Edie reached out and grabbed Theo’s cane-holding arm and as she fell she flung her leg unreasonably high in the air, taking advantage of Beth’s clumsiness and giving him the opportunity to notice the shortness of her skirt and the fineness of her ankle once more.
It was her last hope.
He caught her swiftly.
‘Steady there,’ he said putting his hat back on, amused by her efforts.
‘Thank you, I don’t know what happened, my shoe must have caught on a stone,’ said Edie as she removed her hand from his arm. He immediately felt stung by the removal of her touch.
‘No, it was my fault, I fell,’ said Beth quickly, but neither of them took any notice of her.
So she shrugged and said, ‘I’ll just see where Mister and Missus Cottingham are,’ and walked off.
Theo scratched behind his ear. His hat wobbled on his head.
‘Did you kill anyone in Africa?’ Edie asked seriously. ‘It would be awfully exciting and mysterious if you did.’ Then she scolded herself and whispered, ‘Stupid stupid — too forthright.’ She looked miserable, sure she would lose him now, and his heart leapt higher.
‘I’m sorry, I’m too forthright — just ask Missus Blackmarsh — she’ll warn you soon enough,’ she said and stared at the ground, willing it to open up and swallow her.
Yet this was a question Theo got asked frequently by curious people who had no idea what war was. He had an answer prepared: A man does what he has to do for his country and his king. But that answer wouldn’t do for Edie. She was a person who demanded honesty. He looked down at his arms and wondered what it would be like to wrap her up in them. He knew what it was like to wrap up a naked woman, to cover her body with his own, to feel her warmth and softness, to know that a woman could make everything else in the world disappear. But he also knew that Edie Cottingham was a well-bred young woman who would know nothing of these things. She would not know these needs of men. For her men were respectable and reliable like her father. They kissed you when you were engaged to them and you set up a home together. She would know nothing about sex and its blistering hold on a man. He loved her for it. It made him feel new.
To anyone looking on at that moment, they were a picture of misery: she waiting to dissolve into the ground and he unable to find any words to give her.
Theo stepped closer and Edie felt his warmth envelop her and dared to look up at him.
‘I wonder if I could …’ Theo began and scratched behind his ear. When he could stretch his scratching no further he added, ‘A …’
‘A word in private?’ she finished for him.
Theo took Edie by the arm. He led her down the steps of the porch and up the dusty street a little way, where they wouldn’t be overheard. He saw her look over her shoulder at the intense gazes of the churchwomen. Missus Blackmarsh looked as if this was the best entertainment she’d had in years; Missus Whitlock had her face screwed up like she had sucked on a lemon; Missus Horlick looked as though there was nothing between her ears and Vera Gamble looked smug and very pleased with herself.
‘Don’t worry about them,’ he said quietly in her ear. ‘Let them think what they will.’
Theo walked her over to a tree still struggling from the cold frosts that had come during the winter. It cast a pitiful shade that wasn’t enough for them to stand under.
He scratched behind his ear some more.
‘You didn’t bring back lice from Africa, did you Mister Hooley?’ she laughed.
‘What? No,’ he said and thought he must stop the scratching and concentrate on getting something out of his mouth. He motioned to her to come closer and when she was close enough he bent to speak to her, his spine curving over her in an arch like the trees that arched over the road and listened quietly to the whispers spoken in the houses.
Her breath was hot on his neck. It burnt the ends of his fingers. He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I want to ask for your permission to speak to your father,’ he said almost whispering.
She laughed nervously and whispered back in his ear, ‘Well Mister Hooley, you can speak to whomever you want without asking my permission.’
‘No, Miss Cottingham, you know what I mean,’ he said, looking unswervingly at her.
Her eyes were glorious, so steady and firm. He couldn’t measure how much he wanted her — it went on forever.
She took an enormously long deep breath as she absorbed his meaning and let it become real. He felt he was waiting forever, he could feel his heart had completely stopped and until she answered he would never be able to move from this spot under the sickly tree.
He stood and waited some more.
Finally she said, ‘Of course I give my permission and I am sure he’ll say yes and if he doesn’t I will throw an almighty tantrum.’
‘All right then,’ said Theo.
Everything in his life had just suddenly fallen into place. He put his hat back on, straightened and standing tall, tapped his stick on the ground a few times as if he knew there was something else he should say or something else he should do but it just wouldn’t come to him, so he strode away while Edie stood, her eyes closed waiting for his kiss, the kiss that would seal him to her. The kiss that would show the world she was worth something because someone named Theodore Hooley wanted her for his own. And the churchwomen, watching her standing with her eyes closed and her head held up and her lips waiting as Theo walked away, laughed and nodded at Vera Gamble. Edie Cottingham was
