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Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Anita Frank
  4. Note to Readers
  5. Dedication
  6. Part One
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-One
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Chapter Thirty-Six
  43. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  45. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  46. Chapter Forty
  47. Part Two
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Chapter Forty-Two
  50. Chapter Forty-Three
  51. Chapter Forty-Four
  52. Chapter Forty-Five
  53. Chapter Forty-Six
  54. Chapter Forty-Seven
  55. Chapter Forty-Eight
  56. Chapter Forty-Nine
  57. Chapter Fifty
  58. Chapter Fifty-One
  59. Chapter Fifty-Two
  60. Chapter Fifty-Three
  61. Chapter Fifty-Four
  62. Chapter Fifty-Five
  63. Chapter Fifty-Six
  64. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  65. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  66. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  67. Chapter Sixty
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. Extract
  70. Chapter One
  71. Chapter Two
  72. Chapter Three
  73. About the Publisher

‘Yes, all right, but do be quick.’

‘Goodnight Jack, I’ll see you in the morning.’ She smiles with gratitude, then returns to the bright light and the noise. Jack expects Gordon to follow, but he pauses while he extracts a gold cigarette case from his pocket.

‘You should speak to her father, you know.’

Gordon flicks the case shut and looks at Jack in surprise. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘You should come to the house; tell her father you’re courting her.’

Gordon snorts. ‘Well, thank you for that advice.’

‘You shouldn’t have Gwen sneaking around behind her father’s back. It isn’t right. It isn’t decent.’

‘I hardly think it’s any of your business.’ He puts the cigarette between his lips and slips the case into his inside jacket pocket before taking out a lighter.

‘Her dad has a right to know what your intentions are.’

‘My intentions? What? If they’re honourable or not?’ Gordon sniggers as he drags his thumb against the lighter’s wheel. Its flame burnishes his curved palm as he brings it to his cigarette. As the tip burns, he pushes back the flap of his side pocket and drops the lighter inside. He takes the cigarette from his mouth. ‘And what are you going to do if they’re not?’ he asks, his eyes narrowing at his smoke-laced words. ‘Challenge me to a duel for the lady’s honour? Pistols at dawn?’

‘I’m more of a fists man myself.’

For a moment Gordon has the good grace to look startled. Then he laughs, but his humour is short-lived. He takes a deliberate step in Jack’s direction. ‘Why don’t you mind your own bloody business?’

‘Speak to her father.’

‘I’m seeing Gwen, not her father,’ Gordon hisses. He turns on his heel and stalks back into the hall. He does not acknowledge Jack’s parting words.

‘A gentleman with good intentions does both.’

Chapter Eighteen

Gwen

May 1945

It takes all day for Gwen and Nora to sow Top Field. They complete the task just as the herd’s impatient bellows begin to drift across the valley. By the time they have finished milking, rolled the churns down to the stand and sluiced the parlour, Gwen is exhausted. She is relieved when Nora offers to take the cows back to the field.

She uses the lip of the back step to prise off her boots, knocking them against the outside wall to dislodge the worst of the muck, contemplating as she does so the work that needs to be done the following day.