Could she be blaming him for the loss?
“I cannot believe I’ve lost my parasol and my clothes in one day,” she continued.
“At least you didn’t lose your life,” he pointed out.
Suddenly, there was a cry behind them to wait. It was a female dipper. “This was still caught in the bathing machine,” the woman said, and she handed Miss Talbot a sodden mass, on top of which was her ruined bonnet.
James examined it with her. “That’s not your gown, surely.”
“No,” she agreed. “My stays and a chemise. Oh, and a single glove. Hurrah!”
“At least it’s something,” he pointed out.
Showing better sport than he would have imagined, she plonked the bonnet on top of her tangled wet hair.
“Thank you,” she told the dipper before turning away.
“Here now,” the woman added. “I’ll need that bathing dress back. Or you can buy it from me.”
James watched Glynnis halt. Then she looked skyward a moment, collecting herself. Finally, she said, “I assure you I have no interest in buying this fine garment, nor am I stealing it. As soon as I am properly clothed, I will return it to you.”
“Well,” the woman began.
“I shall vouch for her,” James said, trying not to laugh at the ridiculous notion of Miss Talbot wanting to retain the hideous, shapeless frock.
He took her elbow, but they got hardly more than a couple feet farther up the beach when for the second time, she yelped.
“A pebble,” she said, “right under the sole of my foot.”
It seemed to be the straw that broke Miss Talbot’s proverbial camel’s back as she realized yet another loss.
“My shoes,” she moaned, turning tear-filled eyes up to him. “Where are my shoes?”
He glanced back at the dipper.
“Did her shoes wash up?” he asked the woman.
Immediately, she called over her shoulder to one of her associates.
“Did you find this lady’s shoes?”
After a brief hullabaloo, in which the word “shoes” was called up and down the beach, a boy ran over with a single leather slipper.
“Where’s the other one?” Miss Talbot asked.
The boy shrugged. “Dunno, miss. Only seen this one.”
James watched her take it with a shaking hand. Her lips were looking blue again, and she was shivering more fiercely.
“You have other shoes, don’t you?” he asked, thinking it best to get her indoors quickly.
Looking miserable, she nodded. Wordlessly, she handed him the rest of her dripping bundle before she bent over, drew up the gown and slipped on the shoe, giving him a nice view of her slender ankle.
Glancing away, down at the garments, somehow the stays were on top again. He swallowed.
“How mortifying!” she exclaimed, snatching it back from him and beginning the trek over the pebbles again toward the street.
James remembered his hat.
