Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- POPULAR BOOKS FROM THE ERA
- When We Meet Again
- A Conversation with Caroline Beecham about When We Meet Again
- Discussion Guide
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
Walter rose and walked over to the window, his back turned. “Thanks for making the trip, Theo; I am grateful to you. I know it’s been a sacrifice for you and Virginia. But the good news is, your work there is done.” He turned to face Theo. “I don’t need you to go back . . . I need you to start looking for a buyer.”
Hadn’t Walter heard a word he’d said? He had to go back; he wanted to finish what he’d started. And he needed to see Alice.
“But they’re doing all right. This isn’t necessary, Walter.”
It was as if his employer hadn’t heard him. “Be discreet, though, don’t talk to the big guns, Blackie or Collins or Heinemann, anyone like that. I need you to go through other channels. It would be very difficult if George got wind of it at this stage.”
“But why do you want to . . . ? We don’t need to sell.”
Walter looked at him dispassionately. “Yes, Theo. I’m afraid we do. What you’ve just told me has made up my mind. We’d be crazy not to!” He’d grown more animated. “You say we’re growing a new generation of readers, but that won’t help us now—we don’t know when the war will end. What will help is selling London and investing the money here. Britain might not be able to export books anymore, but we can. We’ll be the ones to sell to the rest of the world.”
The shock of what Theo had done slowly dawned on him, and he reflexively sat down while Walter spoke excitedly of his plans. George and the others would think that he’d betrayed them, that he’d known this was Walter’s intention all along, when he had actually been trying to prevent it. And what of Alice’s books and her career? He would be blamed for ending that too, along with any future they may have had.
“It’s unfortunate, but you’re a businessman, Theo. You know it’s too good an opportunity for us not to take it.”
“But what about George? What about his family?”
“They’ll be fine. George has plenty of other business interests, and we’ll make sure he gets a fair price. Publishing has never really been in his blood.”
What a mug he’d been. Unknowingly, he’d become one of the architects of their demise. And he realized that he couldn’t let it happen—somehow he would have to find a way to fix things.
Thirty-four
“Actually, I’ve changed my mind,” Theo said, leaning forward so the cab driver could hear. “Take me down to South Street, take Fulton to the end and wait for me there. I’ll only be ten minutes, and I’ll pay the waiting fare.”
“You’re the boss,” the driver answered.