Lime Street Blues Read Online Free PDF Page A

three piece. The wallpaper was patterned with swirling red roses. There was an attractive maroon tiled fireplace with a matching rug in front.
    ‘You’ve got a wireless,’ Rose exclaimed. ‘And a piano.I’ve always wanted to play.’ She sometimes played the piano in her dreams.
    ‘It’s never too late to learn,’ Tom said gruffly.
    ‘Chance’d be a fine thing.’ She laughed. ‘Mrs Corbett wouldn’t let me near her piano.’
    ‘You can play that one whenever you like.’
    ‘Thank you, but I wouldn’t know where to start.’ She thought it a very peculiar offer. She touched the gleaming lid, which had recently been polished, and couldn’t, for the life of her, imagine him with a duster. ‘Who keeps everywhere clean?’
    ‘A woman along the way, a widder, does it in return for me doing her garden. She makes my meals an’ all. Come on, Rose.’ He ushered her through another door into a narrow hall with narrow stairs, apparently determined to show her every inch of his house. Although she felt flattered, she couldn’t help but wonder why.
    ‘Have you got any brothers and sisters?’ she asked as she climbed after him.
    ‘Two brothers, both younger than me. They left Ailsham for Canada in nineteen twenty-three, not long after Dad died. They send cards at Christmas, but they’ve never been back. This is the main bedroom.’
    They entered a large square room with a low ceiling, more highly polished furniture, and a bed with a brass head and foot.
    ‘It’s very nice,’ Rose said truthfully. She would have preferred lighter wallpaper everywhere, but it seemed rude to say so.
    The two other bedrooms were smaller, but a perfectly adequate size. Tom remembered he hadn’t shown her the bathroom. ‘It was just an outhouse next to the kitchen, but I had it converted. You can see it later. Would you like a glass of lemonade?’
    ‘Yes, please.’
    They returned to the kitchen. Tom’s hands shook as he poured the lemonade. He seemed unusually agitated. ‘Rose,’ he began, then paused, his face glowing a bright, beetroot red.
    ‘Yes?’ she said encouragingly.
    ‘Rose, will you . . .’ He paused again. ‘Lord Almighty!’ he groaned in an anguished voice. ‘I never thought this’d happen to me at my age.’ He stood and went to the window, looking out, not at her. ‘Rose, I want to marry you. I want you to be my wife.’ He turned and said huskily, ‘I love you, girl. You’re on my mind every minute of every day. It’s driving me insane.’ He fell on his knees in front of her. ‘What do you say, Rose? The house, everything I have is yours. I’ll look after you, worship you, for the rest of my life.’
    Rose bent and put her cheek against his hot one. When she thought about it later, it seemed incredible that she didn’t feel in the least surprised. Tom sighed and slid his big arms around her waist. They stayed like that for a long time, both perfectly content. She had given him his answer. More than anything in the world Rose wanted to be loved.
    ‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing, girl?’ Mrs Corbett asked worriedly when Rose took in her morning tea a few days later.
    ‘Yes, madam.’
    ‘Tom’s a fine man, the best, but he’s more than twice your age, very old-fashioned and set in his ways. You’ve had no experience of life. There’ll be plenty of young men after you when you’re older.’
    ‘I want to marry Tom,’ Rose said stubbornly. All Mrs Corbett cared about was losing her maid, knowing she’dnever find another while there was a war on. That was the only reason she looked so worried.
    Three months later, on a golden day in September, when the leaves were just beginning to fall, Rose Sullivan became Mrs Thomas Flowers. Colonel Max was Tom’s best man. There were only three other guests; the Clayburn sisters, who dressed identically and pretended to be bridesmaids, and Mrs Denning.
    ‘The luckiest chap in the world has just married the prettiest woman,’ the colonel