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Back When We Meet Again Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  51. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  52. POPULAR BOOKS FROM THE ERA
  53. When We Meet Again
  54. A Conversation with Caroline Beecham about When We Meet Again
  55. Discussion Guide
  56. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  57. What’s next onyour reading list?

Theo studied the mandarin skies as he walked up Fifty-fifth Street to the Blue Angel, hoping the fresh air would help wake him up. He was meeting Virginia at her friend’s birthday party. After his grueling journey and the emotion of the morning with his father, he hadn’t made it into the office; he’d been unable to face Walter, who he knew would want a detailed report on the London operation. Theo had been selective in what he’d shared with him so far, but he knew that Walter would be able to tell if Theo wasn’t disclosing something important, like the recent problem with the Russell Square rent being hiked up—one of the much larger publishing houses had allowed Partridge to relocate there after the 1940 bombings and only charged a peppercorn rent until recently. He believed it was all manageable, and he wasn’t deliberately deceiving Walter; he just wanted to buy the London team more time. In the next few months they’d know if their new titles were going to work—and if they’d get the paper rations they needed to publish next year’s books.

As he entered the Blue Angel, Theo caught a glimpse of Virginia through the crowd, at a table surrounded by her usual fashionable group of friends. He didn’t recognize many of them, perhaps the reason he suddenly felt awkward. She was deep in conversation with the woman next to her when she turned and caught sight of him, and she stood instantly and waved him over. “Look, everyone, Theo’s back!”

Those who heard stopped talking and turned to look, and Theo’s cheeks burned. It was unlike Virginia to be so exuberant and showy, and unlike him to feel embarrassed.

It proved tricky for her to navigate through the other partygoers and squeeze round the table, so she threw her hands in the air and blew him a kiss as he approached, which he caught and stopped shy of returning.

“I think you know everyone, apart from Arky and Felix—oh, and Alexandra. They’re our new recruits.” She smiled at the two men and woman she’d been talking to.

Theo could barely hear what Virginia said above the band as she leaned one hand on the table, champagne flute held high in the other. He didn’t recognize the black velvet dress that hugged her figure, or the several strands of pearls that circled her neck and fell across her breastbone, barely concealing her cleavage. It struck him how starkly different she was to Alice, and how unsettled and conspicuous it made him feel.

A waiter appeared with a drink for Theo. Plates of lobster rolls, chicken wings and filled potato skins paraded past, and he realized how ravenous he was—and how obvious it was that the owner, Max Gordon, must have left instructions for the group to be well looked after.