Hugh pressed her head to his shoulder and caressed her hair. “Yes, you can. And soon.”
“We thought a gradual reintroduction would be best,” Mr. Randolph said. “It may take a while, but when Teddy—when Theo is ready...”
As Hugh stroked her hair, a new peace filled her heart, not the sad peace of before, but a peace that soared.
She opened her eyes, prying apart damp eyelashes, and she sent Mr. Randolph a soft smile. “If he chooses to come withme someday, I want—I insist that you and your wife continue to serve as his uncle and aunt.”
He blinked, and his cheeks agitated. “We—I don’t deserve—”
“Yes, you do. And Teddy—that’s the name he knows—Teddy deserves to have you in his life. A child can never have too many people who love him, yes?”
Mr. Randolph mashed his lips together and nodded.
Aleida patted Hugh’s leg, raised her head, and went to the tea cart. “And now, Mr. Randolph, please call me Aleida, for we shall be lifelong friends. Milk? Sugar?”
A smile twitched on his lips. “Milk, please. And call me Julian.”
After Aleida served the tea, she took her seat. A wide and genuine smile unfurled across her face. “Please tell me all about Teddy.”
Julian took a sip. “May I say that he is simply the brightest and sweetest-natured child to ever walk this earth?”
“Yes,” Aleida said. “You may.”
47
BUNTINGFORD
FRIDAY, MAY23, 1941
After the servants cleared the dinner dishes at Collingwood Manor, Mother stood. “Shall we adjourn to the sitting room?”
Hugh rose and offered his uninjured hand to Aleida.
She stood and gave his parents an apologetic smile. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to retire early. I had ARP duty last night, I worked today, and tomorrow...”
Hugh squeezed her hand. Tomorrow she’d see her son for the first time in a year.
“Please do, my dear. Your room is prepared for you.” Mother kissed Aleida on the cheek and gripped her shoulders. “I can’t tell you how pleased we are that you and Hugh will marry.”
“I’m rather pleased too.” Aleida gave Hugh a playful smile.
He walked her to the stairs, with his parents behind him. “Good night, darling.” He kissed his fiancée’s cheek, only proper, but hardly satisfactory.
“Good night, my love.”
He watched her climb the stairs. At the top, she blew a kiss,and he caught it. Not satisfactory at all, not when he knew the delights of the real thing.
In the sitting room, he and his parents sat by the fireplace, with a crackling fire battling the day’s rain and chill.
Neither of his parents picked up a book and they disdained the wireless, but Hugh had gathered topics of conversation for such an emergency.
Now that the Nazis had conquered Greece and invaded Crete, everyone whispered about a summer invasion of Britain. Would the air raids intensify again? But this spring, RAF night fighters had roamed the skies with some secret means of seeing in the dark, and the Luftwaffe bombers paid a high price.
Hugh’s instincts told him Hitler had lost the will to attack Britain.
“We do like Aleida,” Mother said with a warm smile. “Such a lovely young woman, and so bright and sensible.”
Hugh much preferred discussing his fiancée to the war. “She is indeed, and so much more.”
