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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 looked up to see her aunt looking very directly at her along the table. ‘I thought, Margaret, that perhaps you and I could have a little talk when we’ve finished our tea?’

Margaret’s chest tightened and she felt her face burn with embarrassment. The thought of having to talk about what had happened filled her with horror. She would have to say something to Aunt Hatt. Their aunt was being so kind. She looked down, giving a faint nod.

During their meal Aunt Hatt held forth on her two favourite subjects: her grandson Jimmy and the decoration of the new house, both things, they were soon learning, she could talk about almost endlessly. And to Margaret’s surprise, once they had finished their meal Uncle Eb, who, she had the impression, would usually have sat on at the table smoking his pipe, got to his feet and left the room, with a rumbling sort of announcement that he was ‘Off out for a bit . . .’

‘Is Uncle going to a meeting?’ Annie asked, this being the only kind of evening outing with which they were familiar.

‘Oh,’ Aunt Hatt said, seeming amused. ‘You might say that. He’s off to the Jewellers’ Arms – his favourite watering hole. Quite a bit of business goes on in there, though, so it’s a meeting of sorts!’

Neither Margaret nor Annie was sure what to say to this. Annie got to her feet, pushed her chair under the table and said she was going upstairs. As she passed behind her, Margaret felt her sister’s hand on her shoulder for a second. The hand gave her a squeeze before leaving the room. Margaret was warmed by Annie’s tact and support, even though she had driven her mad earlier in the day. Annie often knew to do just the right thing even if she argued about everything else.

The room settled. The clock ticked. Aunt Harriet cleared her throat and poured herself another cup of tea, offering Margaret one, but she shook her head.

She sat, head bent, hands clasped on the cloth, and stared at the frayed grey cuffs of her dress. She couldn’t do it, she knew. The very idea of having to find words to describe the shameful thing that had happened was utterly beyond her, however kind Aunt Hatt was.

‘It’s really nothing much, Aunt,’ she said. ‘You’ve seen what Annie’s like. She’s very headstrong and . . . Well, we had a bit of a falling-out with Father and we thought it might be best if we were out of the way for a while, that’s all. And we’ve always so much wanted to get to know you both as well.’