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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?

The cry had an uneven staccato rhythm; it wasn’t the mew of a newborn or the sound of a hungry child—and contemplating the root of the child’s unhappiness terrified her.

Thirty-nine

Theo’s mind wasn’t on the book, or on what George said to him as the older man leaned back against the police station reception desk, massaging his temples; all Theo could think about was why the police were taking so damned long. He’d known there was something seriously wrong, and he cursed himself for not returning sooner—and the others for not recognizing Alice’s cries for help—because now it had come to this, and she was in real danger.

He and George hadn’t waited until four o’clock but had gone straight to Marylebone Lane Police Station and found Sergeant Burns, who had quickly disappeared, vanishing into the bowels of the building. All this time Alice could already be at the house with those barbaric criminals.

Theo paced up and down, head inclined as he stared at the cracks in the tiles, trying to order his thoughts, and guessing that in all likelihood George was trying to do the same. It was hard to reconcile the kind, clever young woman for whom Theo had fallen so unexpectedly with the person whom Ursula had told him about, the one who’d been delving into London’s criminal underbelly in search of her illegitimate child.

“It’s all completely possible . . . even though it is bizarre,” George said abruptly. “If everything Ursula says is true, it does explain all sorts of things.”

Theo knew that he was referring to Alice’s reluctance to come back to work, to her frequent disappearances and uneven moods. It did explain a lot, but if he was surprised by this, then what on earth was George going to say when Theo told him who the baby’s father was? He had already had to quietly inform Sergeant Burns.

“Women and Children First,” George continued, glancing up at Theo. “It must have been part of this.” An admiring smile played on his lips. “My, she’s clever. I always knew she was smart, but to combine the book and her detective work with finding her daughter, what a ruse! And what discipline and determination it must have taken.”

Theo nodded. Then he stopped pacing, clearing his throat as he prepared for what was to come next. It was up to him to tell George, in the most sensitive way he could, that his dead son—a war hero—was also a scoundrel. He only hoped it would soften the blow for George to discover that he had a grandchild.

Theo offered George a cigarette and lit it before he took one for himself, trying to steady his mind while he blew the smoke upward, following its journey as its curled away into the glass roof-light. “George . . .”

“Yes?”