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Back Sisters of Gold Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Title page
  3. Dedication page
  4. A Week’s Work in Birmingham
  5. I
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. II
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. III
  47. Forty
  48. Forty-One
  49. Forty-Two
  50. Forty-Three
  51. Forty-Four
  52. Forty-Five
  53. Forty-Six
  54. Forty-Seven
  55. Forty-Eight
  56. Forty-Nine
  57. Fifty
  58. Fifty-One
  59. Fifty-Two
  60. Fifty-Three
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Further Reading
  63. About the Author
  64. By the Same Author

‘Margaret . . .’ He glanced at Daisy, who was bent over the bench with Den, showing him how to do something. Seeing the children occupied, he leaned towards her. ‘Florence died more than five years ago. We had a good marriage, I won’t say we didn’t. But she is gone.’ His eyes met hers, full of meaning. ‘I am no longer married.’

She was embarrassed that he had read her feelings so easily, and looked down into her lap in confusion, pressing her finger into a loose grey thread of her dress.

‘Since then there has been no one else. Not until I met you.’

The longing look in his eyes brought her feelings sweeping back.

‘I love you,’ he said, quietly and simply. ‘I know I’m older – quite a bit older. But I wonder if you could get used to me?’

Margaret was overwhelmed. There was love – she knew she had the most tender of feelings for Philip Tallis – and there was fear, and confusion. She was afraid, after the shock and horror of what had happened with Charles Barber. Could she trust Philip – or herself? His world was so different from her own – this city, his lack of the faith she had been brought up to believe was the root and stem of her life. Added to this was the feeling that things were unfinished – at home with her father and with Charles himself. She had moved from what she thought was love to hatred of the man. Somewhere, she felt, there must be understanding. There must be peace, or she could not live with herself.

‘I . . .’ She looked at him, cheeks burning. ‘I know . . . Oh, I do want to be used to you!’ Feeling she had spoken too loudly she glanced at Daisy, but she was immersed in helping Den. ‘I love you, Philip – I do. But there are things . . .’ She looked away from him, her face hot with confusion. She could not tell him – not about Charles or what had happened.

‘I must go home for a time. There are some things I just have to do – to resolve. I can’t promise anything at the moment – even though . . .’ She stopped, wanting to pour out the tenderness of her feelings towards him. But she did not want to make a promise that, in her own confusion, she might later break.

‘But – you might come back?’ He reached out his hand and she linked hers with his.

Forty-One

Forty-One