Nineteen

When Graham reached his lodgings that evening his landlady, Mrs Hartopp, handed him a letter.

‘It came not ten minutes after you’d left this morning,’ she told him.

She hovered, hoping to hear who it was from and what it was about. He was a young man who didn’t receive many letters, and since she scarcely had any at all it was quite an event for the postman to call.

Graham quickly put her out of her misery. ‘It’s from my father. He has a meeting in Leeds today, so he’s coming to Opal’s tomorrow morning to see me.’

‘Oh, well then! That’ll be nice for you,’ she said.

Will it, Graham wondered? He doubted it, in the circumstances.

‘So I dare say you’ll not be in to your dinner?’

He almost always came home to his dinner on early closing day and she tried to give him something nice, something a bit special.

‘I don’t suppose I shall,’ Graham agreed.

‘Well it’s a pity, because the butcher’s promised me a nice bit of kidney and I was going to make you one of my steak-and-kidney puddings. But there you go, I expect you’ll be living it up with dinner at the King’s Hotel!’

If his meeting with his father went badly, Graham thought, he might not get any dinner at all. His father was capable of simply catching the next train back to London. He was not a man who liked to be crossed.

When Graham had left Miss Opal’s office earlier in the day he had sought out Breda.

‘Can you come for a coffee and a sandwich with me at lunch time?’ he asked her. ‘Not the canteen today. I want to talk to you.’

She scarcely tasted her sandwich while he described what had taken place.

‘But I’m glad you told her,’ she said. ‘About us, I mean. I’m glad to have that bit out of the way, and pleased I’m not going to be sacked!’

‘So tomorrow you’ll meet my father,’ Graham said.

‘Oh Graham! Oh Graham, I’m so nervous! Do you think we should – just yet, I mean?’

‘Of course we should. There’s no point in putting it off. And you mustn’t be nervous. He can’t eat you. And you can hardly marry me without meeting my family, now can you?’

‘I wish I could,’ Breda said. ‘Sure, I wish there was no-one to think about except you and me. Supposing he doesn’t like me?’

‘Of course he’ll like you!’ He spoke with more confidence than he felt, not because of Breda, but because his father was an awkward man, unpredictable.

‘Well there’s one thing certain,’ Breda said. ‘You’ve told Miss Opal, tomorrow aren’t you going to tell your father, so I absolutely must tell Auntie Josie. Hasn’t it been the most terrible thing for me, keeping it from her all this time?’

‘I know. Of course you must.’

‘And tonight. I’m not going to meet your father and leave Auntie Josie in the dark.’

‘Shall I come with you, and we’ll do it together?’

‘No. I’ll be best alone, so.’ She knew her aunt would voice objections. She didn’t want Graham to hear them.

‘She can’t stop you, you know,’ Graham said. ‘Remember that. Nobody can stop us being engaged.’

‘Don’t I know that? But she’s been kind to me and I don’t look forward to upsetting her.’

Wasn’t it lucky, Breda thought, back at Waterloo Terrace, eating her tea, that for once there was only her aunt and uncle at the table, no other member of the family. Grandma Maguire had been collected to take part in a church outing to Harrogate by coach, and wouldn’t be back for another hour or more.

‘Have another scone, Breda love,’ Josephine said. ‘You’re not eating much.’

‘I’m not very hungry,’ Breda said.

‘Are you not well?’ Josephine enquired. ‘You usually whip right through my scones.’

‘’Tis not that. ’Tis . . . ’ Breda faltered, then took a deep breath and came out with it. ‘Graham and I are engaged to be married!’

Brendan all but choked on the piece of scone he had just bitten off. Josephine, raising a cup of tea to her lips, put it down again on the table. They stared at Breda. Brendan was the first to recover. ‘Engaged, is it? So aren’t you the dark horse, then – but congratulations, love!’

‘What are you saying, Brendan?’ Josephine interrupted sharply.

‘I’m saying congratulations! Hasn’t the girl told us she’s engaged to be married? What else would I be saying?’

‘If your wits hadn’t deserted you for the moment you’d be telling her it was highly unsuitable. You’d be giving her some fatherly advice, as she hasn’t got a father of her own to do so.’

Brendan looked at his wife in astonishment. ‘Unsuitable? You like Graham! We all like the lad.’

‘Of course we do. That’s not the point – and our Breda knows it’s not. We’ve discussed this before. And didn’t you . . . ’ She turned to Breda and spoke accusingly. ‘Didn’t you tell me there was nothing in it? You knew that wasn’t the truth, didn’t you?’

‘Hold on, Josie!’ Brendan remonstrated. ‘Don’t be so fierce with the girl. What’s got into you?’

‘Worry’s got into me, that’s what,’ Josephine snapped.

‘Auntie Josie, I’m sorry!’ Breda said. ‘I didn’t mean to deceive you, I didn’t want to, ever. But I couldn’t tell you because of Graham’s father, and he might have taken Graham away, and now he’s coming tomorrow and I’ve got to meet him and I’m so scared, and if you’re going to be cross with me I just don’t know what I’m going to do except that I’ll never give up Graham, nor he me, no matter what anyone says! We love each other and that’s all there is to it!’

She ran out of breath. She had known it wouldn’t be easy but she hadn’t thought it would be quite so awful.

Josephine stretched across the table and took her hand. ‘I’m sorry I was so sharp with you, love, but you’re in my care. And you see, that isn’t all there is to it. He’s not a Catholic and he’s not your class, nor you his. That’s a lot of trouble to take on your shoulders.’

‘We can take it,’ Breda said firmly. ‘We love each other. It won’t be the first mixed marriage in the world and ’tis unlikely to be the last. We’ll work it out. And I know I’m not in his class . . . ’

‘There’s no need to let that worry you,’ Brendan broke in. ‘You’ll manage that all right. You have it in you, and don’t let your aunt or anyone else tell you otherwise. I’ll say here and now, I don’t agree with your aunt on any of this. I’m on your side!’

Who would have supposed, Breda thought, a few months ago, that Uncle Brendan would be on my side in anything? Or that Auntie Josie would be against me?

‘We’re not taking sides,’ Josephine said. ‘And I’ve said my say. You know my views, and I can’t do any less than give them. That much is my duty. But in the end it’s your choice, Breda, and you’ll be the one who has to abide by it!’

‘And I will!’ Breda said. ‘But please don’t be against me, Auntie. I need your support. Haven’t I got to meet Graham’s father tomorrow?’

Sitting in the train on the short journey from Leeds to Leasfield, Henry Prince thought about the meeting he was to have with Opal Carson, and then afterwards with his son. He had known Opal a long time; she was a remarkable woman. How unusual it was that a store so far from London, so far from the centre of things, should be known and respected throughout the retail fashion trade; and even more so that its owner – who had not inherited her business as he had Prince and Harper – was a woman in a man’s world? He took off his hat to her. There was no-one he would choose above Opal to train his son in the groundwork. Opal’s was a model of how a store should be run.

About his son he was less sure. Graham had gone to Opal’s under protest. All he had wanted was to go to the Slade and paint. If I’d offered to support him in that, which I could well have done, Henry Prince thought, he’d never have looked at the retail trade. He’d have been lost to me, we’d have been in two different worlds, and I don’t want that.

From the railway station he walked the mile to Opal’s store. He needed the exercise, but apart from that he had always made a practice of walking through the streets around his own store. You learned more that way than sitting in the back of a taxi cab. He had not been to Opal’s since the beginning of the war. The buildings looked shabbier, in need of a lick of paint, some of them, but there was none of the bomb damage which had so changed the area around his own store.

He reached the main door, but before going in he walked around the windows, studying the displays. Very good, he thought. Not too far short of London standards.

Ten minutes later he was being shown into Opal’s office. She came from behind her desk and held out both hands to him. He thought how attractive she looked. Her black hair was beginning to grey at the sides, but her fresh skin and her trim figure were those of a woman fifteen years younger than he knew her to be.

‘My, but it’s good to see you, Henry! How are you? Would you like some coffee?’ He was putting on weight, she thought. But with his height, he could carry it.

‘I’m very well,’ he said. ‘I won’t have coffee just yet. I had a good north-country breakfast at the hotel.’

‘And how is Miriam? It’s a long time since I saw her. And the family?’

‘All well. And yours?’

‘Also all well. Daniel, as you know, is in London. Emmeline has just gone off to her very first Guide camp.’

‘And Edgar?’

‘Fine. His company is building up again. Insurance took a knock in the war, but he’s picking up now.’

It had taken the threat of war to bring her husband back from Canada to her, but their relationship had quickly found itself again.

‘So,’ Opal said. ‘Would you like Graham to join us right away?’

‘No,’ Henry said. ‘I’d like to hear from you first. I want to know what you think of him – and you can be as frank as you like. It’s no secret that he didn’t want to come here.’

She picked up a file from her desk and took a chair next to Henry Prince. ‘I have reports from all the different parts of the store he’s worked in. I made sure he had as much variety as possible. There isn’t one of them which doesn’t speak well of him. Aside from being hard-working, which he is, he has the knack of getting on well with people.’

Henry took the file from her and began to read through it. ‘Yes,’ he said eventually, ‘it’s quite satisfactory.’

‘More than satisfactory,’ Opal said. ‘You can be proud of him.’

‘The big question is, is he going to be right for the job I have in mind for him? You know that one day he’ll have to take over a big part of the running of Prince and Harper. I don’t intend to work until I drop.’

‘Oh, he’s capable enough,’ Opal said quickly. ‘He’s especially interested in the organization and financial side. But whether . . . ’ She hesitated.

‘Yes?’

‘Whether he wants to do it is another matter. That’s something you’ll have to ask him yourself. I haven’t done so. That’s not my province.’

Nor was it her job to tell Henry Prince about his son’s engagement to Breda O’Connor. That was Graham’s task and she didn’t envy him one bit. She liked Henry Prince, and got on well with him, but he was a hard man, a man who liked his own way. He was not a man she would like to cross. And since Graham had shown determination bordering on obstinacy in the matter of Breda, there was going to be a battle.

‘But what do you think? You must have some idea!’

Opal shook her head. She was not to be drawn. ‘If you’ve finished looking at the reports, why don’t I send for Graham?’

When Graham came into the room Henry Prince rose to his feet and the two men shook hands formally. What a pity, Opal thought, that they can’t get closer. If Graham were my son and I hadn’t seen him for several months I’d put my arms around him. That was the difference between women and men, and the men were the losers, though she felt sure that Graham was of a wanner nature than his father.

‘I’ll leave you to it, then,’ Opal said. ‘If you want me, give my secretary a buzz. She’ll know where to find me.’ She was glad to be out of the way for the next half-hour.

‘Unless you and Graham want to lunch alone, Henry,’ she added, ‘I hope you’ll let me give you lunch. I won’t subject you to the canteen. They do a very good meal at the King’s Hotel.’

‘Well now,’ Henry said when Opal had left them, ‘how have you been getting on?’ He pointed to the file on Opal’s desk. ‘I’ve been through that. It all seems quite satisfactory. And Opal’s pleased with you.’

‘I’m glad,’ Graham said. He had one thing only on his mind, and until he had come out with it he knew he could find no other conversation.

‘So only a week or two before you finish here,’ Henry said. ‘Are you ready to start in Prince and Harper?’

‘It’s not quite so simple,’ Graham said.

‘Why not? It seems simple enough to me. We can discuss where you’d want to start, which department. And if you want a bit of a holiday before you begin, then that’s all right. I know that’s what your mother has in mind. I can’t spare the time, but you could take off with her for a few days.’

He was willing to give and take a bit, but after that he wanted no shilly-shallying.

‘Before we go into that, Father, there’s something I have to say to you.’

Henry Prince felt a stab of annoyance, not only at Graham’s words, but at the determination in his voice. They were in for another argument. He knew what the boy was going to say. He was going to tell him he still didn’t want to go into the business, he still wanted to be a painter.

It was a mad idea, Henry thought, shifting in his chair. He had no time for it, but since Graham had compromised by doing the year’s training, he supposed they’d have to discuss it. He sighed. He would appeal to the lad’s common sense – if he had any.

‘Speak up, then!’ he said trying not to sound irritable. ‘Get it said.’

‘I’m engaged to be married!’ Graham announced.

There was a silence which seemed to Graham to go on for ever. He waited for his father to speak.

‘You are WHAT?’

‘I’m engaged to be married. Her name is Breda O’Connor. I love her; she loves me. We want to be married as soon as it’s possible.’

Graham watched his father’s body stiffen, his face go white with anger. ‘Married!’ He choked over the word.

‘As soon as we can,’ Graham said.

‘Are you telling me you’re forced to be married? You fool! You idiot! What were you thinking of? Well, we’ll soon see to that! I’m not having any son of mine trapped into marriage by a girl with an eye to the main chance! I won’t—’

‘SHUT UP!’ Graham bellowed. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s nothing like that, nothing at all! She’s not that kind of a girl!’

‘Oh indeed? And what kind of a girl is she then, to get pregnant?’

‘Will you stop talking, and listen,’ Graham shouted. Rage gave him the strength to say whatever he wanted to say to this bully of a man. ‘She is not pregnant. Nothing has happened to make her pregnant. She is a lovely, decent, wonderful girl, and I mean to marry her. You can’t stop me, Father. I can do what I like now.’

‘And how will you keep a wife?’ Henry demanded. ‘Tell me that! What kind of living can an amateur painter earn to keep a wife on?’

Graham gave his father a long, hard stare. When he spoke, it was with more calm; he had himself in control now.

‘You’ve jumped the gun there, Father,’ he said. ‘You’ve made another of your assumptions.’

‘What do you mean?’ Henry barked.

‘I had thought that if you accepted Breda in the way I wanted her to be accepted, welcomed her in the way that’s due to her, then I would go into Prince and Harper – I would work hard, I thought, and we’d make a good life. You didn’t give me a chance to say any of that, did you?’

‘I didn’t know . . . ’

‘You didn’t wait to find out, did you? You just bulldozed through, hurling insults right and left. Which makes me think the best thing Breda and I can do is to cut loose. Make our own way.’

‘You must be mad! Tying yourself down!’ Henry said.

‘And before you decide that,’ Graham retorted, ‘you might at least have the decency to meet Breda, see for yourself. However, if that’s your attitude, I’ll leave you. I’ll get back to work.’ He started to walk towards the door.

‘Wait a minute!’ Henry called after him. ‘Don’t be so hasty!’

‘You’re the one who’s being hasty,’ Graham said.

‘I haven’t said I won’t meet the girl,’ Henry blustered. ‘But there’s your mother to think of. What will she say?’

‘She’ll take whatever attitude you push her into.’

‘She’ll naturally be upset. We know nothing of the girl, or her family!’

‘But I do,’ Graham said. ‘I’m satisfied – and I’m the one who’s marrying her. Anyway, you’re not likely to find out!’

‘I haven’t said I wouldn’t meet her.’

‘Unless you can treat her in a decent, civilized manner, I wouldn’t let her near you,’ Graham said.

‘There’s no need for that,’ Henry said, flushing. ‘I know how to mind my manners. You can bring her to meet me this afternoon.’

‘Not unless you promise to behave properly.’

‘I’ve said I will, haven’t I? Where we’ll meet I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Opal.’

‘Well, we certainly don’t want an unseemly row in some café,’ Graham said. ‘And as it’s early closing here the store will be closed.’

‘I’ll arrange something with Opal,’ Henry said.

Graham, still angry – his father was insufferable – strode out of Miss Opal’s office and went back to the desk he now occupied in the Accounts section. He badly wanted to see Breda and he knew she would be eagerly waiting to hear how things had gone, but until he had calmed down he would not seek her out. He opened a ledger and tried to rid his mind of everything except the columns of figures in front of him.

Henry Prince sought out Opal’s secretary in the adjoining room. ‘Can I do something for you, Mr Prince?’ she asked. She had been intrigued by the sounds of battle coming from her boss’s office. It made quite a diversion in her well-ordered routine.

‘If you will,’ Henry said. ‘Miss Opal said you would know where to contact her. I’d like to see her as soon as it’s convenient.’

He returned to Opal’s office and stood by the window, looking down at the street far below. But though he looked, he saw nothing. He was angry and confused, but somewhere in the middle of it all there was a chance of keeping his son – his favourite son, though he would never have confessed that.

When Opal entered he swung around sharply. ‘You knew about this!’ he accused her. ‘You knew all about it and you chose to say nothing.’

‘Sit down, Henry! And calm down! I suppose you’re referring to the fact that Graham’s got himself engaged?’

‘What else would I be referring to?’ he snapped. ‘Why did you let it happen?’

Opal took the seat behind her desk, distancing herself from him. He might bully everyone else, but she would not allow him to bully her.

‘I did not let it happen,’ she objected. ‘Your son is a grown man. Breda O’Connor works for me, and works well. I have no jurisdiction over the private lives of either of them.’

‘When you saw it happening you should have fired her! That would have put a stop to it!’ He was pacing up and down the room.

‘I did not know it was happening,’ Opal said. ‘I knew they were friendly. Did you expect your son not to make friends, even of the opposite sex, in the time he’s been here? I heard of their engagement only yesterday, and in confidence, from Graham himself. He assured me he would tell you as soon as he saw you – and he has.’

‘Then at least you’ll fire her now?’ Henry demanded. That way, Graham would forget her.

‘I will do no such thing,’ Opal said. ‘I choose who I will fire. I don’t choose to fire Breda O’Connor. She’s done nothing to deserve it, and in any case, Graham is due to leave soon.’

‘Which he says he won’t do without this girl in tow!’

‘What do you expect?’ Opal asked. ‘They’re in love. They want to marry. Now Henry, will you for heaven’s sake stop pacing up and down. If you want me to do anything at all – if indeed there’s anything I can do or would do – then let’s sit down and talk sensibly.’

He sat down. ‘You can tell me what she’s like,’ he said.

‘With pleasure. She’s a nice, well-brought-up Irish girl. She’s fairly newly over from Ireland, not well off, I imagine. Not well educated but as bright as a button. And she has character.’ And however nervous she is, Opal thought, I reckon she won’t let you bully her!

‘Irish!’ Henry said. ‘So she’s a Catholic? He didn’t tell me that!’

‘I imagine so. I don’t know. That’s another thing I don’t interfere in, the religion of my employees. Do you, may I ask?’

‘No,’ Henry growled. ‘But if Graham has his way, she’ll be family. It won’t make things easier.’

‘I’m sure they’ll work it out – if there’s anything to be worked out. Why don’t you just meet the girl instead of condemning her unseen?’

‘I’ve said I will. This afternoon. And that’s another thing. Where can we meet? Some hotel lounge, I suppose, but it doesn’t seem suitable.’

‘It wouldn’t be,’ Opal agreed. ‘Especially not with you in this mood. But that’s something I can solve. As soon as I’ve given you lunch I’m off to Hebghyll with my brother-in-law, George Soames. You remember meeting him? He’s my General Manager. We have a bit of business in Hebghyll.’

If Henry Prince hadn’t been in such a pig-headed mood she might have told him what it was, but not now.

‘So the three of you can meet in my house,’ she offered. ‘My housekeeper will look after you, give you a meal before you go back this evening – if that’s when you’re leaving. George and I will drop you there on our way to Hebghyll, introduce you to Mrs Foster. Graham and Breda can join you later.’

‘Very well then,’ Henry agreed, though reluctantly. ‘And thank you. I’ll see if I can’t talk some sense into the young man.’

Opal sighed. ‘You’re going the wrong way about it. If I were you, Henry, I’d try meeting them with an open mind. You might even think, if you let yourself get to know her, that Breda O’Connor is a very good thing to have happened to Graham. You might be quite surprised. Now shall we just let Graham know the arrangements and then I’ll take you off to lunch?’

A little later Graham found Breda and told her what was to happen. ‘I’ll call for you at Waterloo Terrace at half-past three. We’ll get the bus to Miss Opal’s.’

‘Oh Graham, do you think ’tis going to be all right?’ Breda asked anxiously.

‘The important thing is that everything is all right between you and me, and always will be. Nothing can alter that. Not my father, not anyone. The rest can be settled later.’

When the store closed at one o’clock Breda rushed home, washed and dried her hair and brushed it until it shone like red silk.

‘What shall I wear?’ she asked Josephine. ‘Not that I have a lot of choice.’

‘Well, it’s a nice warm summer’s day so you can wear a summer dress. Your pale blue cotton is nice.’

‘But is it smart enough?’

‘Of course it is. You look lovely in it. In any case, no point in trying to be something you’re not. Just be yourself, love. That’s good enough for all the Mr Henry Princes in the world.’

When Graham came he echoed Josephine’s words. ‘You look gorgeous!’

‘Not too much lipstick?’

‘Just right, except that I’d like to kiss it off – and I will later on.’

His thoughts were not as jaunty as his words. Unless his father’s mood had changed since this morning, there would be fireworks.

‘Don’t let my father rattle you,’ he said. ‘I think he’ll be all right, but if he’s awkward, if he upsets you, we shall just walk right out on him.’

Sitting on the bus, Breda thought how excited she would be, going to visit Miss Opal’s house, if only it was in different circumstances. She had a deep curiosity about the inside of people’s homes.

Mrs Foster answered the door and showed them into the large, comfortably furnished sitting room. Henry Prince rose to meet them.

‘Father, let me introduce Breda O’Connor, my fiancée.’

He knew by the flash of steel in his father’s eyes that he had said the wrong thing, but he had said it on purpose. He wanted everything plain from the beginning, no beating about the bush.

Henry recognized what his son was doing. He stifled his spurt of anger. It was, after all, what he himself might have done in the circumstances. Graham had more grit in him than he would once have given him credit for. His wife, he knew, would say that the son had inherited the father’s stubbornness.

He held out his hand to Breda.

‘Good afternoon, Miss O’Connor. Won’t you sit down?’ He was every inch the polite, well-mannered man of business.

‘Good afternoon, Mr Prince,’ Breda said.

She perched uncomfortably on the edge of an easy chair – there was not a single straight-backed chair to be seen – and was greatly relieved when Graham sat on the broad arm of the same chair. His nearness gave her confidence.

Henry Prince took the seat opposite. So it was to be like that, was it, he asked himself? The two of them indivisible, he thought. A united front against him.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘we all know why we’re here, don’t we, so let’s not beat about the bush! My son tells me, Miss O’Connor, that you and he are engaged to be married!’

Breda looked him straight in the eye. ‘Indeed we are, Mr Prince.’

‘Well, in my opinion you are both far too young—’

‘We’ve gone into this before, Father,’ Graham interrupted. ‘I’m of age.’

‘I was speaking to the young lady,’ Henry said smoothly. No matter what, he wouldn’t lose his temper.

‘And ’tis I will answer,’ Breda said. ‘I’m sorry you think that, Mr Prince, but I don’t agree with you. We are both very sure about each other.’

‘And you realize my son could not possibly keep a wife? If he persists in his artistic dreams he will have nothing. If he goes into the family business, of course he will have a job, but he will earn very little in the first few years. I don’t believe in paying for inexperience. But being in love, I don’t suppose you’ve thought of these things?’

‘I don’t like to be contradicting you,’ Breda said, ‘but of course we have. Whatever Graham decides to do, I will stand beside him. If he wants to be a painter, then, for as long as that’s necessary, I will be the one to earn the money for the two of us. ’Twill be the same if he goes into your business. I will either make do on what he earns or I will take a job myself. I am not afraid of work. And the choice of what he does is his.’

She looked afraid of nothing, Henry thought, sitting there so upright.

‘And you’ve thought that you might have to live in London? It’s all very different.’

‘I have so. I wouldn’t choose it, but I’ve already come from Ireland. I left my home there, where I’d lived all my life. ’Twas the most difficult thing I ever did. So I suppose I could put up with a few more miles. After all, I would be with Graham, and that’s what counts, not where I am.’

As the words came out of her, so her last remaining scrap of fear left her. She held up her hand and Graham took it in his. It was true what she had just said. Nothing mattered as long as she was with Graham. What was more, she realized that this man sitting opposite to them, no matter how important he was in his own world, could never come between them.

Henry shook his head. He felt almost bewildered, an emotion hitherto unknown to him. He could not have believed, an hour or two ago, that he would be beaten. But he was. He had not reckoned on this gutsy Irish girl, who also had enough charm to tempt the ducks off the water. She and his son made a formidable pair.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘I admire your loyalty, young lady. Graham can count himself lucky on that score. But I still think you’re far too young to be married. Marry in haste, repent at leisure. True and wise words.’

‘We had not thought of marrying in haste,’ Breda said. Her voice was gentler now. She knew she had won this round. ‘We have not set a date.’

‘But we don’t want to wait too long,’ Graham said.

‘We will marry when we are ready to set up home together,’ Breda said. ‘Not before.’

‘Well, Miss O’Connor, it’s true I can’t prevent you and my son being engaged, but I’d like you to promise me you won’t rush into marriage.’

‘Sure we’ll not do that,’ Bredà said. ‘And could you please call me “Breda”?’

‘I shall have to break the news to your mother,’ Henry said to Graham. ‘And I would have liked to have met your family,’ he said to Breda. It was something his wife would certainly want to know about.

‘If you can stay a little longer you could meet my aunt and uncle tomorrow,’ Breda said. She put the thought of him encountering Grandma Maguire swiftly out of her mind.

‘I’m afraid I can’t do that,’ Henry said. ‘I have to be back.’

There was a silence.

‘Well then, perhaps now would be the time to have that cup of tea Mrs Foster promised us,’ Henry said.

Graham and Breda left soon after tea. Henry stood in the window and watched them walk down the drive together, arm in arm. For a moment he envied them – so sure of themselves and each other. Perhaps Opal was right. Perhaps Graham had done himself a good turn when he’d chosen this girl. And if she persuaded him to stay in the business, then he would have her to thank for that. In any case, he could not but like her, though it would take every bit of her determination and charm to cope with life in London. She was, after all, a simple Irish girl. Yet perhaps not so simple, he thought.

The two of them had been gone no more than an hour when Opal returned.

‘I didn’t expect you,’ Henry said. ‘I thought I’d have left for my train before you returned.’

‘I wanted to be back,’ Opal told him. ‘How did it all go?’

‘Well, you were right about the girl. And you were right that there’s very little I can do. An obstinate pair.’

‘I’d say determined rather than obstinate.’

‘I don’t know how she’ll fit in in London,’ Henry said doubtfully. ‘I don’t know what Miriam will say to it all.’

‘I have been wondering . . . ’ Opal began.

‘What?’

‘Would it be a good idea if Graham were to stay on longer, a few more months? There’s still a lot for him to learn, plenty we could teach him before he goes back to you. And it would give Breda a chance. I think she deserves that.’

It was only part of the idea forming in her mind, but now was not the time to tell Henry Prince.

‘I don’t know. I shall have to think about that, see what Miriam says. She misses him.’