Read Online An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) by Lizzie Church - Free Book Online Page B

. A ccording to her loving mama she was destined to blossom into a maste rful harpist as she grew up , an instrument o n which Maggie sadly had no exper tise whatsoever . A master had therefore most reluctantly been sourced from amongst the best that Weymouth society had to offer , albeit at a gratifyingly reduced fee in recognition of the testimonials that Mrs William had so kindly hinted that she might be prepared to provide amongst her extremely wide and genteel acquaintance throughout the rest of the town in return . Maggie was just returning to resume her own work in the schoolroom when s he passed Mrs Wright in the hall.
    ‘Oh, Miss Owens.’
    Mrs Wright had just been reassuring Mrs Staveley about something or other when she spotted Maggie behind her, in the mirror.
    ‘Miss Owens, I believe I left my green reticule in Aunt Staveley’s room this morning when I went in to suggest that she accompany me on my visit today. Would you be so kind as to fetch it for me? I need to await the appearance of the chair . I think you will find it on the small stool by the door.’
    Maggie was a little taken aback. She was not often accosted by Mrs Wright and she was not normally expected to run errands for the family. However, knowing that it was the housemaid’s afternoon off that day and thinking that the other servants may be busy on other things she happily agreed to do so and ran up the two flights to Mrs Staveley’s room in order to effect the commission. She opened the door a little nervously. She had never had cause to visit Mrs Staveley’s room before and it felt a bit like forbidden territory. However, she knew that the lady herself was already downstairs and had presumably granted permission for the reticule to be sought, so she slipped into the room and looked about for the stool that Mrs Wright had described to her. The stool was there all right, just as the lady had intimat ed, but there was no sign of a reticule, green or otherwise. Maggie looked quickly about the rest of the room. Everything was neat and tidy. There was nothing out of place. There was certainly no stray reticule. A little puzzled, Maggie left the room and made her w ay back down to the hall .
    ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Wright, I could not see the reticule in Mrs Staveley’s room at all. Are you sure you left it there?’
    Mrs Wright hardly looked at her.
    ‘Oh, not to worry , Miss Owens – I have found it here after all. I thought I had left it there but obviously I had not.’
    A little annoyed that her employer had not even the manners to thank her for her effort, Maggie left her to her own devices and resumed her original mission back to the sanctuary of the schoolroom.
    Although she generally taught – or attempted to teach – the twins throughout the day, that particular afternoon was turning out to be somewhat different from usual. Will had been excused the schoolroom for once , having caught some nasty infection from another child of his acquaintance on a brief visit to him earlier in the week, and with Augusta safely ensconced with Mr Hayward Maggie actually found that she had an unexpected and very welcome hour all to herself. The feeling of perfect freedom was delicious , and though she had half planned to spend the time in preparation for some further lessons she managed to convince herself of the absolute ne cessity of purchasing some extra materials with which to embellish them. The decision reached, the choice of supplier was easily made. As well as serving its main function of lending books to the literate Weymouth public Harvey’s library, a five minute walk along the Esplanade, also stocked all nature of interesting treats and trinkets . Together with the added attraction of providing a pleasant walk along the busy sea - front it was the obvious place to go.
    Maggie quickly donned her spencer and a ne a t little small - brimmed bonnet and, parasol at the ready, slipped out of the heavy front door and into some glorious August