darn your socks, and pray for your safe return?”
“I don’t know about the wife, window, or socks part of it, but I do hope you’ll pray for my safe return.”
Catherine sighed, her eyes still shut. “I will. You know I will. But Terry, we’re not married or engaged. And I’m not saying I want to be right now. It’s far too soon for anything like that. But quite honestly I don’t want to sit around all winter as if I were. I do want to get out of the house.”
“So there is someone else?” he said sharply, giving her a quick glance.
“There is no one else as close to me as you are. I just want you to understand if I go to a concert in London with a gentleman or attend a worship service in Canterbury with another, that it doesn’t mean I want to break off with you. I simply have to get out to get some air.”
“I understand that, I guess.”
“You do?”
“Yes. And what’s his name?”
“Terry! There is no one man…just some acquaintances.” She looked at his worried face. “Horatio Nelson. It’s him. Are you satisfied?”
“Not very.”
“Well, that will have to do.”
They rode in silence for several miles. Catherine finally spoke. “Let’s not spoil our evening together. I care for you, Terry. I’m just not ready to start pining away again. I’ve been pining for more than two years already.”
“I know that.”
She put her hand back on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “Good. So you understand why I can’t go back to that dark hole, not even for you.” She stared out through the rain sliding over the windshield and the swipes of the wipers. “In any case, it works both ways. I shan’t mind if you see a woman or two when you’re in port at Gibraltar.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Maybe one of them will change your mind.” She glanced at him and noted his clenched jaw and tight lips. “Don’t be a martyr, Terry. I count on your cheerfulness. Come back to me, but don’t come back to me sour.”
Port of Dover
“We cannot have a trade agreement with the communists in Moscow! Only Ramsay MacDonald could think that was a good idea. Ramsay MacDonald and his Labor Bolsheviks.” Edward paused as people in the packed hall cheered. “If I am elected, I will help form a Conservative government with Stanley Baldwin once more at the helm. Then we will tear up that agreement. We will have no trade with those revolutionaries—those assassins whose hands were dipped in blood with the murder of Tsar Nicholas and his family, even his children! I say it again: No trade with the murderers and Bolsheviks!”
The audience erupted into applause again. Edward waited for theroar to subside. “But I don’t want you to send me to Westminster just to deal with the Red Menace, important as that is for the future of Great Britain. I also want to do something for Dover. I want to do something for you—the workingman—and for your children and your grandchildren. More shipping, more across-the-Channel traffic. A bigger harbor—a deeper harbor and a more protected harbor.”
Men jumped to their feet, clapping and waving their hats in the air. “I want a port second to none in Great Britain! I want a port that will bring prosperity to Dover! I call upon you to send me to Westminster so I may ensure a Conservative government puts money into you and into our harbor. I call upon you to send me to Westminster so I may ensure a Conservative government that will pour money into our harbor!”
Edward tried to continue but the applause drowned out his words. He smiled and lifted his hands. Finally he shouted, “A vote for me on October twenty-ninth is a vote for Britain and the British people! God save the king!”
Fordyce made his way through the crush of bodies and managed to shake Edward’s hand and slap him on the back. “Well done, Lord Edward. A great speech.”
Edward grinned. “Thanks, Fordyce. I have to give another seven or eight tomorrow, so keep me in your
“I don’t know about the wife, window, or socks part of it, but I do hope you’ll pray for my safe return.”
Catherine sighed, her eyes still shut. “I will. You know I will. But Terry, we’re not married or engaged. And I’m not saying I want to be right now. It’s far too soon for anything like that. But quite honestly I don’t want to sit around all winter as if I were. I do want to get out of the house.”
“So there is someone else?” he said sharply, giving her a quick glance.
“There is no one else as close to me as you are. I just want you to understand if I go to a concert in London with a gentleman or attend a worship service in Canterbury with another, that it doesn’t mean I want to break off with you. I simply have to get out to get some air.”
“I understand that, I guess.”
“You do?”
“Yes. And what’s his name?”
“Terry! There is no one man…just some acquaintances.” She looked at his worried face. “Horatio Nelson. It’s him. Are you satisfied?”
“Not very.”
“Well, that will have to do.”
They rode in silence for several miles. Catherine finally spoke. “Let’s not spoil our evening together. I care for you, Terry. I’m just not ready to start pining away again. I’ve been pining for more than two years already.”
“I know that.”
She put her hand back on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “Good. So you understand why I can’t go back to that dark hole, not even for you.” She stared out through the rain sliding over the windshield and the swipes of the wipers. “In any case, it works both ways. I shan’t mind if you see a woman or two when you’re in port at Gibraltar.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Maybe one of them will change your mind.” She glanced at him and noted his clenched jaw and tight lips. “Don’t be a martyr, Terry. I count on your cheerfulness. Come back to me, but don’t come back to me sour.”
Port of Dover
“We cannot have a trade agreement with the communists in Moscow! Only Ramsay MacDonald could think that was a good idea. Ramsay MacDonald and his Labor Bolsheviks.” Edward paused as people in the packed hall cheered. “If I am elected, I will help form a Conservative government with Stanley Baldwin once more at the helm. Then we will tear up that agreement. We will have no trade with those revolutionaries—those assassins whose hands were dipped in blood with the murder of Tsar Nicholas and his family, even his children! I say it again: No trade with the murderers and Bolsheviks!”
The audience erupted into applause again. Edward waited for theroar to subside. “But I don’t want you to send me to Westminster just to deal with the Red Menace, important as that is for the future of Great Britain. I also want to do something for Dover. I want to do something for you—the workingman—and for your children and your grandchildren. More shipping, more across-the-Channel traffic. A bigger harbor—a deeper harbor and a more protected harbor.”
Men jumped to their feet, clapping and waving their hats in the air. “I want a port second to none in Great Britain! I want a port that will bring prosperity to Dover! I call upon you to send me to Westminster so I may ensure a Conservative government puts money into you and into our harbor. I call upon you to send me to Westminster so I may ensure a Conservative government that will pour money into our harbor!”
Edward tried to continue but the applause drowned out his words. He smiled and lifted his hands. Finally he shouted, “A vote for me on October twenty-ninth is a vote for Britain and the British people! God save the king!”
Fordyce made his way through the crush of bodies and managed to shake Edward’s hand and slap him on the back. “Well done, Lord Edward. A great speech.”
Edward grinned. “Thanks, Fordyce. I have to give another seven or eight tomorrow, so keep me in your
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