The Dust That Falls from Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

the window seat and was weeping in tremendous sobs. I picked her up in my arms and said, ‘Rosie, Rosie, Rosie.’ She laid her head on my chest and put her arms round my neck. I could feel her light body trembling.
    ‘You don’t have to go,’ she said.
    ‘I sure do, darling, I sure do,’ I said. ‘I’ve done the deed. I’ve taken the King’s shilling. I had no idea you’d be so upset.’
    ‘I thought we’d be safe,’ she said. ‘You’re American. You didn’t have to go. Or Sidney and Albert.’
    ‘But we love it here,’ I said. ‘We come from New England, and we love the old one just as much, probably even more. We’ve lived here most of our lives. I’ve always been ashamed of my countrymen for turning traitor back in 1776.’
    ‘No you haven’t. You’re always gloating about how you won and we lost. You think it’s brave and clever to throw perfectly nice crates of tea into the sea, and you always forget how Canada and Florida wanted to stay British! Anyway, you’ve got to love Scotland too,’ said Rosie, smiling despite her tears. ‘Father’s Scottish, remember? I’m half Scottish. You can’t just love England.’
    ‘I love both halves of you,’ I replied, ‘including any other parts from anywhere else. I’ve never been there, but I love Wales and Ireland too. And the Isle of Wight. And Croydon.’
    ‘Why do you have to go away, though? Why can’t you stay and work in a hospital or something? Why can’t you drive a train or go and be a fireman? So many people have…so many have been killed already. What about Mons? And the Marne? And Flanders? Have you seen the death notices in
The Times
?’
    ‘Don’t forget the Angels of Mons,’ I said. ‘God’s with us, not with them. We’re defending the right.’
    Rosie’s weakness was God. She was always devout, even when she was a child. She was born with the kind of faith that you can’t argue with. This time she stayed silent for a moment, and then she said quietly, ‘We still had to retreat.’
    ‘You are going to be an officer?’ she said, and I knew what she was getting at; she was hoping there’d be a long period of training before I got sent away. I shook my head. ‘I enlisted as a private,’ I said. ‘You get there a whole lot quicker. I was hoping I might be a gunner. They’ve got two batteries of horse artillery, and two ammunition columns, and a battalion of infantry, but the darned batteries are up to complement.’
    She sat down on the window seat again, and looked down at her hands. ‘I suppose I should be encouraging you,’ she said weakly. I knelt and held her hands in mine. ‘Rosie darling, it’s the adventure of a lifetime. How could I possibly stay out of it? Do you think I could bear to live the rest of my life knowing that I hadn’t done my bit? That I didn’t heed the call?’
    ‘Do you remember what he said, Sir John French? It’ll all be over by Christmas, he said. But it won’t be. The Boche have got Belgium. You could be away for months.’
    I felt as if I was cajoling a child. I was fired up with excitement about going to war. I felt a deep happiness, a sort of elation, as if I had suddenly found my purpose in life.
    I said, ‘Every man who’s never been a soldier regrets it when he gets old. I don’t want any regrets.’
    When we went back into the withdrawing room, Rosie was on my arm, still weak from her fit of tears, but she was managing to smile. The family got to its feet and applauded me. The sisters each kissed me on the cheek and hung upon my arms. I was very moved and touched. It was my greatest moment of glory, really. I gave Rosie’s arm a little squeeze in mine, and she said, ‘We’ll get married as soon as the war’s over. I’m sure it won’t be long.’
    ‘I’m bound to get some leave,’ I said. ‘We can be married when I’m on leave, if the war goes on too long. Would it be asking too much if Albert was best man?’
    I went out and bought a little etching. It was