‘Golly, you look very smart, Jimmy,’ Emily said when she saw the little boy in his new outfit, hair washed and face free of dirt – hopefully free of livestock too.

  ‘I ain’t never looked so good, real posh I am now.’ He pointed to his feet. ‘Look at these shoes, they ain’t got no holes in nor nothing – they almost fit me too.’

  Doris dropped to her knees and gave the little boy a hug. ‘Just the ticket, Jimmy, now you can have some nice toast and hot milk.’ She glanced at Emily and then continued. ‘What’s your other name, do you know it?’

  ‘Course I do. I’m Jimmy Sugden cos me ma’s called Mrs Sugden.’

  The children scrambled onto the chairs at the kitchen table and whilst they devoured several slices of toast and drank the milk and honey, Emily, Sammy and her friends had a mug of tea.

  ‘Jimmy, do you know how old you are?’ Penny asked.

  ‘I ain’t never had a birthday, but I reckon I’m four or five. My ma never said when I was born. She never said who me da is. I don’t reckon I’ve got one of those neither.’

  Thomas nudged Jimmy, almost knocking him off his chair. ‘You’re stupid, everybody’s got a dad. My brother and I are five – you came to our party. You’re much smaller than us so you can’t be five.’

  Penny stepped in firmly. ‘Apologise at once, Thomas, Jimmy’s our guest and not only should you not have pushed him, you certainly cannot call him stupid.’

  Before Thomas could reply, Jimmy did.

  ‘I ain’t stupid, I’ve been able to talk since I was a baby. Even me aunties says I’m a clever one, so there.’

  ‘Thomas, I’m waiting. You won’t be playing hide-and-seek but spending the morning in your bedroom if you don’t apologise,’ Penny told him.

  Instead of doing the sensible thing, Thomas pushed Jimmy even more violently and this time he and his chair tumbled backwards. Sammy managed to catch the chair before it crashed onto the tiles.

  Jimmy wasn’t upset but laughed. ‘Bugger me, I never expected any rough stuff in this house. I get a lot of it over there.’

  Penny picked up Thomas, smacked him hard on the back of the legs, and carried him kicking and screaming out of the room.

  Emily held her breath, waiting for his equally volatile brother to create a second scene, but Toby just carried on eating his toast.

  ‘I think there’s some cake in the pantry, I’ll get it, shall I, Emily?’

  ‘Yes, I think we could all do with a piece of cake. I need another cup of tea after that nonsense. Do you boys want more milk?’

  ‘I ain’t fond of milk, not really, but I’m gasping for a cuppa,’ Jimmy said solemnly.

  As the warmest room in the house was the kitchen, Emily decided it made sense for them to remain there until Penny came back. Rushing about the place playing hide-and-seek hardly seemed appropriate in the circumstances.

  They were involved in a riotous game of Simon Says, which Jimmy had never played before, when her friend returned, a subdued and apologetic Thomas with her.

  ‘I’m very sorry, Jimmy, for being so horrible. I want you to be my friend.’

  Jimmy grinned. ‘That’s all right, water under the bridge, mate. You joining in this silly game?’

  They took it in turns to be Simon until they’d laughed so much they were exhausted. Emily kept looking at the dark red handprints on the back of Thomas’s legs and wished her friend hadn’t smacked him. This was the first time she’d felt uncomfortable with Penny and hoped that it wouldn’t spoil their friendship.

  Sammy took the three little boys to the WC, leaving her with Penny and Doris.

  ‘Penny, I have to say that I was shocked that you smacked Thomas so hard. My family don’t approve of physical punishment and I thought that you agreed.’

  ‘I know I shouldn’t have done it, but he could have killed Jimmy and I reacted without thought. It was the wrong thing to do. I regretted it immediately and apologised to him. I’ll tell my mum and she’ll be really cross. I’m ashamed of myself.’

  Emily immediately hugged her. ‘I’d hoped it was something like that. Shock makes you do things you regret later. More than once I’ve almost slapped George and I know that my parents have barely restrained themselves on occasion.’

  Doris was looking at them as if they were speaking in French. ‘Crikey, all this fuss about a couple of slaps. Never did me no harm and it won’t do that little lad neither. I reckon a smack is better than having to stay in your room all day, but that’s just my opinion.’

  ‘I know children at school are regularly smacked, caned and beaten,’ Emily said.

  ‘Not all at the same time,’ Doris said, ‘that would be bad even for the worst teachers.’

  The rest of the day passed without incident and when it was time to leave Emily said she’d take Jimmy home. She expected him to be sad, reluctant to go to what was obviously a miserable life, but the little chap smiled bravely.

  ‘I can go over sometimes on me own, Penny said, if her ma agrees. That’ll do me. It ain’t much cop in that big old house, Emily, all of us is sleeping in the big room near the kitchen. It’s too bleeding cold everywhere else.’

  ‘Please try not to swear, Jimmy, because if you use words like that in front of Penny’s mother, she won’t let you come again.’

  ‘Why not?’

  Doris answered for her. ‘Because them little terrors, the twins, will start to copy and decent people don’t use bad language. I don’t swear, and I’m not posh neither.’

  Jimmy pulled a face. ‘No, you’re not. I like you, Doris, can I come and see you sometimes?’

  ‘No, sorry, me nan and grandad wouldn’t be happy.’

  10

  Lucinda continued with her ARP duties and by the end of her second week she was less exhausted. She and Mr Hatch patrolled the lower half of Wivenhoe but there were two others that patrolled the rest. It was unlikely that those two ever had anything to do apart from shout about the blackout law being broken, most of the pubs and families likely to cause problems lived below the railway bridge in overcrowded little cottages.

  This weekend Emily and her friends would be at home which was going to make Ralph’s visit a little awkward. She could hardly entertain him in her bedroom, and the children would be roaming about putting up the Christmas decorations.

  The schools would be breaking up for the Christmas holiday on Friday and even though there wasn’t going to be much festive jollity this year, Lucinda was sure everyone would try with what little they had.

  She decided it would be better to meet him in Colchester where there were a few cafés, a British restaurant and at least three hotels that served a decent lunch. She posted a letter to his flat near Horse Guards saying that she would meet him at twelve thirty for lunch at the Red Lion in the High Street.

  Despite the fact there was a war raging, rationing making it hard for the less fortunate to put a decent meal on the table, the Postal Service was still working splendidly. Ralph would get her letter in plenty of time.

  Whilst she was getting ready on the Saturday morning, she heard George and Sammy arguing next door. Elizabeth and Jonathan were downstairs with the baby and Emily had gone to the river to meet her friends off the ferry.

  Today would be the first day that George was allowed to join in family activities. Under normal circumstances she would have ignored the shouting, but things were different now.

  ‘Boys, what’s going on in there? I’m coming in,’ Lucinda said after she’d knocked on the door.

  George wasn’t dressed, Sammy was, and she thought this was the cause of the row.

  ‘Don’t you want to put up the decorations, George? Your mother has agreed that the tree can be decorated tomorrow.’

  ‘I’m not interested in Christmas, I don’t believe in God, we won’t be getting any presents this year, so why should I help put up a few tatty bits of paper?’

  ‘This is a time of year when you think about other people, not yourself, young man. Your parents have very kindly rescinded your punishment and allowed you to rejoin the family. Even if you don’t believe in any of it, you should join in enthusiastically to try and make up for all the trouble you’ve caused.’

  His expression was murderous. How could a child of barely ten years old be so angry at the world?

  ‘I wish my grandparents would come back. I really miss them.’ Then he collapsed on the bed and burst into tears. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever see Grandpa again. They got a letter the other day saying he was fading. That means dying, doesn’t it?’

  Sammy got to his side before her and hugged the sobbing boy. Lucinda wasn’t good with physical affection so raced downstairs and into the sitting room.

  ‘Quickly, George’s desperately upset. He must have overheard you talking about Major Roby being very unwell.’

  Elizabeth was sitting on the rug playing bricks with the baby. Jonathan dropped his newspaper and was out of the door before Elizabeth reacted.

  ‘Is your father-in-law dying, Elizabeth?’

  ‘He seems to be slowly slipping away, he’s not eating much, spends a lot of his time asleep, but he’s not unhappy. His confusion hasn’t got any worse, it’s his physical health that’s the concern.’

  ‘Is Jonathan going to see him? I heard that the shipyards were going to close for Christmas Day this year, couldn’t he take a couple of days off then?’

  Elizabeth smiled sadly. ‘He could but he wouldn’t be able to get to Kent as there’ll be no trains running for civilians. He’s been given permission to use an official car after Christmas, and they’ve even agreed to have a driver bring it down. I just pray that it won’t be too late.’

  Jonathan returned and smiled reassuringly at Elizabeth. ‘When I told him that we’re going to Kent after Christmas he stopped crying. He’s getting dressed but I’m not sure how today will progress. I wish we hadn’t decided to punish him by keeping him away from us all. He’s a very unhappy and disturbed little boy at the moment.’

  ‘He behaved so badly it seemed right at the time. I agree, we should have given him more love, not kept him apart. I hope we haven’t damaged him permanently.’

  Lucinda had listened to this conversation but didn’t understand the reasoning behind it. ‘You could have sent him away to boarding school, that’s what my parents did to me, so I think he got off lightly.’

  ‘Being sent away didn’t improve your behaviour, did it?’ Jonathan said.

  Lucinda was going to reply angrily but something made her reconsider. ‘No, you’re right. If I’d had a loving home, been a wanted child and not an embarrassment, I’m sure I’d never have become so wild and disruptive. George’s lucky, all your children are, to have such a happy home and parents who want them.’

  ‘I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. You’ve got a loving home now and even though neither Elizabeth nor I think it’s a good idea for you to meet Mr Castleton today we trust your judgement and support your decision.’

  Tears welled but Lucinda brushed them away. ‘Thank you, I can’t tell you how much that means to me. Joining the ATA is my goal, but I suppose I should see what he wants. I can’t imagine it’s anything important but just in case, I’m going to go. It will be the last time, I promise you.’

  ‘Good for you, you’ll look absolutely splendid in the navy-blue uniform. It’s fortunate that you’re so tall, I should imagine that flying an aeroplane would be difficult if you weren’t,’ Elizabeth said.

  ‘I read somewhere that you can’t be a fighter pilot if you’re over six foot tall; I’ve not heard that there’s a lower limit, but you might be right,’ Lucinda replied.

  The two boys and three girls put the boxes of paper chains, folded tissue paper bells and balls, glass baubles, and tarnished silver tinsel on the dining-room table. Even George had cheered up and appeared to be enjoying the jolly occasion.

  Jonathan had gone to work immediately after the incident but Elizabeth was keeping an eye on things. The children took it in turns to entertain the baby and Grace was enthralled by the coloured paper and activity.

  When Lucinda left to catch the train just before midday, the bright festoons of homemade paper and the other tissue paper decorations were mostly up. Being the tallest by far, she’d done most of the high stuff, pinning dozens of bits and pieces wherever instructed by the children.

  The boys had staggered in with the tree which had been in the shelter for the past week waiting to be brought up and decorated.

  ‘Will you be back this evening?’ George asked Lucinda as she was leaving. ‘Mummy’s agreed we can do it tonight and not wait until tomorrow. I love it when the little electric lights are switched on.’

  ‘I’ll absolutely definitely be back to help with this momentous occasion. I’ve never helped decorate a tree so am not going to miss the opportunity. I’ll also see if I can find anything to add to it – you never know, I might even find a bar of chocolate somewhere.’

  It was bitter outside and Lucinda was glad she’d put on her warmest clothes, sturdy boots, woolly hat, gloves and scarf. She was smiling as she reached the station, thinking that her lack of glamour would no doubt offend Ralph.

  If she’d been thinking of one day perhaps starting again then she’d be wearing court shoes, a fashionable outfit, and not slacks and a twinset. The train was almost as cold as the platform and today there was no mass of bodies to give some warmth. There was no point in looking for a seat as the train only stopped at Hythe before steaming into St Botolph’s station.

  She was forced to push her way through housewives with bulging baskets full of vegetables, meat, fish, and quite likely a few precious items for gifts for Christmas next week. Today was market day so these would be shoppers returning home.

  She’d had the forethought to telephone and reserve a table for two at the Red Lion hotel – being market day it would be busy and especially as it was the last Saturday before Christmas. There’d never been much under the tree for her – one year there’d been nothing as her parents had gone away, leaving her with her nanny and the staff. Despite the lack of gifts, it had been the happiest Christmas she could remember as she’d spent it downstairs in the kitchen and servants’ hall and been thoroughly spoilt.

  Lucinda paused at the door of the restaurant, admiring the greenery and candles that decorated every unused surface. She waited patiently for the head waiter to seat her. It gave her a few moments to gather her thoughts and remove her outer garments.

  ‘I hope you have a reservation, miss, we are fully booked for lunch today,’ the black-garbed old gentlemen said as he came up to her.

  ‘Yes, a table for two at twelve thirty in the name of Roby.’ She was still reluctant to use her own name in case somebody recognised it from the scandal.

  ‘Excellent, if you’d care to follow me, I’ll take you to your table.’

  She and Ralph would be sitting by the window and Lucinda wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Did she want passersby to see them together?

  ‘Someone will bring you the menus, can I get you anything whilst you wait for your guest?’

  ‘I’d like a large pot of real coffee, cream and sugar.’

  Lucinda was enjoying her second cup when she saw Ralph hurry past the window, trilby pulled down low over his forehead, his expensive trench coat neatly buttoned and looking every inch a city gentleman. What he didn’t look was happy – was this because of the weather or because she’d insisted they meet at the Red Lion?

  Ralph hadn’t enjoyed his journey to this benighted place – this town might be the oldest one in England, but it had absolutely nothing to recommend it as far as he was concerned. He’d travelled first class – of course – but there’d been no taxis available to take him the two miles from the station to the centre of Colchester and he’d been obliged to catch a bus along with the other plebs.

  As he entered the less than impressive Red Lion, through the archway that had once been used for coaches, he straightened his shoulders, pinned on his customary charming smile and walked confidently into the restaurant.

  He saw Lucinda immediately. Even if he hadn’t been coming to meet her he would have noticed her – she was the best-looking young woman in the room without a doubt. For a second his smile slipped. What in God’s name was she wearing?

  On seeing him enter she’d stood up and he’d seen at once she wasn’t dressed in one of her usual expensive, elegant ensembles but was wearing, of all things, a blue cardigan and slacks. What had possessed her to meet him dressed like a housewife?

  He pushed these unwelcome thoughts to the back of his mind, widened his smile, raised a hand in salute and then turned to hand his things to a hovering waiter. He didn’t acknowledge this person but strode across to greet Lucinda.

  ‘Thank you for agreeing to meet me, I do appreciate the fact that you’ve come,’ he said, hoping he sounded sincere.

  She nodded and resumed her seat without answering. Once he was sitting opposite, she handed him the menu.

  ‘I’m afraid I’ve drunk most of the coffee but I’m sure they can bring you a pot if that’s what you want. I don’t need to look at that as everyone comes here to eat one of their pies and I intend to do the same.’

  It was hard to stay charming when faced with such indifference. ‘In which case, Lucinda, I’ll have what you’re having.’

  He was about to snap his fingers, knowing that someone would run to serve him, but she was smiling at an old waiter who shuffled over immediately to take their order.

  ‘Another pot of coffee, please, and we’ll each have one of your excellent pies and whatever vegetables are available.’

  ‘Yes, Miss Roby, you’ll not be disappointed. Chicken and ham today with sautéed potatoes, braised carrots and buttered cabbage.’

  ‘Thank you, that sounds absolutely delicious and exactly what we want on such a cold day.’