BooksBarbecue
Back After the War
Chapters (74)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Also by Anita Frank
  5. Note to Readers
  6. Dedication
  7. Part One
  8. Chapter One
  9. Chapter Two
  10. Chapter Three
  11. Chapter Four
  12. Chapter Five
  13. Chapter Six
  14. Chapter Seven
  15. Chapter Eight
  16. Chapter Nine
  17. Chapter Ten
  18. Chapter Eleven
  19. Chapter Twelve
  20. Chapter Thirteen
  21. Chapter Fourteen
  22. Chapter Fifteen
  23. Chapter Sixteen
  24. Chapter Seventeen
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-One
  29. Chapter Twenty-Two
  30. Chapter Twenty-Three
  31. Chapter Twenty-Four
  32. Chapter Twenty-Five
  33. Chapter Twenty-Six
  34. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  35. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  36. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  37. Chapter Thirty
  38. Chapter Thirty-One
  39. Chapter Thirty-Two
  40. Chapter Thirty-Three
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Part Two
  49. Chapter Forty-One
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Chapter Forty-Four
  53. Chapter Forty-Five
  54. Chapter Forty-Six
  55. Chapter Forty-Seven
  56. Chapter Forty-Eight
  57. Chapter Forty-Nine
  58. Chapter Fifty
  59. Chapter Fifty-One
  60. Chapter Fifty-Two
  61. Chapter Fifty-Three
  62. Chapter Fifty-Four
  63. Chapter Fifty-Five
  64. Chapter Fifty-Six
  65. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  66. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  67. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  68. Chapter Sixty
  69. Acknowledgements
  70. Extract
  71. Chapter One
  72. Chapter Two
  73. Chapter Three
  74. About the Publisher

‘That’s madness!’ Fear flares Gwen’s temper. ‘How dare you? How dare you come here and say these things to me? He is my son – I carried him for nine months, I gave birth to him, I have cared for him single-handedly all these years. I love him more than life itself. I will never give up my child, never!’

‘Mrs Ellison, put your emotion aside for a moment and think of your son – think of Tom and Tom’s best interests. Look at what you can offer him, compared to the life we can give him. He will have the best education money can buy: Eton, Cambridge. He will be the friend of aristocrats and men of power. He will be heir to a mansion and five thousand acres in Northumberland, as well as other properties around the country, a townhouse in London … He will never want for anything. He will be a beloved son and a cherished heir. His future will be glorious.

‘He won’t be spreading manure across some muddy field in Berkshire. He won’t spend his life getting up at the crack of dawn to milk cows and muck out stables. He will travel, he will see the world, his life will be rich with experiences and opportunities, the like of which you can’t even begin to imagine. Would you really deny your son all of that? Is that what a loving mother would do? Wouldn’t she sacrifice herself, to give the son she loves all of those things?’

Gwen is too stunned to respond. She stares at the woman before her. When it does come, her voice is faint with disbelief. ‘How can you even expect me to give up my boy?’

Lady Helen draws closer in confidence. ‘I understand it might prove difficult to explain away this turn of events to friends and neighbours and so on, but I have thought on that and I have a proposal that would, I think, work for everyone. Gordon’s father is dying. He has mere weeks to live according to his doctors. When he is gone, Gordon will inherit the estate. He will sell up and we will move to my family’s estate in Northumberland – the five thousand acres I mentioned – which I will inherit on my father’s death and which ultimately Tom will inherit from me.