, seemingly somewhat surprised. ‘M...Miss Brewer? I have not been thinking about M...Miss Brewer at all...Why, do you know, M...Miss Owens, now you mention it I find that I have forgot Miss Brewer already. Miss Brewer I thought a dream b...but I think I knew even before I went to London that it would not do – that I was not the sort of gentleman who could win her and m...make her happy. M...Miss Brewer is like a delicate m...moth. She requires the bright lights, p...plenty of diversion, beautiful things around her. I could never provide that – she would never have been satisfied with what I had to give. I did realise that. I realised it a long time ago although I fought it for a while. P...perhaps
the attraction
was as much to do with m...me as it was with M...Miss Brewer, M...Miss Owens. I wanted to believe that I am what I am
not. I wanted to believe in the dream. It has taken m...me some time to work it all out. I am such a
numbskull
at times. B...but now that I have b...been able to do so I do think maybe that what I admired about M...Miss Brewer is – well, perhaps not quite so worthy of too much admiration after all.....’ here he broke off, confused. He had perhaps surprised himself by
his ability to voice
his own
sensations
quite so
free
ly
.