with Edward and I’m pleased for you Ruth. As you know, Edward and I are finished so it doesn’t matter to me and it shouldn’t affect our friendship.” The gesture felt contrived and it was soon evident why, when Ruth saw Edward only a few feet away with a group of young men and it was obvious that he had seen her and Sarah too.
Sarah, having achieved what she appeared to have set out to do, smugly moved over to where Edward was by now seated. She broke into their company kissed Edward on the cheek, whispered something into his ear and in a slow haughty manner she returned to Ruth’s group. Clearly there were games being played and Ruth felt distinctly uncomfortable.
As the evening wore on, the inevitable happened and Ruth found herself isolated at one end of the ice rink very close to Edward. Edward, evidently pleased to see her, threw his arms around her, drew her towards him and kissed her. Ruth enjoyed the embrace but pressed Edward to know what Sarah was up to. “Oh Ruth” he said, “You have so much to learn … she’s jealous of you and she knows that you and I are having a good time and frankly, she wishes she were in your place.” Ruth thought this a plausible but rather arrogant perspective but let it go.
It was to be another week before Ruth and Edward had planned to meet up again and so it was a surprise, as they skated back towards their group of friends when Edward asked if she would like to come to his home on Sunday for lunch where she could meet his parents and his two aunts who would also be there. This seemed to Ruth to be a rather impulsive offer and as they walked off the rink, Ruth checked that Edward’s mother would be happy with his arrangement and she also asked if it was not a little sudden in their relationship for her to be meeting his parents. Edward responded by drawing her close to him and saying, “Well you know I love you and I think you love me so let’s see what my family say.”
That evening Ruth lay awake thinking of the two statements Edward had made; the presumption that she loved him and the statement that he loved her coupled with the suggestion that she should in some way now be meeting his family at this early stage in their courtship. Ruth repeatedly asked herself if she was in love with Edward. She pondered this for a while before convincing herself that despite some, perhaps many, reservations yes she did love him. Therefore, logically it followed that there was every reason why Edward should want to invite her to meet his family.
Ruth discussed the week’s events and revelations with Moira the following night and not surprisingly, Moira was concerned by the haste and the implications of moving this quickly when Ruth knew so little about Edward. Moira counselled Ruth to use the time with Edward’s family to learn more about them and Edward and to form a more considered view about the pace of their relationship once she had a perspective on him and his family.
C HAPTER T EN
The Sunday arrived and as Ruth looked at her diary all she could see was Sunday eighth of March lunch with Edward’s family . Ruth had bathed that morning and following the war time regulation she had used less than four inches of only tepid water. Bathing more than once in ten days was regarded as wasteful and so Ruth was more used to standing at the sink and washing herself down with a damp flannel each day. She had made a smart new dress for the lunch meeting, being careful to avoid the frivolity of fashion which was so denounced by older people as unbecoming in war time Britain.
Rationing was tough on women where all that was deemed necessary in a year was one pair of shoes, six pairs of stockings, eight ounces of wool or two yards of fabric, one silk dress, two or three pairs of knickers, two or three brassieres or a girdle, and six hankies. Ruth had been known like many other women to paint her legs with gravy browning to imitate stocking which were expensive and hard to replace.
Sarah, having achieved what she appeared to have set out to do, smugly moved over to where Edward was by now seated. She broke into their company kissed Edward on the cheek, whispered something into his ear and in a slow haughty manner she returned to Ruth’s group. Clearly there were games being played and Ruth felt distinctly uncomfortable.
As the evening wore on, the inevitable happened and Ruth found herself isolated at one end of the ice rink very close to Edward. Edward, evidently pleased to see her, threw his arms around her, drew her towards him and kissed her. Ruth enjoyed the embrace but pressed Edward to know what Sarah was up to. “Oh Ruth” he said, “You have so much to learn … she’s jealous of you and she knows that you and I are having a good time and frankly, she wishes she were in your place.” Ruth thought this a plausible but rather arrogant perspective but let it go.
It was to be another week before Ruth and Edward had planned to meet up again and so it was a surprise, as they skated back towards their group of friends when Edward asked if she would like to come to his home on Sunday for lunch where she could meet his parents and his two aunts who would also be there. This seemed to Ruth to be a rather impulsive offer and as they walked off the rink, Ruth checked that Edward’s mother would be happy with his arrangement and she also asked if it was not a little sudden in their relationship for her to be meeting his parents. Edward responded by drawing her close to him and saying, “Well you know I love you and I think you love me so let’s see what my family say.”
That evening Ruth lay awake thinking of the two statements Edward had made; the presumption that she loved him and the statement that he loved her coupled with the suggestion that she should in some way now be meeting his family at this early stage in their courtship. Ruth repeatedly asked herself if she was in love with Edward. She pondered this for a while before convincing herself that despite some, perhaps many, reservations yes she did love him. Therefore, logically it followed that there was every reason why Edward should want to invite her to meet his family.
Ruth discussed the week’s events and revelations with Moira the following night and not surprisingly, Moira was concerned by the haste and the implications of moving this quickly when Ruth knew so little about Edward. Moira counselled Ruth to use the time with Edward’s family to learn more about them and Edward and to form a more considered view about the pace of their relationship once she had a perspective on him and his family.
C HAPTER T EN
The Sunday arrived and as Ruth looked at her diary all she could see was Sunday eighth of March lunch with Edward’s family . Ruth had bathed that morning and following the war time regulation she had used less than four inches of only tepid water. Bathing more than once in ten days was regarded as wasteful and so Ruth was more used to standing at the sink and washing herself down with a damp flannel each day. She had made a smart new dress for the lunch meeting, being careful to avoid the frivolity of fashion which was so denounced by older people as unbecoming in war time Britain.
Rationing was tough on women where all that was deemed necessary in a year was one pair of shoes, six pairs of stockings, eight ounces of wool or two yards of fabric, one silk dress, two or three pairs of knickers, two or three brassieres or a girdle, and six hankies. Ruth had been known like many other women to paint her legs with gravy browning to imitate stocking which were expensive and hard to replace.
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