We'll Meet Again (32 page)
Authors: Mary Nichols
‘So you came.’
‘I knew it was foolish but I couldn’t stay away. I had to know how you felt about me. It’s been a long time and you’ve changed.’
‘Have I?’
He tried to explain the thoughts that had gone through his mind in the hut on the mountain. ‘You’ve always been the girl for me and always will be, whatever you say, but I realise we both need time to get to know each other again and with this rotten war it’s not going to be easy. I’ll give it a go, if you will.’
‘Of course I will.’ She smiled up at him. ‘But you will have to take me as the woman I have become, not the girl-child I was.’
‘That’s OK by me. I’ve done some growing up too.’
They heard sounds of the men returning and went out into the hall where Marcus was leading the way back into the dining room. They followed.
‘Well?’ the Countess asked.
Marcus laughed. ‘You’ll never believe it. That boy continues to surprise me. He had the presence of mind to lure the man into the bunker and imprison him there.’
‘Was he an escaped prisoner?’
‘Not a prisoner of war, which I had wrongly assumed, but his own father.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Chloe said. ‘I remember being told he was on the run. He battered his wife and she was afraid he would get to Ronald. I told you about it.’
‘Yes, but what we didn’t know was that he had attacked a prison warder to escape and the warder had subsequently died. He is also wanted for murder.’
‘Good heavens,’ Prue said. ‘But how did Ronnie know about the bunker?’
‘He has known about it right from the beginning. He opened it up and has been using it for a hideaway. He had all sorts of stuff down, there, including half a bottle of whisky and some biscuits. When we opened it up, the man was dead drunk, singing at the top of his voice, and there were biscuit crumbs all over the place.’
‘Don’t tell me Ronnie stole them.’
‘No, I don’t think he did,’ Johnnie said. ‘I gave them to him. He wanted the whisky to give as a Christmas present. I gave him cigarettes and biscuits too.’
‘And money?’
‘For a bicycle. He sold several to the guys on the base.’ He laughed. ‘I reckon he was a fair trader, one way and another.’
‘What will happen to him?’ Sheila asked.
‘He’s not in trouble,’ Marcus said. ‘I’ve sent him home with Mrs Potts. We will talk about his future after Christmas. He wasn’t at all sorry to see his father led away.’ He looked round. ‘Shall we get on with our dinner?’
They went into the dining room. Prue looked round at everyone. It was a strange collection of people, but they all, in their own way, contributed to each other’s happiness. And for the first time for years, her mother looked more like her old self; there was more colour in her cheeks and more sparkle in her eyes. Everyone was smiling, even Constance. As for Sheila, she had come a very long way in the three years she had known her. Her parents would be very proud of her. ‘Something to write home about?’ Prue whispered to her.
‘Yes. I’ll do it later.’
Dear Ma and Pa,
I don’t know where to begin. Chris is alive and well, but not allowed to talk about how he escaped. He has changed, we both have, but we have decided to take it slowly and get to know each again. I am looking forward to that. Prue’s brother, Gilbert, is back from France and he can’t talk about what he was doing there either. He and Esme are going to be married. She is another with secrets to keep.
Ronnie
Barlow’s secret is out. His father came after him and has been arrested for murder and I think Ronnie will stay with Mrs Potts permanently. As for me, I have been offered a small part in a musical to be put on at the Victoria in the spring. It will star Lupino Lane so is bound to be a success. It will mean leaving BP. I shall miss everyone but I will still be based at Victoria Villa, so I will still see Prue. Of course I shall have to keep the secret of BP, probably for ever, but I think Chris understands now he has his own secret which I will never pry into. Aunt Constance is a different person now Johnnie has found her and forgiven her and she has been able to forgive herself. We are getting along just fine.
These letters have been my lifeline, a way of coping with my loss, which I still feel bad about, but I think I can manage without them now, though you will always be in my thoughts.
Your ever-loving daughter,
Sheila
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M
ARY
N
ICHOLS
has spent much of her life in East Anglia and often sets her novels in that area. She has written numerous short stories, historical romances and family sagas, as well as a biography of her grandmother. Mary is the bestselling author of
The Summer House, The Fountain, The Girl on the Beach, Escape by Moonlight, A Different World
and
The Kirilov Star.
The Summer House
The Fountain
The Kirilov Star
The Girl on the Beach
Escape by Moonlight
A Different World
We’ll Meet Again
Allison & Busby Limited
12 Fitzroy Mews
London W1T 6DW
www.allisonandbusby.com
First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2015.
This ebook edition first published in 2015.
Copyright © 2015 by M
ARY
N
ICHOLS
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–1709–5
