The Very Thought of You Read Online Free PDF Page A

lives like this. And not a day too soon: Hitler’s dawn invasion of Poland had been reported all day long on the wireless.
    “I’ve been thinking about the Nortons,” he added, picturing their friends in Europe’s most incendiary spot.
    “They’ll get out of Warsaw.”
    “I hope you’re right.”
    But none of them, Thomas reflected, would really escape the coming war. The front line would stretch all the way into the home front this time, with aeroplanes reaching far into enemy cities. He was glad if Ashton could at least act as a refuge for a few evacuees.
    Since Easter, the house had become a shell of its former self, with many of the male staff called up to local regiments. There was an expectant silence in the empty corridors, waiting to be broken by the sound of these children. Other people’s children.
    They retired to their bedroom, and Thomas brushed Elizabeth’s long hair as she sat at her dressing table. A recent ritual which soothed them both.
    Later, lying in bed, Thomas sensed a subtle shift in the atmosphere of the house. Ashton had been childless for so many years, yet now the very echo of the Marble Hall seemed muffled by the children sleeping upstairs.
    The change in the air sent him effortlessly to sleep.

5
    The next morning, eighty-six children woke up in a strange new house.
    Anna lay in her bed for a few minutes, wondering if she was allowed to get up yet. But light was streaming through a gap in the curtains, and she could not resist looking out at the view. There was a window seat – so she clambered onto it and peered out.
    Here was her new world. Wide, unfenced parkland sloped gently up to the sky, ringed at the horizon by dark woods. Sheep grazed undisturbed on the grass plain, which was dotted with a few solitary trees and a single white track. It was a sight of great calm and quiet.
    Another girl joined Anna.
    “Lots of grass,” she said. “I’m Beth,” she added.
    “Those tree guards means there’s deer. I’ve seen them in Richmond Park,” said another girl. Katy Todd, she was called. She seemed to know a lot of facts.
    The door opened abruptly.
    “Time to dress!”
    It was the matron in her blue tunic, sending them all off to wash.
    Ten minutes later a great gong rang out, and all the evacuees assembled in a long line on the first floor. Anna glanced round at the hushed faces waiting there. Two or three girls she knew from school; she would talk to them when she could. Then they were off, following the person in front, a long crocodile of children moving rapidly down to breakfast.
    Anna was flustered, but felt the pleasure of her new shoes. The girl in front of her was older, with long legs. She had to hurry to keep up, as the line of children rattled down a great stone staircase. Anna was moving fast, her knees pumping up and down as she fixed her eyes on the girl in front.
    A stab of pain suddenly juddered through her body as her right knee rammed into a sharp decorative leaf sticking out from the banister. She pulled away her knee, disengaging the iron from her flesh – leaving a deep gash there.
    She felt sick at once, but kept running. Breathless, she limped after the girl in front, into a great crimson dining hall where huge portraits loomed down from every wall. Children were standing in rows by long tables.
    Anna’s shin felt sticky and wet. She looked down and thick warm blood was sliding down it, seeping into her sock. She pulled out her handkerchief, white, embroidered with violets, her mother’s gift from Pontings.
    Her knee hurt as she dabbed at it. She could see the glistening red of raw flesh in the open wound, and her handkerchief was sodden.
    There was silence, as they waited for grace. An ooze of sweat ran down Anna’s temple and her upper lip was wet.She felt sick. She tried to keep standing but dizziness was spinning her head.
    “For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly grateful.” Anna saw the grain of the wooden floor rising to