“We are,” Laura said. “You go ahead, Hen. I’ll use the other machine.”

A heavy-set woman assisted Laura up the steps, closing the door behind her. The bathing machine was windowless, equipped with benches on either side, and wooden pegs on the walls. Laura quickly removed her skirts, petticoats, and bodice, and unhooked her corset. She was in the process of opening her bag to retrieve her bathing costume when the machine lurched forward.

Yesterday, she hadn’t expected the jolting motion, and had been tossed from side to side, nearly losing her balance. Today, however, she was ready for it. As the horse pulled the machine out into the water, she braced her body against the wall, and slipped into her bathing costume.

Composed of a knee-length tunic, Turkish trousers, and a belt, the cumbersome ensemble wasn’t ideal for swimming. Nor were the canvas slippers she was obliged to wear, secured with ribbons that laced up her legs.

How much easier it would be to wear only her chemise and drawers! Or to leap into the water in a primitive state as the male swimmers were rumored to do.

But this wasn’t Talbot’s Pond. And she was no man.

She tugged an oilskin cap over her plaited hair and tied it beneath her chin. When the attendant opened the exit door, Laura was ready. “You needn’t dunk me. I know how to swim.”

“As you please, ma’am.” The woman assisted her down, squeezing tight to her arm until Laura was submerged in the water. “Off you go, now.”

Laura waded out from beneath the canvas awning that shielded the steps of her bathing machine from public view. Henrietta was already there, along with several other ladies, paddling in the surf.

“Fine weather today!” an older lady bellowed in Laura’s ear.

“Your first time at Margate?” a younger lady enquired. “Did you arrive on the steamer?”

Laura made polite replies, conversing in what she supposed was the way many genteel strangers conversed when on holiday at one of England’s watering places. “I’m going a little farther out,” she said at length.

“Be careful, Laura,” Henrietta warned.

Another of the older ladies watched Laura with concern. “Are you a strong swimmer, my dear?”

“I am,” Laura said. “My mother taught me.”

And she was a strong swimmer. Though the sleeves of her tunic impeded her arms, and though her Turkish trousers weighted down her legs, she managed to cut through the water with a sure stroke.

Several yards from the other ladies, she dived beneath the surface. All those hours spent strengthening her lungs in Talbot’s Pond hadn’t been for nothing. She was able to dive deep, before turning in the water and kicking her way back to the surface.

“Are you nearly finished?” Henrietta asked after a quarter of an hour had passed. “I’m ready to get out.”