But the rector’s sermon was one of thanksgiving, though the darker side of the war was acknowledged in a personal and compassionate way.
‘Our thoughts go out to all families who’ve suffered the loss of friends and families in the bombing, and to those whose sons, husbands and fathers have not returned from the fighting; some of you are here with us on this Christmas morning.’ He looked around at the congregation that filled St Peter’s, and continued, ‘And there are those who have welcomed their servicemen home but have had re-adjustments to make. There are the men who came home maimed or scarred in some way.’ He did not look at Jack Nuttall, but his hearers knew his meaning. ‘And there have been fine young men broken in health by starvation and ill treatment in prison camps.’ He paused, and Isabel knew that he was thinking of her brother Ernest’s adopted son Jonny, who would be worshipping with the family in a synagogue. ‘And there have been men of extraordinary courage in defending our shores who have succumbed to temptations in peacetime, and drifted away from their sorrowing parents.’ They all knew that he spoke of the Allinghams who had moved away from North Camp. ‘We must pray for them all, my friends, as we give thanks for our own blessings. Let us kneel now, here in the Lord’s presence.’
On her knees Isabel Neville rejoiced from her heart that this first post-war Christmas at Hassett Manor was surely the happiest ever.
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About the Author
Born in Hampshire, MAGGIE BENNETT worked as a nurse and midwife until her retirement in 1991. Having been an avid reader and scribbler since childhood, she first began to approach her writing seriously after her husband’s death in 1983. She enjoyed modest success with articles and short stories before the publication of a medical romance in 1992, which won that year’s RNA New Writers’ Award. She wrote six more before turning to mainstream fiction in 1996. Maggie has two grown-up daughters and a grandson, and lives in Suffolk.
By Maggie Bennett
The Carpenter’s Children
A Family’s Duty
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
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First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2013.
This ebook edition published by Allison & Busby in 2013.
Copyright © 2013 by MAGGIE BENNETT
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–1383–7
A Family's Duty Page 28