BooksBarbecue
Back Sisters of Gold
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

His lips arrived on hers, the slight bristle of his beard against her chin. This kiss – for she knew it was a kiss; a kiss she longed for – was gentle, but there was a strength of longing in it which moved and excited her. Her emotions rose to meet his and she kissed him in return, her arms about his back, pulling him close. And he did not change into something violent and terrifying. He remained himself, Philip, this solid, rock-like man with whom she knew she was falling deeply in love. With him she felt safe and loved and full of love in return.

For a time they stood in each other’s arms and he held her with her head against his chest as he had done before, his hand warm on her hair, tender, as if she were a child to whom he was giving comfort.

‘I love you,’ he said. ‘All I want is you, here by my side.’ And she knew he wanted her to reassure him, to say that she wanted the same. She stood in the warmth of him, feeling the rightness of this, while still full of so many uncertainties. She had not come here expecting this revolution in her life. She knew that she loved him, that he was, in an indirect way, asking her to marry him, to be a wife to him and a mother to Daisy. And it was a miracle – yet it felt overwhelming. She was still too full of ragged ends, of guilt and sorrow, to answer him directly.

‘I do love you,’ she whispered. ‘I do.’

She pulled her arms more tightly round him, wanting to answer by showing him, instead of making promises, until she was sure beyond doubt that she could keep them. And they stood in a loving embrace, until she remembered that Aunt Hatt would be wondering where on earth she had got to.

Forty-Two

Forty-Two

‘Oh, Auntie – that smells delicious,’ Annie said, picking up her knife and fork before her plate was even in front of her. She had just come dashing in from the factory, her cheeks burning pink from the cold of this freezing night. Even Uncle Eb still had his jacket on.

The four of them were round the table, Eb and Hatt, Margaret and Annie. Georgie and Clara, who had brought Jimmy round to be doted on by his grandmother, had gone home, as by now had all the staff. The lamps were lit, the room cosy and smelling of coal, of Aunt Hatt’s lavender water and of the delicious aromas from the big dish of Uncle Eb’s favourite dinner – faggots and gravy – into which Aunt Hatt was dipping her spoon. The clock struck the half-hour – six-thirty – and the smoke-filled darkness had long fallen outside.

Aunt Hatt laughed. ‘I can feel your mouth watering from here,’ she said, passing Annie a well-filled plate. ‘There you go.’