Free An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) by Lizzie Church

sunshine outside . She blinked in the unaccustomed brightness and sniffed the sea air appreciatively . The greatness of the outdoors, with the clear blue of the sky and the vast twinkling sea across the road, provided a stark and instant contrast to the dingy closeness of the world in Grosvenor Place . It was just like escaping a prison and she suddenly felt a great surge of happiness and freedom as she stepped lightly down the road way . At one point she crossed over and stood for a moment, staring out to sea, watching the children as they played happily together on the broad sandy beach and eyeing up the curious octagonal bathing machines which stood idly along its edge , their work apparently over for the day .
    It was as she was standing there, lost in herself for a moment, that she suddenly became aware of a movement next to her and the touch of a hand upon her arm. She looked round and her eyes were immediately confronted by the eyes of Mr Wright looking smilingly at her and, next to him, those of Mr Staveley doing exactly the self same thing.
    Mr Wright ’s face crinkled a little .
    ‘A pleasant surprise , Miss Owens.’
    It appeared that the two gentlemen had been drinking.
    Maggie bobbed a little curtsy in their direction.
    ‘I find myself at leisure for a few minutes, Mr Wright. I am come to Harvey’s in order to buy some provisions.’
    ‘Ha – then you must come along with us,’ said Mr Wright , boldly . ‘Mr Staveley and I were just about to take a look through the telescope there . Mr Staveley is hoping to identify the ships in th e bay,’ here Mr Wright gestured vaguely in the direction of the far horizon on which, just visible, Maggie could see a number of indeterminate small dots which could, indeed, have been ships. ‘Have you looked through the telescope, Miss Owens? It is much to be recommended, I can assure you.’
    Maggie acknowledged that she had never had the pleasure of looking through the telescope, which was apparently housed on an upper floor of the library, and in another minute she found herself being taken by the arm , propelled into Harvey’s and directed immediately up the stairs.
    ‘Here,’ Mr Wright was saying, finding a vacant position in a corner a nd guiding her towards it . ‘Allow me to set it up for you, Miss Owens.’
    William fiddled about with the telescope for a moment, although, perhaps due to the slight ly intoxicated state of his brain just then, he did not appear to be having much effect. It was probably fortunate, therefore, that Mr Staveley – although demonstrating a similar level of incapacity to that of his cousin – was a good deal more familiar with the workings of a telescope than his co mpanion was. Whilst William indulged himself – and, to be fair, Maggie as well – by ensuring that she was in just the position to see through the lens – a situation which required her to stoop a little in order to achieve a proper view - Mr Staveley obliged her by taking her commentary and undertaking the task of focus ing it on her behalf . As he did so Maggie became aware that Mr Wright had taken the opportunity provided by his close proximity to allow his hand to discover her bottom, where it was now in the process of a surreptitious exploration which involved  a lingering appraisal of its curves.
    Now Maggie well knew that, fuddled or not, it was not at all proper for her employer to be investigating her person in quite so familiar a manner . She similarly knew that, as a young lady of respectable upbringing and impeccable credentials, she should immediately stand herself up right , remove herself from the vicinity and even, perhaps, slap the gentleman in the face for his trouble. She knew all of this very well. But she also knew that – well, that she was enjoying the sensation that William’s touch was eliciting, that she was enjoying the knowledge that she was attractive to him – and that she was finding it singularly difficult to tear herself away.
    She