Truly, Madly, Deeply. Romantic Association Novelist's

will be cycling with the Clarion Club until teatime.’ So will Jacob, she thought, and dreamed for a moment about seeing his tanned smiling face and bright blue eyes when he returned.

      ‘There’ll be a Clarion Club in every town soon,’ Father commented.

      ‘Well, so many folk have bicycles nowadays. Sally and I have been asked to help with teas at the Mission Hall. They’re busy on a Sunday with all the cyclists as well as the ramblers.’

      ‘Haven’t you enough to do here, after a week at the mill?’

      More than enough, Meg thought. She never grumbled, as a rule. She had gone to work in the mill as soon as she left school. The hours were long but the money was good and sometimes she and Sally got best quality cloth cheaper than from the market because the loom had produced a flaw in the bolt and it couldn’t be sold to a warehouse. She made most of her own clothes and looked forward to wearing her new blouse this afternoon.

      ‘We are raising money for the chapel roof,’ she explained.

      He couldn’t argue with that, she thought, but he sounded disgruntled. ‘I see. What time will you be back?’

      Meg’s heart sank. She decided to stand her ground. Father would have to get his own tea today. ‘I don’t know. We might go for a walk by the river afterwards.’ With Robert and Jacob, she added silently.

      Father made a grunting noise in his throat and Meg hoped he wasn’t going to be difficult. She stifled her mounting impatience and went on, ‘I’ve made your favourite lemon curd tarts. I’ll leave them on the kitchen table under a tea cloth. There’s a full kettle on the range and I’ve put the tea in the pot ready for you.’

      ‘You’ve made up your mind then.’

      ‘Don’t be like that, Father. I don’t go out in the week. By the time I’ve walked home from the mill, cooked a meal and tidied round, it’s too late to do anything.’ Not that there was anywhere to go in their small market town