Rainy Days for the Harpers’ Girls
It’s war boys!
Rosie Clarke
Contents
1
Could it really be almost two years since Harpers Oxford Street Store came into existence? Ben Harper opened one eye and watched as the wife he adored eased herself up from the sitting position she’d assumed on the floor. Sally had taken up a form of yoga to calm herself and bring health to her and her unborn child, due sometime in the first weeks of June that year, and, at first amused, Ben now enjoyed watching her as she breathed deeply and performed the gentle exercise routine she’d set for herself. She was so beautiful, the line of her arms serene and elegant as she went through the positions she’d taught herself from her library book. His wonderful Sally, the wife he’d never thought could be his, and now his reason for being.
Married the previous September, it was early March 1914 now and they’d been man and wife for nearly six months. She’d fallen for their first child soon after their wedding and was blossoming with every day that passed. Ben knew that he was fortunate to have her and, although the thought of being a father scared him, it also thrilled him. He would have his own son or daughter to follow on and inherit the store one day. Ben was filled with a desire to make Harpers the most magnificent emporium in London’s wonderful Oxford Street. Life was so good it terrified him, because he couldn’t believe his luck would last.
Sally had reminded him three weeks ago that the second anniversary of the store’s opening was coming up that month. Not that Ben had forgotten, but he’d let her think it, because he knew she had so many plans and he’d wanted to hear them. She and Marco, their talented and brilliant window dresser, had been planning the windows in secret for weeks.
A slight frown creased his brow, because he wasn’t sure his artistic friend had yet recovered from the loss of his young lover and companion, Julien. Theirs had been a deep and close relationship and Julien’s death was a tragedy. The more so because it was caused by a father whose pride wouldn’t let him understand that his son was different – and that was all it was really, Ben thought. Julien’s father had let his old-school morals and fear of scandal overrule his love for his son and now bitterly regretted it, though he blamed Marco. Ben wanted to shake the man and make him see sense, make him forget his stiff-necked pride, but he supposed that the family reputation would not allow it. If Julien’s father admitted the truth, then he must take responsibility for his son’s death.
Yet why had his prejudice caused him to ruin both his son’s and Marco’s lives? Ben pondered the question. People were not the same to look at, so why should they feel the same when it came to falling in love? Attitudes were changing and many would no longer condemn such a love, no longer see it as black and white. Ben did not understand why Marco had loved a young man rather than a girl, but he knew that love was real