“If you’ll both excuse me, I must go and take care of this,” William said with a smile as Evelyn sank into a chair.
“Of course, dear.” Marguerite turned her clear, green eyes onto Evelyn as her husband moved across the patio and disappeared into the house. “How is your mother? You must tell me all the latest news from England! We haven’t been back in ages, it seems.”
“Mum is doing well,” Evelyn told her, sitting back in her chair comfortably. “I had a letter from her the other day. My brother is home for a few weeks, so she is enjoying his company.”
“Now, your brother is, or was, up at Oxford, correct?”
“He was, yes, but he’s finished his courses now. My father told me last night that he’s joined the RAF Auxillary flyers.”
“Has he really? How very exciting. Does he know how to fly?”
“Yes, he’s been flying with a club near Oxford for the past few years. I suppose it was only to be expected that he would want to join the RAF.” Evelyn paused, then smiled resolutely. “I’m terribly jealous, of course. It must be great fun to fly!”
Marguerite laughed. “I completely agree. Do you know, there is a young woman I met at a dinner party last week who learned to fly last year. She said it’s absolutely wonderful. She’s a bit of a daredevil, I believe. There was some mention that she spent some time in Singapore.”
“That makes her a daredevil?” Evelyn was amused. “I must be as well, then. I spent a few years in Hong Kong.”
“Yes, but you were with your family, dear.” Marguerite leaned forward and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “She went with her husband, but they divorced. She was there alone for almost a year.”
“What was she doing?”
“To hear her tell it, she was going to parties and enjoying being a free woman,” Marguerite said with laugh. “She returned last year, but she claims she still misses the excitement and thrill of Singapore. And you? Do you miss Hong Kong?”
The question caught Evelyn off guard and she hesitated, remembering her Sifu and the other students in her school. If there was one thing she did regret, it was leaving her teacher and the ways of the Wing Chun behind.
“I think I do,” she said slowly, thoughtfully. “I was very happy to return to England, but Hong Kong had become my home in many ways.”
“Would you go back?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t be opposed, if the opportunity arose in the future. However, right now it’s become very unstable. It was, perhaps, a good thing that my father was sent back to England when he was.”
“Oh, you mean because of the Japanese?” Marguerite nodded wisely. “Yes, indeed. Between them and the Italians and, of course the Germans, it seems as if the whole world is spinning out of control.”
“The world is always spinning out of control, Marguerite,” William said, stepping out from the house. “There is nothing new in that. It’s simply the faces behind the politics that have changed.”
Evelyn looked up, holding a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she watched her host cross the patio.
“That’s very similar to what my father says,” she said with a smile. “He’s not quite that polite about it, though.”
William threw his head back and laughed.
“Neither am I when I’m not entertaining lovely young women,” he said. “I believe lunch is ready, my dear. Francois stopped me on my way back from the study. I told him I would relay the message.”
Marguerite stood up fluidly and looked at Evelyn.
“I’m so glad to have you stay for lunch,” she said candidly. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you, and I’d like to get to know you better.”
Evelyn stood with an easy smile.
“Thank you for asking me!”
“William, Evelyn tells me that her brother has joined the RAF Auxiliary Air Force,” Marguerite said, reaching for a glass of wine.
“Has he indeed?” he asked, looking at Evelyn across the table. “Do you know what he’s flying?”
Evelyn looked up from her plate of chicken poached in a white wine sauce.
“My father said that he’s flying fighter planes,” she said. “He’s been flying for a few years now. He flew with a club near Oxford, then apparently joined the RAF Auxiliary a few months ago.”
“Well, the RAF will need every pilot they can get soon,” William said soberly, turning his attention back to his lunch. “Even though Chamberlain is committed to his policy of appeasement, in all honesty, I don’t think it will work.”
“There are many who think it will,” Evelyn said, reaching for her glass of wine. “Hitler has said time and again that he wants only peace for Germany.”
William shot her a look under dark brows. “And do you believe him?”
There was no indication in his tone or expression that he was trying to patronize her. Instead, Evelyn got the distinct impression that he was curious to hear her response.
“May I speak frankly?”
Marguerite reached for the platter of bread in the center of the table.
“My dear, if you were not to speak frankly, I’m afraid William would be very much upset,” she said humorously. “Your father is a very close friend of ours, and I like to think your mother is as well. Please don’t stand on ceremony here.”
“Very well,” Evelyn said with a smile. She turned her gaze back to William. “No. I don’t believe that Hitler wants only peace for Germany.” She paused thoughtfully, a frown creasing her brow, and then she shook her head. “Or perhaps I should say that I believe his vision of peace for Germany is not the same as what the rest of Europe’s vision may
