Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- PART TWO
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- PART THREE
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- PART FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- PART FIVE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Keep Reading …
- About the Author
- Also by Barbara Taylor Bradford
- About the Publisher
It seemed to Emma that the months flew by. August had been boiling hot, but now, in October, the weather was cooler, and she felt better.
She was now four months pregnant, but she was so clever with clothes, she did not show yet. She went to Kallinski’s every day and could now make a full-piece suit. Emma had always enjoyed sewing and was adept with a needle and had focused her tremendous energy on becoming good at the job fast. A sewing machine in a tailoring shop was easy for her too. David Kallinski was a delight to work with, training her well, first to cut sleeves, lapels, then jacket fronts and backs, and finally trousers out of the fine Yorkshire cloth that the mills produced. Quickly Emma turned her hand to new skills, lending a hand when the small factory was running behind with orders. Abraham Kallinski could not believe her capacity for work, but while she was friendly with the other factory girls, she was never quite one of them, meeting with a polite smile their teasing about her cut-glass accent.
But today she was happy because Blackie O’Neill had finally returned to Leeds. He had left a note for her with Mrs Daniel, and she had gone to meet him at The Mucky Duck, where she had seen a different side to her friend. When she walked in, he was standing at the piano, his powerful baritone ringing out with the words to the ‘Minstrel Boy’.
Emma had been moved almost to tears, her throat tight with the bittersweet sadness she experienced when she heard him sing.
Now, as she sat sewing in her attic, she began to laugh to herself. Blackie had been so astounded at her appearance, he had been thunderstruck. She’d never forget his words. ‘Mary, Mother of Jaysus, whatever have ye done, mavourneen? Ye don’t look like yeself any more.’
She now recalled how she had been annoyed and had asked him what he had meant, that he was being rude. ‘No, I’m not, Emma. By God, if ye don’t look more fetching than I ever did see ye. As elegant and as beautiful as the Queen of England,’ he had announced.
Immediately, she had smiled, and explained, ‘Oh, I see what you mean. It’s just my hair. I copied Queen Alexandra’s style. And the clothes I had from Mrs Wainright.’ Emma knew she was looking her best, in a grey woollen suit she had cut down, with a blue silk blouse Olivia Wainright had discarded long ago. She had pinned the green glass brooch Blackie had given her – to match her emerald eyes – on the lapel. And they’d laughed together, and talked, and it had been wonderful to see her friend. And eventually, she had told him about the baby.