Read Online An Indelicate Situation (The Weymouth Trilogy) by Lizzie Church - Free Book Online
Authors: Lizzie Church
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like that .’
The assistant gave every sign of having a heart attack when Mrs William named her price.
‘Oh no, madam,’ he said at once. ‘I do beg your pardon but there is no way at all in which I could possibly accept five shillings for it . As you know, it is a fully scaled model. It is not designed as a toy at all. I would normally charge a guinea for it, but as your son likes it so much I am prepared to accept a pound.’
It was now Mrs William’s turn to evinc e all the signs of a heart attack.
‘A pound ?’ she repeated, apparently becoming temporarily deaf into the bargain . ‘A pound you say? Oh no , my good man – I have no inten t ions of paying you a pound . Five shillings is my offer. You may take it or leave it as you wish. Five shillings, and no more, is what I am prepared to pay and that’s my final offer .’
The very nervous assistant took a deep breath an d eyed Mrs William a little warily. He appeared most loath to allow t he boat out of his possession for a fee that would quite obviously result in a whopping loss for him , but he could also see that both Master William and his mama were equally determined to prize it from him and that for the sake of his nervous system he should capitulate now, before it got too late.
‘You’ll ruin me, ma’am, and that’s the truth,’ he admitted, stroking his chin ruefully. ‘But I can see that the little lad has set his heart on the boat and I’m not a hard hearted man. Hand me your five shillings and he can take it away with him right now.’
Will was getting restive. Until now Maggie had held him firmly by the hand, but Mrs William just then passing her own parcel to her to hold once more as she found and parted with her crown , Will seized his opportunity, tore himself from her , pushed his way past the assistant’s thin torso and headed straight for the desired boat in its decorative position at the rear of the extremely cluttered counter.
‘William, come here . Come here this instant , you naughty boy.’
But Will had other ideas. Knocking the other, less desirable, toys from their places in order to reach the prized schooner he grasped it greedily and pulled it from the shelf. A tin soldier clattered noisily to the floor, his comrades - at - arms knocked all ways on the counter like so many pins, obviously quite incap able of withstanding the guerrilla attack so unexpectedly made upon them. A glass stand shattered as it followed its master to the ground. A box full of marbles, foolishly placed in what the assistant had mistakenly thought a place of saf ety, was next to leave its sa n ctuary nearby . By this time Will appeared to be quite enjoying the rumpus his stampede was creating and he now began systematically to clear the remainder of the counter of anything he could reach.
‘William, William, stop that this instant . Miss Owens, put that parcel down and go to stop him. He will destroy the whole shop unless you can get him to the door.’
Maggie tried manfully to catch him but William was determined and a s slippery as an eel and it actually took the combined efforts of herself, the extremely nervous assistant and Mrs William to surround him and trap him in a corner before his rampage was finally over. Sadly, in so doing, William dropped his prize on the floor and Mrs William, pushed off balance by the cramped situation in which she found herself , was quite unable to prevent hersel f from stepping immediately upon it . Yes, Mrs William stepped upon it a nd straight away – to the horror of everyone then assembled in the little shop – she had the anguish of hearing an almighty crack , and of seeing its delicate mast and rigging breaking away entirely under the considerable weight of her regrettably mighty boot .
A sudden hush descended upon the toyshop - a sudden hush which was immediately afterwards destroyed by a loud wail emitted from little Will and an almost equally loud wail emitted from Mrs William as that young
The assistant gave every sign of having a heart attack when Mrs William named her price.
‘Oh no, madam,’ he said at once. ‘I do beg your pardon but there is no way at all in which I could possibly accept five shillings for it . As you know, it is a fully scaled model. It is not designed as a toy at all. I would normally charge a guinea for it, but as your son likes it so much I am prepared to accept a pound.’
It was now Mrs William’s turn to evinc e all the signs of a heart attack.
‘A pound ?’ she repeated, apparently becoming temporarily deaf into the bargain . ‘A pound you say? Oh no , my good man – I have no inten t ions of paying you a pound . Five shillings is my offer. You may take it or leave it as you wish. Five shillings, and no more, is what I am prepared to pay and that’s my final offer .’
The very nervous assistant took a deep breath an d eyed Mrs William a little warily. He appeared most loath to allow t he boat out of his possession for a fee that would quite obviously result in a whopping loss for him , but he could also see that both Master William and his mama were equally determined to prize it from him and that for the sake of his nervous system he should capitulate now, before it got too late.
‘You’ll ruin me, ma’am, and that’s the truth,’ he admitted, stroking his chin ruefully. ‘But I can see that the little lad has set his heart on the boat and I’m not a hard hearted man. Hand me your five shillings and he can take it away with him right now.’
Will was getting restive. Until now Maggie had held him firmly by the hand, but Mrs William just then passing her own parcel to her to hold once more as she found and parted with her crown , Will seized his opportunity, tore himself from her , pushed his way past the assistant’s thin torso and headed straight for the desired boat in its decorative position at the rear of the extremely cluttered counter.
‘William, come here . Come here this instant , you naughty boy.’
But Will had other ideas. Knocking the other, less desirable, toys from their places in order to reach the prized schooner he grasped it greedily and pulled it from the shelf. A tin soldier clattered noisily to the floor, his comrades - at - arms knocked all ways on the counter like so many pins, obviously quite incap able of withstanding the guerrilla attack so unexpectedly made upon them. A glass stand shattered as it followed its master to the ground. A box full of marbles, foolishly placed in what the assistant had mistakenly thought a place of saf ety, was next to leave its sa n ctuary nearby . By this time Will appeared to be quite enjoying the rumpus his stampede was creating and he now began systematically to clear the remainder of the counter of anything he could reach.
‘William, William, stop that this instant . Miss Owens, put that parcel down and go to stop him. He will destroy the whole shop unless you can get him to the door.’
Maggie tried manfully to catch him but William was determined and a s slippery as an eel and it actually took the combined efforts of herself, the extremely nervous assistant and Mrs William to surround him and trap him in a corner before his rampage was finally over. Sadly, in so doing, William dropped his prize on the floor and Mrs William, pushed off balance by the cramped situation in which she found herself , was quite unable to prevent hersel f from stepping immediately upon it . Yes, Mrs William stepped upon it a nd straight away – to the horror of everyone then assembled in the little shop – she had the anguish of hearing an almighty crack , and of seeing its delicate mast and rigging breaking away entirely under the considerable weight of her regrettably mighty boot .
A sudden hush descended upon the toyshop - a sudden hush which was immediately afterwards destroyed by a loud wail emitted from little Will and an almost equally loud wail emitted from Mrs William as that young
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