‘Well, I think this calls for a glass of something special, don’t you mother?’ Arthur rubbed his hands together, and Constance looked over at her mum who’d gotten up from the table and was already bent down retrieving the sherry bottle from the cabinet.
So it was when Henry rang the bell twenty minutes later, he was greeted at the top of the stairs by a very jolly Mr Downer who’d pushed the boat out by downing two tots in a short space of time. Not so jolly, however, that he forgot to remind Henry of Constance’s nine o’clock curfew! Constance pushed past her father eager to be off and not wanting to give him the opportunity to invite Henry up to share in a celebratory tot. She wanted him all to herself.
Chapter 16
Henry complimented her on how pretty she looked in her dress and then, they danced around each other on the street outside Pier View House, two birds of paradise performing a difficult ritual of courtship. It was as Constance had feared—the easy banter from Monday now felt forced. They were like strangers once more. Henry shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot, asking how her week had been. Of course, she couldn’t tell him that she’d been like a duck out of water all week. So, instead, as they set off, she relayed Ginny’s happy news. Henry, she saw glancing up at him, looked genuinely delighted.
‘That’s wonderful,’ he said, stopping to smile down at her, and she liked the ways his eyes crinkled at the corners. The grand façade of the Royal Kent Hotel loomed large behind them as she smiled back.
‘Isn’t it just. Some happiness to come out of so much sadness.’
They walked a little further, and the silence was no longer awkward. The tension between them had dissipated and vanished like the last dregs of sea fog on a sunny day.
‘Shall we cross and walk along the seawall?’ Henry asked, pausing to roll and light a cigarette.
‘That would be nice; low tide’s my favourite. I like watching the sandpipers and geese look for their dinner in the wet sand.’
‘I love to watch the great blue herons.’ He exhaled a plume of smoke. ‘Although they’re more grey than blue. They’re like streaks of silver catching their supper in the water.’
‘At Stanley Park,’ Constance said recalling their conversation at the folly on Monday night.
‘Yeah at Stanley Park,’ Henry echoed pleased she’d remembered.
‘When I was younger I used to go crabbing and cockling with Ted and my sister, Evelyn—she’s only a year older than me, but you’d think it was five years given the superior way behaves. Evie’s in the Land Girls at Norris Castle Farm.’ Henry looked amused as Constance chattered on. ‘The three of us nearly got caught out by the tide once. We were so busy digging and filling our buckets that we never saw the water coming back in; it was so fast like a giant arm sweeping up the beach. I got pulled under, but Ted picked me up and dragged me back up to the shore. We got a right telling off from mum for not keeping an eye out when we got home, and I could taste sand in my mouth for days after.’
‘That would have been frightening,’ Henry said, grinding his cigarette out before holding his arm out. Constance linked hers through his and let him steer her across the road.
‘It was, but the lure of mummy’s cockle fritters and crab meat pasties were too strong to stay away for long.’
Henry grinned. ‘I can’t say I’ve tried a cockle fritter, but my mom makes a mean crab chowder.’ He glanced up at the sky; they had an hour or so before the light would fade by his reckoning. ‘The days will be getting longer soon, which has to be a good thing. You’re not cold are you?’
‘No, I’m fine thank you. It’s been such a glorious day.’ Constance wouldn’t have cared if it was sub-zero temperatures, she thought, feeling the friction of his coarse shirt sleeve rubbing against the wool of her cardigan, so long as she was with him. She talked on about her workday life, and as she told him about mouthy Myrtle’s tussle for top dog in the world of riveting, he threw his head back and laughed. She felt inordinately proud that she was the one responsible for his mirth.
‘I’m performing in a show at Darlinghurst House next Wednesday night,’ she confided as the folly came into view. She explained how she’d been roped into it and was very nervous about the whole thing, especially given she was expected to sing a solo.
‘I’d like to come and hear you.’
‘That would make me more nervous Henry! When do you think you’ll be back at Puckpool?’
‘I’m already there, I moved back to camp on Wednesday afternoon, and I’ve been put on light duties in the interim.’
She noticed him grimace. ‘Is your leg still very painful?’
‘It’s not too bad, and the doc said exercise is good for it.’
‘You will tell me, won’t you, if it’s hurting you?’
‘I will.’ His smile made her heart flutter in a manner she was not used to.
‘So I’ve learned something else about you, Constance Downer.’
‘Oh?’
‘You can sing.’
‘You haven’t heard me yet,’ she muttered. ‘I’m dreading it, getting up in front of all those soldiers and the nursing staff—it makes me feel ill just thinking about it.’
‘That’s not true you know.’
‘What?’
‘I have heard you sing.’ He began humming the tune from the Wizard of Oz they’d sung on Monday night, and Constance giggled.
‘That doesn’t count.’
‘You’ll be great, and I’ll be there rooting for
