The waitress departed, and Alice decided that this might be a good moment to share her news. She reached for the teapot.
‘I’ll pour,’ she said, slipping off her gloves.
But before she could begin to fill even half a cup, Fay nearly jumped off her chair.
‘Flippin’ ’eck, Alice,’ she exclaimed, leaning right across to stare at Alice’s hand. ‘What is that on your finger? And why the hell haven’t you spilt the beans before this?’
Now Eve joined in. ‘Alice…you’re engaged! When…how…I mean, I – we – had no idea! Is the wedding going to be soon?’
Alice glanced around quickly to see if anyone was listening. ‘Shhh,’ she said, ‘no need to tell the whole of Bristol, Evie.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I didn’t tell you because it’s all happened so quickly. I’ve only been engaged for a couple of weeks – and I’m still getting used to it.’ She went on filling their cups, her hands visibly shaking. Well, they always shook when she was excited. And Alice was certainly excited today to share her wonderful news with her two best friends.
For the next few moments, all thought of food was forgotten as the other two bent their heads over Alice’s ring, both murmuring their total admiration of the beautiful diamond. And today it seemed lovelier than ever in the discreet lighting of the tea room. Then Fay looked up at Alice, her face serious for a second.
‘And is this the man of your dreams, Alice?’ she said quietly. ‘The man who’s possessed your heart for most of your life?’ She didn’t mention those letters of his which she’d seen Alice reading, and which she knew Alice treasured above all else.
Alice nodded happily. ‘It is, Fay,’ she said. ‘It’s Sam. Sam Carmichael. And his proposal came as a complete surprise – or should I say shock! He’d asked me to go to their Clifton house where he was staying temporarily, to discuss something he needed an answer to. And it turned out he wanted to ask me to marry him! But he wasn’t sure that any woman could bear to be a surgeon’s wife – with all the pressures, the long hours, and absences when he wouldn’t be there.’ Alice leaned forward. ‘The funny thing is – I thought he was talking about Millicent – his cousin – you know, the woman we saw him with at The Ritz? But he wasn’t talking about her – he said she’d never been anything to him but his cousin, and that he has always loved me. Me!’ Alice shook her head slowly. ‘I still can’t believe it,’ she added.
‘Well blow me down,’ Fay said. ‘Why on earth didn’t the silly blighter come out with it sooner and save you all the heartache? Honestly, men! Still,’ she looked at Alice, thinking how beautiful the girl looked in that rather nice grey cashmere dress. She’d swept up her hair, as usual, Fay noted, but it was more casual today, with several dainty fronds left loose to follow the contours of her face. Alice had never done her hair like that before, and it suited her.
‘Anyway, better late than never I suppose,’ Fay went on, ‘and if you ask me, he’s a lucky beggar to be marrying you, Alice, whoever he is.’ She paused to drink from her cup. ‘So – when are we going to get a look at this Adonis may I enquire? And when’s the happy day? Not too soon, I hope,’ she added, ‘because I’ve chipped a nail and it won’t look good for several weeks.’
For a while after that they began to really enjoy their tea, and presently, when all the sandwiches had been eaten and they’d begun to tuck into the cakes, Alice said –
‘The wedding’s not until December, so you’ll have plenty of time for your nail to grow, Fay, but…’ she paused for a moment, ‘but to be perfectly honest, the thought of everything that’s ahead of me, all the planning and arranging, is already giving me nightmares.’ Alice paused before drinking from her cup. Should she share anything else with the others…the stupid anxieties that had begun to creep in? Like whether she could really be the wife Sam might expect, or whether she was ever going to fit in as a Carmichael? Deciding against confiding in them, Alice went on – ‘I mean – how soon should I give in my notice – don’t forget that when I leave, I’ll lose my home as well as my job…and where shall I get my dress – if there are any worth looking at in the shops – and will I have enough coupons and enough money to pay for my share of things?’ She shivered. ‘I’m feeling panicky already and there are still nine months to go.’
‘Oh for Gawd’s sake, Alice, don’t be so wet!’ Fay said crossly. ‘Me and Evie’ll help you sort out all your problems. So stop going on – and pass me one of those iced things.’
Alice decided to change the subject. Passing the cakes over to Fay, she said, ‘How are your mother, and your grandmother, Fay? Are they still living together in Brislington?
‘Yep – thankfully, ‘Fay said, ‘in fact, my mother recovered from my father’s death very quickly – and seems happier than I’ve ever seen her. But of course, that’s thanks to my gran,’ she went on, ‘because she’s encouraged my mum to join the local church with her where there’s a little club for older people, and they have whist drives and the occasional tea party…and twice last year they all went on a charabanc outing to Weston and Cheddar…they really enjoyed that.’
Fay looked pensive for a moment. Then, ‘Yes, my mum seems to have come right out of herself…more alive to what’s going on. And I’m so thankful to see her happy. Because that makes me happy, too,’ she added.
Alice kept her eyes on her plate. There it was again, loud and clear. Family. People to care about, and who care about you. She didn’t know whether Fay had any other relatives but she still had her mother and grandmother. And Eve had both her parents, still there and going strong by all accounts. While she, Alice, had absolutely no one left at all. She suddenly felt very alone, and it frightened her…but how silly was that? Because she’d been “alone” for many years, hadn’t she? But she couldn’t help it. Even though her longed-for wish had come true, she was frightened at the thought of all that went with becoming Sam’s wife, and it was making her feel like a very small boat being tossed about in a vast sea of uncertainty.
Annoyed, Alice gritted her teeth. This introspection had to stop. She reached over to re-fill Eve’s cup, and glanced across at Fay.
‘We haven’t heard all about your driving lessons yet, Fay,’ Alice said.
Fay grinned. ‘Well, they were a bit of a laugh, really,’ she said, ‘because of course we had very little petrol. Miss Downs’s ration didn’t go that far, so a lot of stuff I learned off-road, on her drive! There was just enough room to practise the three-point-turns, and her house is on a bit of a slope so we didn’t have to go far to do the hill-starts. Anyway, Miss Downs said I was a natural.’ Fay smirked. ‘The last bit of advice she gave me was not to get fresh with the examiner on the day. As if I would! So there you have it – driving’s a piece of cake – and you two should learn, as well,’ she added. ‘It’s as important for a woman to be able to drive as it is for any man to do it – after all, a lot of the trucks and ambulances during the war were driven by women – and more and more of us will have our own cars one day, you’ll see. There’ll be as many women behind the wheel as men in the future – and it won’t be long coming, either.’
The others nodded, Eve slightly anxious at the thought of being in charge of anything that had an engine, and Fay went on, ‘See, one of the reasons I wanted to have a car was to that I could take my mum and my gran out sometimes…out in the country. My gran used to live near Chew Magna when she was a child, and she’s going to love being taken around her old haunts.’ Fay paused. ‘I love my gran…she’s been so good to me,’ she added.
‘And have you joined the Young Conservatives, yet, Fay? Eve asked,