‘Where did that come from?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know. It just occurred to me that perhaps because it would be different for Evelyn if your father had never left your mother. Is the subject out of bounds? If so, I apologise.’
‘Not particularly,’ he said, still frowning. ‘It’s more that I don’t give my father much thought these days.’
Hope, who had given her own father a lot of thought recently, said, ‘What would you do if he did show up out of the blue?’
‘I’d ask him why. Why he agreed to the terms my mother specified for their separation: that she would only allow a divorce if he agreed to support us financially but never saw us again. It seems cowardly on his part to have walked away without more of a fight.’
‘Perhaps he was actually being brave,’ Hope said after a moment’s thought. ‘It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make. One thing I’ve come to realise is that we really don’t know how we’ll react when we’re faced with our worst nightmare. Or confronted with a challenge we think is beyond us.’
‘You’re thinking of Dieter, aren’t you?’
‘And Annelise.’
‘This may be an indelicate question, but have you thought what you’ll do if her parents don’t make it through the war?’
‘Some days it’s all I ever think of. And then I think, what if they do make it and I have to give Annelise back? She’s become such an important part of my life now. I’d miss her terribly.’
‘You’d get back to drawing again, though, wouldn’t you?’
Hope smiled shyly. ‘And that’s where you’re wrong. I’ve been drawing since Christmas Eve.’
‘You dark horse, you!’
Her smile broadened. ‘It’s down to Romily; she asked me to produce a sketch of Stanley’s dog for him as a Christmas present, and the funny thing was, although I started it reluctantly, once I got going, I couldn’t stop. I’ve drawn so many pictures of Bobby now, Stanley has practically wallpapered his room with them!’
Edmund smiled. ‘That’s wonderful. I hated the thought of you casting aside your talent. Are you going to let your publisher know that you’re back in the saddle?’
‘There’s not much point. Once I return to London, I’ll be solely responsible for Annelise again and won’t have time.’
Edmund stared at her, his blue eyes serious. ‘It needn’t be that way,’ he said. ‘After all, you trust Florence, Romily and Mrs Partridge to look after her here; why not find somebody you really like and trust in London?’
‘I told you, I tried it and it didn’t work. I just couldn’t settle. I kept worrying about Annelise.’
‘Then there’s only one solution as far as I can see: you have to stay here at Island House.’
Hope rolled her eyes. ‘Oh don’t you start. I’ve had Romily slyly suggesting that ever since I arrived. She seems to think London doesn’t suit me.’
‘I’m inclined to agree with her,’ Edmund said with a small smile.
‘So that’s what the two of you were discussing earlier when I was trapped in the hall with the wretched Reverend Tate! Did she put you up to this? I might have known.’
‘Not at all,’ he said with a laugh. ‘It was Kit we were discussing. I was saying how envious I was that he was learning to fly, and Romily surprised me by saying she holds a pilot’s licence herself. Did you know that?’
‘Yes, I did, and surely by now you must have realised that there’s nothing about Romily that should surprise you.’
‘That’s true. She was also saying that a friend of hers is hoping to join the Air Transport Auxiliary. Apparently after much persuasion, the ATA have accepted that they’re going to have a shortage of pilots, and so women with the right amount of flying time under their belts will be allowed to ferry military aircraft around the country.’
‘Do you think Romily might leap at the chance to join her friend?’ Hope could well imagine her stepmother doing exactly that. She could also imagine how different Island House would feel without her presence. It was strange how easily the house had become hers, and odder still, how right that felt. It was as if Romily had somehow made it into the home it had never before been.
‘You know her better than I do,’ answered Edmund, ‘but I wouldn’t be surprised if she did. But never mind Romily. I have to say this to you, Hope. Whenever I saw you in London, you didn’t look well or happy to me. Whereas here, you look infinitely better, much more your old self, like the girl I remember when we were children and running amok in the meadows!’
Hope smiled. ‘Is that your professional diagnosis, Dr Flowerday?’
‘It’s my opinion as an old friend. Why not consider staying at Island House until the war is over? Would it be so very bad?’
‘This is Romily’s house and I’m a guest here,’ she said, thinking that Edmund wasn’t only an old friend; he was one of her very few friends. As a child, she had always preferred the solitude of her own company, or that of Kit, a habit she had maintained into adulthood. Dear Kit, she thought with a sudden rush of affection, wishing he was here to see the new year in with them all.
