‘Honestly, Isobel. You should be called Mrs Matchmaker. He’s a painter and decorator so he is hardly likely to fit in here.’

Isobel turned to face Ann. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I just meant that he probably doesn’t like the things I like. It isn’t as though he’s a professional person.’

Isobel shook her head. ‘I honestly never thought I would hear you say such a horrible thing.’

‘It’s true.’

‘Is it now? And what about you and me, then? I’m not a professional person. I left school at twelve and I don’t have a qualification to my name.’

Ann shook her head. ‘It’s different. You are clever, and you read, and you listen to the wireless and you are . . . well, you are interested in all sorts of things. I could never consider being friends with someone who isn’t curious. Man or woman. It would be so boring. The same conversations all the time.’

‘I really am surprised at you.’

‘Well, it’s just the way it is.’ Ann was angry now. ‘And I’m going to be out all next week anyway, every single day. I have things I need to do. Things that are not here.’

Chapter 37

Early May 1931

The library was busy. It wasn’t that people were returning books or borrowing new ones, nor even standing browsing the shelves, but almost every seat at the long tables was taken. The newspaper section was filled with men turning the pages slowly, working their way from the front covers to the back, reading every word and every advertisement. Ann initially thought they were looking for the job vacancies, but as she watched from her position at the reference table, with the Guide to British Lichens in front of her, she saw that they were prolonging their visits, delaying going back outside into the street and staying in where they could be distracted from life by the books and the newspapers. The hidden functions of a library are manifold, she realised.

She knew for sure that Keith Anderson would be visiting number 25 today. Isobel had started making bread as soon as breakfast was over, and she was making enough dough for three loaves instead of the usual two. And extra soup, and oaty biscuits as well.

‘I’ll be out all day,’ Ann had said as she left the house.

Isobel had just smiled. ‘I’ll see you this evening, then.’

*

He arrived at the library just before lunchtime, about the same time she realised her bottom had gone numb from sitting on a hard wooden chair for more than an hour. She moved carefully to a recently vacated seat in the corner so she wouldn’t be seen.