“No. I prefer the pristine lakes near my country estate. I’ll watch the fun from here.”
She smiled at him, thinking he found the whole notion unbecoming, which it probably was. Regardless, there had been some handsome bachelors at the picnic and now they were heading into the sea, so she would do the same. Moreover, from what she understood, the men often wore nothing at all when they climbed down the ladder-rung steps on the other side of the bathing machine, facing the ocean and God.
“Shall I put your reticule in my pocket so it doesn’t come to any misfortune?”
“Thank you.” After handing it to him, she moved closer to those waiting their turn, knowing the Prince Regent had paid for all his guests. If she waited and came on her own, it would cost her one shilling and six pence by the half hour.
In a very few minutes, she had entered through the front door of the bathing machine and a horse had drawn her into the water before turning to face the beach, at which time, it had been quickly unharnessed. The dipper who’d accompanied her stepped out the back, a middle-aged woman with arms like tree limbs.
“I’ll be right here waiting, miss.” And then she closed the door.
With only the smallest cut-out square at the top to let light in, Glynnis removed her clothing as swiftly as possible and put it all in the bag they said was oilskin and, thus, waterproof. She put it upon the high shelf for safe-keeping along with her shoes and her hat and took down the folded bathing garment.
Shaking out an ugly dun-colored felt gown, she draped it over her head, tugged it into place before tying it in the front at her neck. With long sleeves and the hem falling to her ankles, she felt sufficiently concealed for her adventure. Then she dragged the bathing hat over her hair, which was already up in a twist.
Opening the door, Glynnis saw so many from the picnic already splashing about. Some were able to swim, most simply stood in the thigh-high water. Some, like her, had a dipper to hold her arm and keep her upright.
“It’s most exciting,” she said. “This is my first time bathing in the sea.”
“You’ll love it, miss,” her sturdy dipper said, assisting her down the steps. “But you’redipping. The men arebathing.”
“I didn’t realize there was a difference.”
The woman laughed. “No, miss, there’s none at all.”
When her toes touched the cool water, Glynnis almost lost her nerve. Since her bathing machine was at the end of the line of them, she could peer around it and still see Hargrove on the beach. He was chatting with another couple who also appeared to have no interest in the restorative water.
“Come along, miss,” her dipper beckoned. “It only feels cold at first, and then it’ll be fine.”
With the woman holding her arm, Glynnis climbed down the rungs that disappeared under the water until she could step off onto the ocean floor. It was a little sandier than the shore, but still mainly pebbles.
“Sink right down,” her dipper insisted as one of the other ladies splashed water in her direction. When it hit her sun-drenched cheeks, the sea felt like ice.
“Maybe just for a moment,” Glynnis said. “I didn’t expect it to be so bracing.”
The dipper only laughed. “Good for you. Not merely bracing, but refreshing.”
With that, she tugged Glynnis down so quickly, her feet went out from under her and before her bottom hit the pebbles, her head went under.
Stupidly she gasped, got a mouthful of foul seawater, as bad as the mineral water she’d tasted in Bath with Aunt Mim, and came up spluttering.
“There,” her dipper said, while Glynnis struggled to void the ocean from her lungs and catch her breath, “I bet you feel warmer now.”
She glared at the woman. When she finished coughing, she stood up again, but pulled her hand out of the dipper’s reach.
“I think I’ll remain here a minute and take it all in, and then I’ll be done. I don’t need your services any longer, thank you. I don’t intend to swim.”
The woman looked disappointed, but Glynnis didn’t care. There must be some other person the dipper could try to drown.
“Isn’t this fun?” said another of the guests from the picnic, and since it was the only time the lady had spoken to Glynnis, she hastened to answer.
“Indeed. Is it your first dip in the sea, too?” she asked her, noting with envy the other lady’s pretty cream-colored bathing dress.
“Of course not,” the lady gloated. “I come to Brighton to swim with the Prince Regent nearly every year.” And then she stared hard at Glynnis’s unsightly bathing gown before turning away.
Nearby, another lady floated on her back. It looked easy, but when Glynnis tried, she sank and again coughed up seawater. Suddenly, a man appeared beside her. Not exactly Poseidon in stature and dressed in a gown as ugly as hers, but still he had good breadth to his shoulders underneath the felt. Glynnis couldn’t help staring since being close under these circumstances seemed so improper.
“Are you well?” he asked.
