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

‘Allow me to pay for the tickets,’ Charles said, as they approached one of the booths in Snow Hill station’s marbled booking hall. ‘This must be at my expense, of course.’

‘Thank you,’ Margaret said. Until that moment she had not thought of the expense of the tickets, though she had brought a small amount of money with her.

As they moved through the busy station she became aware of the pressure of his hand on her back, steering her through the crowds towards their platform. For a second she felt a moment of panic and tried to ease herself away from its control. But she told herself not to be so foolish – he was only trying to help, so that they did not become separated in the crush. She decided that his hand also felt reassuring, as if it was part of his way of trying to make peace.

Forty-Six

Forty-Six

‘We’re in luck!’ he cried, as they hurried down the steps to the platform.

Steam was hissing from the huge locomotive waiting behind them and a sleeve of smoke hung in the air. Along with the other hurrying passengers, they made their way to the small carriages which ran along a corridor.

Charles ushered her into one of them and they settled side by side, Margaret sinking into a seat next to the window, still holding the packet of bread and cheese from Aunt Hatt. The compartment filled up and moments later the engine shrieked and there came the whoomping sound of it getting up steam and they eased off along the platform. Charles stood to remove his coat and flung it up on to the luggage rack.

‘Yours?’ He held out his hand.

‘I’m still chilly,’ she said. ‘I’ll keep it on for now, thank you.’

As he stood there close to her, reaching up, she remembered him acutely, his figure, the strong legs which had always walked so urgently beside her. She remembered the way he had held her in the early days, their first timid kisses. A pang of confused longing and dread went through her. As if sensing her thoughts, Charles looked down at her between his arms. He gave her a long, meaningful look which went right through her. Without removing his gaze, he sank down beside her again.

‘I’ve missed you so much,’ he said. He spoke softly, for only her to hear, but her face coloured and she looked round at the other half-dozen people sitting with them. The couple opposite were quite elderly and still fussing over their things. Beside them was a woman with two young children and on the other side of Charles sat a man hidden behind a newspaper. She could tell none of them were eavesdropping but their presence did make it difficult to talk.