I have just read that bit back and I think I am just trying not to think too much about the delay for our wedding.

Please write soon. I hope you can see that a short delay is a positive thing. I can’t wait too long to be Mrs Buthlay!

I do love you.

Marion xx

Dear Marion,

I have just received your letter. I am very disappointed that the Queen should persuade you to delay our happiness but perhaps we do need some time to gather the plans for our future. When I waved you goodbye at the station, I promised you that the next time we met I would have an engagement ring to place on your finger. You deserve fine diamonds and sapphires, but at the moment I could not afford it. Therefore, reluctantly, I accept that we must wait. It will give us the time we need to save some money so that you can have the ring and the home you warrant. I know how you worry, lassie, but don’t fret. We have the rest of our lives ahead of us.

If I could, I would be on the next train down just to see you, but alas, I also have news. The bank needs me to stay put in Aberdeen for a while, and so I cannot be with you for your birthday. I will speak to them about the possibility of a transfer to London in the future.

I am not sure when I will see you again. I hope it may it be soon, but know that I miss you as much as you miss me.

My love,

George x

PART THREE

Two years later

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Downing Street, January 1939

Tommy sat slightly apart from the conversation, making notes. The room was warm and cigar smoke hovered around the ceiling and over their heads, like an ominous thunder cloud.

The Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was talking. ‘And what if Germany continues to be the aggressor? God knows I will do anything to avoid war, even if it means appeasing Germany. We have to find the path of peace. And if we can’t, then Great Britain’s strength can only be enhanced by the strength of our Allies.’

The foreign secretary replied, ‘Certainly those who border Germany will be looking to us to help – and to France, too. And then there are the Americans.’

Winston Churchill, an MP with a voice people listened to, blew out a stream of cigar smoke. He leant his elbows on the Prime Minister’s desk and looked into the faces of those assembled. ‘Mr Roosevelt is not keen to get involved in a war in Europe – too expensive, too far from home, and too damn dangerous. As you know, my mother was an American. I therefore have many American cousins. They tell me what they think. I listen. And the Americans are not too fond of us right now.’

The foreign secretary discredited this with a smile. ‘I can’t think why not.’