He nodded. “I know. I have been approached by the London Times for a correspondent job that would take me all over the world. And I wouldn’t consider it if it meant always leaving a wife and children at home. But with Gladys—with Gladys, I think she would rather like joining me. There’s so much to explore.”

“I think Gladys would love to see the world. But I don’t know if the world is quite ready for her. She’ll see injustices that are centuries old and become a one-woman force for change.”

“I rather agree with you there.” He laughed. “But I want it anyway. I want to see it all through her eyes. And hear her opinions. She’ll surely look at things in ways I never would have thought of myself.”

Margaret was glad to hear him say that. Gladys certainly needed a man who loved her in all her totality.

“Here’s what you do,” she decided. “It can’t be your idea. Gladys has to ask you to marry her.”

Oliver grinned, the sheepish kind that had quickly endeared all of them to him. “Why was I afraid that you’d say that?”

“Because you already know it’s true. She won’t stand for feeling maneuvered or provoked. But if she realizes that she may lose you when you leave…I think we’ll see her true feelings emerge.”

“You’re a wise one, Margaret Beck. How come some great guy hasn’t swept you away?”

She shrugged. “I think the war has stolen just about every eligible young man from Brooklyn and beyond.”

The band began another slow song, as if it was inviting her to bare her soul. Everyone had their own problems and Margaret’s felt too trivial to voice.

And yet, he was asking.

“I want love,” she whispered at last, admitting it as much to herself as she was to him. “I want love and marriage and babies and all that comes with it. I also want to take these things I’ve learned at the Navy Yard and…and do something with it. I don’t know what yet. But I think women are teetering on some confusing precipice where we don’t want to throw the old ways out but we do want to walk through the doors that are just beginning to crack open for us. And if it’s hard enough for us to navigate that, how can we expect the men—especially the ones who come home and understandably want their jobs back—to reconcile that? I’ve…I’ve made my own money, and I don’t want to give that up. How do I do that, though? Even if I miraculously find a man who supports that notion, what would that even be like? Torn between motherhood and working? I mean it, Oliver. It’s not just a frivolous notion. How are women actually supposed to do that?”