He would come back, after all. This would be a different kind of parting from those of the war years. Robert would build his dams and then come home again. And in the meantime he would leave Barbara behind to give her grandmother, like everyone else in the family, a window to the future.
From the door of Westminster Abbey came the clear, poignant sound of a bugle playing the Last Post. Margaret could see tears on many of the faces around her, but she lifted her own head high in a determination to be happy. Frisca still needed her love and support and for Grant and little Barbara she would for many years be the only family they could call their own.
I am a lucky woman, Margaret told herself – for what pleasure would retirement have had to offer with nothing to do? When the crowd began to disperse she put her arm round Robert’s waist, hugging him gently; and as he looked down at her she accepted all his plans by her smile. The war had cast a long shadow, and perhaps she had been slow to recover from its pains and partings. But it had ended two years ago, and it was time to free herself of its fears, to step out of the gloom and into the sunshine. It was good that her son should look into the future and see only peace and happiness ahead.
To the memory of my father
Bernard Newman
This electronic edition published in 2011 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
Copyright © Margaret Potter 1980
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ISBN: 9781448204052
eISBN: 9781448203468
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