Christmas Past by Glenice Crossland Read Free Book Online Page A

or somebody.’
    ‘Yer don’t need consent to become engaged. It’s just a belated Christmas present, and a promise that I’m going to marry yer. Or don’t yer want to marry me? Is that
it?’
    The assistant watched, hoping they weren’t going to walk out without buying. Trade had been quiet since Christmas and an engagement ring would boost her commission. She wanted her hair
cutting in the new style and she would be able to afford it if they bought a ring. She glanced at Mary’s hand, guessing the size from experience, and plucked a sparkling ring from the
tray.
    ‘Perhaps Madam would try this for size?’ She offered the ring to Tom. The realisation that she was being addressed as Madam so shocked Mary that she let him slip the ring on to her
finger. It was a perfect fit.
    ‘Oh, Tom, it’s beautiful. But I can’t let you buy it – you can’t afford it.’
    ‘Who says I can’t? I’ve never been one to throw my money around, and anyway there’ll be nothing else to spend it on where I’m going. We’ll take it.’ He
turned to the assistant, who visibly relaxed then uncertainly told him the price.
    Tom fished for his wallet and counted out the money, then placed his arm round Mary’s waist and led her outside. He drew her towards him and searched her face closely, hoping to imprint
the loveliness of her deep within his memory, knowing it would be a long time before he saw her again.
    ‘I love yer, Mary, never forget that. Whatever happens, however long I’m away, I love yer.’
    Then he kissed her, right there in the street.
    Suddenly she wanted to cry. Sadness swept over her, and than a sudden coldness, as though something terrible was about to happen. She clung to Tom, unwilling to release him. He gave her a final
squeeze and then smiled down at her.
    ‘Come on, love,’ he said. ‘We should be celebrating instead of standing here with faces as long as fiddles.’ He threw his kitbag on his back. ‘We’ve just time
for a cup of tea.’
    They set off in search of the station refreshment room. ‘We should be drinking champagne instead of this stuff,’ he joked, when they were finally sitting at a table. ‘It tastes
more like washing-up water than tea.’
    Mary forced herself to smile, weeping inside, knowing that in another twenty minutes he would be on the train. How long would it be before she saw this beloved man again?
     
Chapter Six
    Longfield might have been immune from the war. Only Tom and one other young man had been of an age to enlist. The older men were either working their own land or holding key
positions in the steel mills and could not be spared. In Sheffield, women were recruited by the hospital to replace the men who had joined up, and the doctor was full of praise for them as they
learned to drive vans and ambulances in preparation for the inevitable attack. Dr Roberts was rarely home now until late and to Mary the atmosphere of the house seemed to have changed.
    At first Tom’s letters came frequently and then in April they suddenly ceased, leaving Mary anxiously awaiting news. She redoubled her efforts both indoors and out. The garden was turned
over, the outbuildings whitewashed and the house spring-cleaned, and still Mary was left with a useless feeling. In the end she reluctantly revealed to Gladys her need to be doing something
worthwhile.
    ‘Perhaps I ought to go home and find a job there,’ she said. ‘I know I’ve been treated like a daughter by you and Dr Roberts, but I don’t feel it would be right for
me to take an outside job whilst I’m living here. After all, you only took me in in the first place as a servant.’
    Gladys, who had half expected something like this to happen after Tom’s departure, chose her words with care.
    ‘Look, my love,’ she said, ‘maybe we did take you on to help in the house, but that’s all changed now. To us you are a daughter, and this is your home for as long as you
want it. If you’d be happier doing some