I’d say yes. Will you have to give your own family time to think about it?’
‘Mum and Dad already know how I think about you,’ said Edward, feeling extraordinarily chuffed that this stunningly lovely girl favoured him.
Leah, who had met his parents and liked them a lot, said, ‘You’ve actually told them that when you’re twenty-one you’ll ask me to marry you?’
‘I spoke to them on the phone a couple of evenings ago,’ said Edward. ‘Dad thought I’d be lucky if a girl like you said yes, and Mum asked if I’d take on your religion or you’d take on mine. I said I wasn’t bothered about that, and she said well, she didn’t think there was anyone in Grandma’s family who’d ever been anything except Church of England. I said that could change, and Mum said well, she’d always liked your mother and that you struck her as being a nice respectable girl, which Grandma would approve. Grandma’s great on respectability, although Mum said the old lady might get a bit confused about having different religions in the family. That meant Mum was thinking she’d probably get confused herself, and she’s like Grandma in believing families should avoid confusion and not let it sneak in through a letterbox.’
‘Edward, if you say much more like that,’ said Leah, ‘I’ll get confused myself, especially as I’m still a bit giddy.’
‘Religious differences are something our elders will think about a lot more than you and I will,’ said Edward soberly.
‘Oh, bother differences, it’s feelings that count much more,’ said Leah, ‘but isn’t it a happy thought, Edward, that in our country a mixed marriage won’t cause a blood-letting riot?’
‘I’ve heard that people of mixed marriages in Germany are executed,’ said Edward soberly.
‘Mama is sure terrible things are happening there,’ said Leah. ‘Thank goodness that here we’ve still got our Parliament and Mr Churchill. Isn’t he splendid? You can actually hear him growling when he’s on the wireless and talking about what he thinks of the Nazis.’
‘He’s working up to a roar,’ said Edward. ‘Something’s going to happen that Hitler won’t like. Well, that’s what slipped out of my section sergeant’s mouth the other day. He’s a friend of mine.’
‘Your section sergeant’s your friend?’ said Leah.
‘Yes, he says do this or do that, and I do it,’ said Edward. ‘But about you marrying me, Leah, you might find some people getting spiteful.’
‘Yes, some,’ said Leah, ‘but most people won’t fuss. They don’t in our country. Edward, do you realize we’re talking as if we’ve already agreed to get married?’
‘Yes, I’m noticing that, but I think we’d be sensible to wait a year before we become engaged, don’t you?’ said Edward.
Something told Leah he was right. Well, he wasn’t yet twenty and she was still only seventeen. But she couldn’t quite come to terms with being sensible , not in this sunny park, and not when she was high on adrenalin.
‘Oh, I suppose so,’ she said, ‘but I think I’ll be counting the days.’
‘Is that a fact?’ said Edward, an arm around her waist.
‘Edward, I just know I’d love to be married to you,’ she said.
‘Blimey,’ said Edward, ‘then I think I’ll be counting the days myself. You’re a lovely girl, Leah.’
‘Oh, my life,’ she said happily. It didn’t matter to her that Edward wasn’t husky or broad-shouldered or a Clark Gable. She knew, she just knew, he was kind and sincere, and comforting to be with. He was manly and protective, and he belonged to the family that her mother always said was the finest in the land, made so by their remarkable matriarch, Mrs Maisie Adams. Show me, her mother said once, any woman who has given the country three sons more splendid than Boots, Tommy and Sammy Adams.
Loitering GIs whistled at her. She simply walked on with Edward, pushing the problems of their different religions to the back of her
‘Mum and Dad already know how I think about you,’ said Edward, feeling extraordinarily chuffed that this stunningly lovely girl favoured him.
Leah, who had met his parents and liked them a lot, said, ‘You’ve actually told them that when you’re twenty-one you’ll ask me to marry you?’
‘I spoke to them on the phone a couple of evenings ago,’ said Edward. ‘Dad thought I’d be lucky if a girl like you said yes, and Mum asked if I’d take on your religion or you’d take on mine. I said I wasn’t bothered about that, and she said well, she didn’t think there was anyone in Grandma’s family who’d ever been anything except Church of England. I said that could change, and Mum said well, she’d always liked your mother and that you struck her as being a nice respectable girl, which Grandma would approve. Grandma’s great on respectability, although Mum said the old lady might get a bit confused about having different religions in the family. That meant Mum was thinking she’d probably get confused herself, and she’s like Grandma in believing families should avoid confusion and not let it sneak in through a letterbox.’
‘Edward, if you say much more like that,’ said Leah, ‘I’ll get confused myself, especially as I’m still a bit giddy.’
‘Religious differences are something our elders will think about a lot more than you and I will,’ said Edward soberly.
‘Oh, bother differences, it’s feelings that count much more,’ said Leah, ‘but isn’t it a happy thought, Edward, that in our country a mixed marriage won’t cause a blood-letting riot?’
‘I’ve heard that people of mixed marriages in Germany are executed,’ said Edward soberly.
‘Mama is sure terrible things are happening there,’ said Leah. ‘Thank goodness that here we’ve still got our Parliament and Mr Churchill. Isn’t he splendid? You can actually hear him growling when he’s on the wireless and talking about what he thinks of the Nazis.’
‘He’s working up to a roar,’ said Edward. ‘Something’s going to happen that Hitler won’t like. Well, that’s what slipped out of my section sergeant’s mouth the other day. He’s a friend of mine.’
‘Your section sergeant’s your friend?’ said Leah.
‘Yes, he says do this or do that, and I do it,’ said Edward. ‘But about you marrying me, Leah, you might find some people getting spiteful.’
‘Yes, some,’ said Leah, ‘but most people won’t fuss. They don’t in our country. Edward, do you realize we’re talking as if we’ve already agreed to get married?’
‘Yes, I’m noticing that, but I think we’d be sensible to wait a year before we become engaged, don’t you?’ said Edward.
Something told Leah he was right. Well, he wasn’t yet twenty and she was still only seventeen. But she couldn’t quite come to terms with being sensible , not in this sunny park, and not when she was high on adrenalin.
‘Oh, I suppose so,’ she said, ‘but I think I’ll be counting the days.’
‘Is that a fact?’ said Edward, an arm around her waist.
‘Edward, I just know I’d love to be married to you,’ she said.
‘Blimey,’ said Edward, ‘then I think I’ll be counting the days myself. You’re a lovely girl, Leah.’
‘Oh, my life,’ she said happily. It didn’t matter to her that Edward wasn’t husky or broad-shouldered or a Clark Gable. She knew, she just knew, he was kind and sincere, and comforting to be with. He was manly and protective, and he belonged to the family that her mother always said was the finest in the land, made so by their remarkable matriarch, Mrs Maisie Adams. Show me, her mother said once, any woman who has given the country three sons more splendid than Boots, Tommy and Sammy Adams.
Loitering GIs whistled at her. She simply walked on with Edward, pushing the problems of their different religions to the back of her
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