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

Charles turned towards her a fraction, as if to enclose them in a cocoon of privacy. His closeness brought him back to her even more: the way his thick hair lay across his forehead, the beard, neatly trimmed, and the way his eyes, tawny in this light, seemed to look deeply into her. His mouth was curved upwards, amiably. She felt the hairs rise on her flesh. She was here again, with him, with his intense look that seemed to gather her up and carry her along with him, as if there was nowhere and no one else in the world. Charles, the real Charles whom she remembered. Then for a second she recalled his face, the feverish, terrible way it had changed on that night, and a shudder went through her.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked, full of concern.

‘Yes.’ To distract him, she handed him Aunt Hatt’s package. ‘Perhaps you could put that up as well?’ She eyed the rack. ‘Until we want it?’

He nodded politely and did as she asked, before sitting again, and in those seconds she calmed herself, straining for a balance. All she was doing here, with him, was taking this brief opportunity for explanation and apology, for healing. That was all. She thought of Philip, the loving look in his eyes, but at this moment he belonged to another world. First, she had to do this – the old world had to be settled.

‘So,’ Charles said pleasantly. ‘How have you been spending your time in Birmingham? Your aunt seems a very nice person.’

‘She is,’ Margaret said, relaxing a fraction at this positive appraisal. ‘And Uncle Eb. They’ve been kinder than we could have expected. I’ve been working in the office with Aunt Hatt. I’ve learned such a lot about the business and all the things they make. You should see Uncle Eb’s workshop – the “shopping”, he calls it – at the back. It looks all grimy and workmanlike and the men in there hammer and drill away and work with chemicals that burn your nostrils. And then, out of the end of all that come these things which are so fine, so beautiful! It’s astonishing.’

He was watching her, listening, eyes gleaming with a certain amusement at her enthusiasm.

‘And Annie – has she been working there too?’