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– as if his Edie would take his news with smiles and cries of good luck, well done, he not even consulting her before doing what he had. Where were his brains?
    Albert grimaced. ‘Not too happy, I’m afraid.’
    â€˜Did you expect her blessing?’
    â€˜Lots of blokes are going off to war with the blessing of them that love ’em. It’s our duty.’ He looked as if he were about to cry.
    â€˜How much drink did you say you’ve had?’ she asked abruptly.
    â€˜A couple of beers, maybe a couple of whiskies. She had a port and lemon. Her mum and dad went to bed – said we needed to be left alone. We was glad, we needed to talk proper about things. Embarrassing with them there.’
    â€˜Is she all right?’ Connie asked, wide awake now and thinking of Edie faced with this sudden revelation. What would she herself have done if she’d got a young man who’d gone and signed up out of the blue without a word to her first and expecting her to take it lightly and with a smile? Maybe one of these days she’d have a young man and find herself faced with some awful news or other. She hoped that when she did find someone her life would be smooth and lovely.
    â€˜She had a bit of a cry,’ Albert said. ‘Well, in fact she burst into tears, said I’d gone behind her back, why didn’t I tell her what I’d intended to do before I did it and ask what she thought. She said I could get myself killed and what would she do then? She also said she loved me. She’s never really said that before, not like that. Then she just fell into my arms and said she never wanted to lose me, then all of a sudden she stopped crying and she said, “I know you had to – you had no option.” And kept saying she loved me over and over again and then we cuddled and she said she respected me for what I’d done, and that she’d wait for me and …’
    He stopped, looking suddenly sheepish. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you this, Con. It’s sort of private, like. Do you think I’m being daft, telling you all this?’
    Connie shook her head, her heart going out to him. But for the beer and the whiskies he might never have opened his heart to her, for fear of embarrassment or that his sister might have laughed in his face.
    But embarrassment on his part seemed to dissipate as he went on, ‘She loves me, Con. And I love her. She said she’d wait for me,’ he repeated. ‘And I know she will. We’ve been going out together for months and now I know she’ll be waiting for me – when I come back, we’ll be married and—’
    With this he broke off, lowered his head to hide sudden tears while Connie sat looking at him, her own not far away. One day she hoped her own tears would be for some wonderful man, and that he would love her as much as Albert clearly loved his girl. But for now she just felt sad: sad that her brother was going away to fight and that the future for all of them was far from certain.

Chapter Four
    October 1914
    As young Ronnie burst into the house, his face aglow as if in triumph of some sort, his mother got up from her chair, glancing questioningly at him.
    â€˜Bit late home tonight, love? Doing a bit of overtime?’
    â€˜No, I left on time,’ he answered, plonking himself down at the table in readiness for his evening meal.
    He grinned at Connie, she halfway through her own dinner, while their mother went out to the kitchen to bring in his plate, which she’d been keeping warm for him.
    â€˜Where’s Dad?’
    â€˜Extra shift, Mum said,’ Connie replied, her mouth full of sausage and mash. She glanced over to where George sat on a chair in the corner having finished his own food with almost indecent haste. She resisted the urge to comment: no work yet, then?
    When was the last time George had worked? There he sat in his nice suit, his nose in that