‘You have grown so much in such a short time, Hettie,’ John had told her, ‘and it seems to me that in doing so you have fulfilled my worst fears.’
‘What do you mean?’ Hettie had asked him uncertainly.
‘As a young man I waited impatiently for you to grow up, Hettie, so that I could tell you of my love for you. But once you did begin to grow up I became fearful that you would grow beyond me. That was why I didn’t want you to sing. And now you have grown beyond me…’
‘No, you must not say that,’ Hettie had told him emotionally. ‘I have always loved you, John. I have always loved you,’ she had repeated, her eyes widening as she realised the truth of her own words.
And now, like her, John was choosing to make his life in Preston. She had known that before anyone else.
John exhaled contentedly as Tom let him in. Gideon and Ellie’s house had always been a second home to him. Six months ago he would have rejected the very idea of Hettie being able to take over the running of this house from Ellie so expertly that everything was just as his sister would have wanted. But she had done so, and with a mature serenity that had seemed like an oasis of heavenly calm to him after the intensity and trauma of Polly’s death and Ellie’s illness.
The hallway smelled of beeswax polish and fresh flowers and sunshine.
Whilst Ellie gave Hannah her bottle, the baby fixed her gaze unwaveringly on Hettie.
But Hannah was not her child, no matter how much she loved the baby, Hettie reminded herself. Determinedly she stood up.
‘I’d better go down to the kitchen. Mrs Jennings wants to see me about something.’
As she opened the door she heard Hannah crying for her and her small cry wrenched at Hettie’s whole body.
But Hannah was Ellie’s and now that Ellie was so much better it was time for Hannah to be reunited with her true mother.
Even so, Hettie had to blink the tears from her eyes as she hurried down the stairs, so intent on her own thoughts that she didn’t see John until she had almost reached the hallway.
When she did, she had to stop and place her hand over her heart because it was beating so fast.
‘John, we were just talking about you…’
‘Good things, I hope?’ He paused and then began urgently, ‘Hettie, there is something I want…’
The front door suddenly opened and Ellie and Gideon’s two sons, along with John and Ellie’s younger brother Philip, burst into the hall.
‘Hettie, they’re putting notices up about the Bank Holiday fair. We’re going to shoot at the firing range, and win some prizes. Hettie, will you come with us? Hettie, can we…’
‘Goodness, what a noise.’ Hettie laughed. ‘And as for the fair and the firing range, you will have to ask your father. He is out at the moment.’
‘Then we will go up and ask Mam.’
‘If you go down to the kitchen now I dare say you might be able to persuade Mrs Jennings to give you a piece of the fresh gingerbread she has just made, and then you can ask your father about the fair when he comes back.’
‘Clever,’ John remarked once they had gone.
Hettie laughed. ‘I love them so, but Mam still needs to rest.’
John reached out and took hold of her hands. ‘Hettie, this is probably neither the time nor the place but I cannot wait to ask you any longer. Dearest girl, do you think if I am very patient you could one day come to return the love I have for you?’
‘Oh John, I told you, I love you already,’ she said softly, adding simply, ‘In fact, I do truly believe I have always loved you, only I was too silly to know it.’ Hettie paused and looked up at him. ‘I cannot regret what I have done, though, or what I have learned.’
‘Nor would I want you to,’ John told her. ‘Life is changing, Hettie. Our lives are so very different from the lives of our parents. And you and I …We have known and seen things beyond the experience of even those closest to us. We have left the world of our childhood and gone out into a newer, different world. But now we have come back with all that we have learned.
‘I love you, Hettie,’ he told her thickly.
‘And I you, John.’
‘And you will be my wife?’
‘I will.’
She was as eager to be in his arms as he was to have her there, and it was only the sound of Richard’s voice as he exclaimed, ‘Philip, John and Hettie are kissing!’ that finally drew them apart.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following for their invaluable help:
Lynne Drew, who has supported and encouraged me so marvellously.
Maxine Hitchcock, my truly wonderful editor who has the patience of a hundred saints, and who has held my hand through the births of Ellie, Connie and now Hettie.
Samantha Bell for her skilled copy-editing.
Everyone at HarperCollins who has made it possible for Hettie to reach publication safely.
Tony, who does so much of my research for me.
My writing friends, whose support and kindness means so very much to me.
But most of all my thanks to my readers. Author, editor, publishers, researchers – we are all part of a team that creates a book, but you, the reader, via your enjoyment of it are the one who breathes life into it.
About the author
HETTIE OF HOPE STREET
Annie Groves lives in the North West and has done so all of her life. Like her first two sagas, Ellie Pride and Connie’s Courage, Hettie of Hope Street takes place in the tumultuous years leading up to, during, and after the First World War. Annie has drawn upon her own family’s history, picked up from listening to her grandmother’s stories when she was a child, for inspiration.
Also by Annie Groves
Ellie Pride
Connie’s Courage
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2005
Copyright © Annie Groves 2005
Annie Groves asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-39207-0
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