Read Wartime Brides for Free Online

go dry. She didn’t answer.
    ‘You don’t have to you know, unless, you know,’ she jerked her chin at the spot where Edna’s stomach hid behind her coat. ‘Unless you’ve got to.’
    Edna felt a hot flush creep over her face. ‘Certainly not.’ But for a brief insane moment she wondered if Polly had heard rumours. Perhaps someone had questioned her time away or had seen her with Jim.
    Polly grinned. ‘No need to blush, sweetheart. You wouldn’t be the first respectable girl to get caught out like that.’
    Edna muttered something about she would never have been that stupid. Polly didn’t seem to notice.
    ‘Tell you what, Edna. How about you and me meeting up for a girls’ night out? Your bloke wouldn’t mind. Well, can’t see ’im minding much. Nice bloke basically. I can see that.’
    ‘Perhaps,’ said Edna.
    ‘Just the two of us,’ Polly went on, then shoved a sharp elbow into Edna’s ribs. ‘Don’t want old posh pants there spoiling things, do we?’ She nodded towards Charlotte who was overseeing the serving of a group of children with bowls of jelly and paste sandwiches.
    Edna nodded. ‘I suppose so.’ But she had reservations. No doubt Polly was fun to be with, but she sensed she was also selfish.
    At that moment Charlotte came back with the air of someone who’d just issued battle orders to a detachment of Home Guard. ‘That’s that done!’ she exclaimed. She began to rummage in the deep confines of her pigskin handbag which, Edna noted, was a perfect match to her shoes.
    Charlotte enthused, ‘I did so enjoy being with you today. Let me give you my address and telephone number.’
    She pushed a piece of paper into Edna’s hand. ‘Besides,’ she added with a gleaming smile, ‘the rate Geoffrey is going on with that aeroplane, it’ll be in bits shortly and I shall have to buy another. I really would like another for Christmas. I do hope Colin can oblige. Now you will get in touch, won’t you?’ She gave no one the chance to refuse. Perfectly plucked eyebrows arched above calm grey eyes. Her mouth, still shiny red with lipstick, smiled expectantly. A reply was called for, but only in the affirmative. Charlotte, Edna thought, was not the sort to take ‘no’ for an answer.
    Yet Edna liked her. Charlotte really did mean what she said. She smiled up at her, Charlotte’s height and refined features making her more aware of her own lack of stature and her moon-shaped face. ‘Of course I will.’
    With a flurry of fur coat, Charlotte got back into her car and started it up. Polly slid into the passenger seat.
    Edna waved as she thoughtfully watched the black saloon go off down the hill that would eventually connect with St John’s Lane. She glanced down at Charlotte’s address. Clifton! She might have guessed. High above the Avon Gorge where the river ran sluggishly to the sea. And high above the rest of us, she thought with an amused smile as she curled her fingers over the piece of paper, meaning to throw it into the gutter where it would rot away with what remained of the autumn leaves. But she stopped herself from doing that as a thought came to her. Mrs Charlotte Hennessey-White lived in an elegant Georgian crescent and was wealthy enough to own a car. And yet Edna had the distinct impression she was lonely. That was why she was so involved in doing good works and suchlike. Either that or she was plain nosy and liked interfering in other people’s lives. Why else would she bother with the likes of her?
    Just when she was thinking about joining Colin and putting on a brave face, a shadow fell on the pavement and across her feet.
    ‘You didn’t let the cat out of the bag, did you?’ Ethel Burbage’s eyes darted over the buzzing crowd just in case anyone was more interested in what she was saying than in the homecoming Colin. ‘Imagine what people would think. And the embarrassment it would cause to your father. Well, his job at the corporation does depend on a respectable