ON THE HOME FRONT TRILOGY BOOK 1

HER PATRIOTIC DUTY

Chapter 1

Family

Clarence Square, London, May 1940

‘Lou, you would tell me, wouldn’t you, if you thought I was being hasty?’

‘Being hasty?

‘In marrying Richard so soon. Only, I get the impression some people think we’re rushing into it.’

Twiddling the stem of her empty sherry glass while she waited for her cousin to reply, Esme Colborne glanced about the guest-filled drawing room. Where was Richard anyway? She did hope he hadn’t got cornered by Great Aunt Diana. Or worse still, by Grandpa Hugh.

Beside her, her own glass of sherry barely touched, Lou Channer frowned. ‘Not sure I’m the right person to answer that. I mean, what do I know about—’

‘It’s not that anyone has said anything,’ Esme went on, her voice lowered so as not to be overheard. ‘And if they’ve said anything to Richard then he hasn’t mentioned it. But I’m convinced that his mother, for one, thinks we’ve become swept up in some sort of war fever. I can tell from the way she looks at me.’

Lou continued to frown. ‘Well, how long have you known him?’

Recalling the moment she’d met Richard Trevannion made Esme smile. ‘Just before Christmas, I went to a party with a friend. Bowling into the kitchen in search of olives for a Gin & It, I smacked straight into him.’ He’d looked, she remembered thinking at the time, like a younger version of Cary Grant: dark hair; mischievous eyes; nice smile. Impeccable manners, too.

‘So, that would make it…’ Lou counted on her fingers. ‘… five months.’

Recalling the evening in question, and how the two of them had fallen so deeply into conversation they’d become oblivious to the merriment going on all around them, Esme nodded. ‘That’s right. Our first proper date was on New Year’s Eve. It turned out to be such fun that we went out again the next day as well…’

‘So…’

‘Then, shortly before Easter, he took me to the V&A for afternoon tea. On the way back through Thurloe Square Gardens, I was admiring the daffodils when he suggested we stop and sit on a bench. Next thing I know, he’s down on one knee, ring in hand, saying “Esme Colborne, will you marry me?”’

‘And you had no idea – that he was going to propose, I mean?’

‘None whatsoever.’

‘Golly. How romantic.’

In response to her cousin’s remark, Esme smiled. ‘It was quite romantic, yes.’

‘And did you answer him straight away?’

‘I did.’

‘So, if you didn’t hesitate then, why the doubts now? What’s changed?’

‘Well…’

‘Because if the answer is nothing,’ Lou observed, ‘then I don’t see what you have to worry about. In fact, rather than fret, you might want to count your blessings.’

Esme let out a sigh. Her cousin was right; she was fortunate. Richard was warm and caring. And terribly good company.

‘Yes, of course,’ she said. ‘No doubt it’s just a dose of last-minute collywobbles. By Saturday, I daresay I’ll be fine.’ With the sound of the dinner gong then echoing about the hallway, she again looked about for Richard. ‘Anyway,’ she said, failing to see him anywhere but giving her cousin’s arm a quick squeeze, ‘I asked Mummy to seat you next to Uncle Ned so that you’ll have someone jolly to talk to. You’ll find he has the most wicked sense of—’ Spotting Richard crossing the room towards her, Esme felt a surge of warmth. How daft to have got all het up; he really was lovely. ‘Richard, there you are.’

‘I believe that’s our cue,’ he said, offering a hand in her direction.

‘And my cue to find Mum,’ Lou said, before turning about and leaving them to it.

‘Well, so far so good, don’t you think?’

Taking his arm, Esme grinned. ‘No one has challenged anyone to a duel yet. Is that what you mean?’

She loved how he threw back his head when he laughed. Unlike the rest of his family he was quick to see the funny side of things.

‘Not that I’m aware of, no.’

‘Still nerve-wracking, though, isn’t it?’ she said as they started slowly towards the doors. ‘Or is that just me?’

‘Not just you, no. Navigating someone else’s family is like picking one’s way across a minefield. But, look at it like this, if our two clans can’t get along, then once Saturday is over and done with, they need never see each other again. Whereas the two of us…’

When she turned to look at him, he was trying to keep a straight face.

‘Will have no such choice?’

‘None whatsoever. Stuck together for all eternity, I’m afraid.’ Leading her out into the hallway he went on, ‘And I can’t think of anyone to whom I’d rather be stuck.’

Yes, how daft it felt now to have had doubts! She couldn’t wait for Saturday.

Before then, though, they had this family dinner to get through, the sight awaiting them in the dining room causing her to withhold a groan. Staring expectantly in their direction from both sides of the long table were their two dozen relatives, while glinting under the light of the chandeliers had to be every piece of silverware the Colbornes owned, the place settings so elaborate they wouldn’t have looked out of place in front of the King. Clearly, when it came to first impressions, Mummy and Grandmamma Pamela had decided to leave nothing to chance – wartime or not.

‘Well then,’ she murmured, angling her head towards him as she did so, ‘let the tedium commence.’

‘Now, now,’ he whispered back as he escorted her towards their seats. ‘Don’t be too hasty to write the thing off. This could turn out to be an evening we look back upon with great fondness… talk about for years to come… bore our grandchildren silly with…’

Lowering herself onto her chair, she sent him a despairing look. ‘Then one can but pray it will be for the right reasons…’

***

copyright Rosie Meddon 2020