Read Online Some Day I'll Find You by Richard Madeley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Richard Madeley
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dinner.’
Sally gaped. ‘You’re
him
? Good grief, I was beginning to wonder if you were a figment of Diana’s imagination. She’s been prattling on about you since last
autumn, but every time you were supposed to put in an appearance . . .’
‘I flunked it, I know,’ said James. ‘Not my fault, I swear. Entirely Adolf’s. Well, the Air Ministry’s, actually. Anyway – can you take me to her before you
and I both turn into snowmen?’
Sally squinted at him through the drifting flakes. ‘I won’t take you to her. I wouldn’t want to spoil the moment. I’ll tell you the way, though.’ She pointed to an
arch. ‘Through there, left, and left again at the first corridor. All the rooms at Girton are laid out along horizontal passages. You can’t go wrong. Diana’s is the first door on
the right after that second turn.’
She brushed away the snow from her hair and forehead and stepped forward, looking at him properly in the face for the first time.
‘You’re . . . well, you’re
all right
, aren’t you?’ she asked, in a flatter tone. ‘Diana isn’t just my friend; she’s damn special.
She’s special to all of us here, actually. And we all take care of each other. You should know that. You’ve been a long time coming, Mr Blackwell.’
He stared calmly back at her, holding her eyes with his own until she looked away.
‘Yes, I’m all right,’ he said quietly. Sally had to lean forward to hear him. ‘And I agree, Diana is . . . bloody special. Which is why I’m here. OK?’
She relaxed a little, and raised her eyes to his again. ‘OK. But be warned, Flight Commander. You’re at Girton. Mess around with one of us at your peril. Here, we’ve been
fighting for over half a century to get women up to the same level that men casually occupy as of right. We’re sick of inequality and intellectual snobbery and being looked down upon. We want
our due.’
He raised gloved hands in mock defensiveness.
‘My dear Sally . . . You have absolutely no
idea
how much you and I have in common.’
Diana was expecting James to stop at the gate-house and send a porter to let her know he’d arrived. It hadn’t occurred to her that he would talk his way in, so when
she heard a knock at her door she assumed it was one of the college servants.
‘I’m coming,’ she called, pulling on her coat, hat and gloves and dropping a pack of cigarettes into her handbag. She switched out the light and opened the door.
‘Miss Arnold, I presume? It’s been so long I’m not sure I’d recognise her.’
‘Oh my goodness!’ Diana stepped back into her room. ‘James! How on earth did you get into college?’
‘Everyone keeps asking me that,’ he grumbled. ‘Aren’t you glad to see me?’
Diana giggled. ‘Of course I am. You took me by surprise, that’s all. I was expecting an elderly porter with hair sprouting out of his ears, not a conquering hero.’
‘I’m hardly that,’ he replied as she put the light back on and motioned him inside. ‘None of us are. If it wasn’t for the newspapers to remind us, you
wouldn’t know we were at war at all. Perhaps Mr Hitler’s forgotten all about us.’
Diana closed the door and they stared at each other for a moment.
James’s cap and shoulders, Diana saw, were white with snow. It was far too chilly in the college corridors for the flakes to have even begun to melt yet. His blue eyes glittered out at her
from under the cap’s peak, and his cheeks glowed with the cold of outside. He was grinning at her with something like triumph. Diana felt her heart miss a beat.
To James, Diana looked sensational in her belted, French-style raincoat and bright red leather gloves. She was wearing fur-trimmed bootees, and a red cloche hat to match the gloves. Her green
eyes were fixed on his and for a long moment, neither of them seemed able to speak.
It was Diana who broke the silence.
‘Well,’ she said at last. ‘This feels rather peculiar, doesn’t it?
Sally gaped. ‘You’re
him
? Good grief, I was beginning to wonder if you were a figment of Diana’s imagination. She’s been prattling on about you since last
autumn, but every time you were supposed to put in an appearance . . .’
‘I flunked it, I know,’ said James. ‘Not my fault, I swear. Entirely Adolf’s. Well, the Air Ministry’s, actually. Anyway – can you take me to her before you
and I both turn into snowmen?’
Sally squinted at him through the drifting flakes. ‘I won’t take you to her. I wouldn’t want to spoil the moment. I’ll tell you the way, though.’ She pointed to an
arch. ‘Through there, left, and left again at the first corridor. All the rooms at Girton are laid out along horizontal passages. You can’t go wrong. Diana’s is the first door on
the right after that second turn.’
She brushed away the snow from her hair and forehead and stepped forward, looking at him properly in the face for the first time.
‘You’re . . . well, you’re
all right
, aren’t you?’ she asked, in a flatter tone. ‘Diana isn’t just my friend; she’s damn special.
She’s special to all of us here, actually. And we all take care of each other. You should know that. You’ve been a long time coming, Mr Blackwell.’
He stared calmly back at her, holding her eyes with his own until she looked away.
‘Yes, I’m all right,’ he said quietly. Sally had to lean forward to hear him. ‘And I agree, Diana is . . . bloody special. Which is why I’m here. OK?’
She relaxed a little, and raised her eyes to his again. ‘OK. But be warned, Flight Commander. You’re at Girton. Mess around with one of us at your peril. Here, we’ve been
fighting for over half a century to get women up to the same level that men casually occupy as of right. We’re sick of inequality and intellectual snobbery and being looked down upon. We want
our due.’
He raised gloved hands in mock defensiveness.
‘My dear Sally . . . You have absolutely no
idea
how much you and I have in common.’
Diana was expecting James to stop at the gate-house and send a porter to let her know he’d arrived. It hadn’t occurred to her that he would talk his way in, so when
she heard a knock at her door she assumed it was one of the college servants.
‘I’m coming,’ she called, pulling on her coat, hat and gloves and dropping a pack of cigarettes into her handbag. She switched out the light and opened the door.
‘Miss Arnold, I presume? It’s been so long I’m not sure I’d recognise her.’
‘Oh my goodness!’ Diana stepped back into her room. ‘James! How on earth did you get into college?’
‘Everyone keeps asking me that,’ he grumbled. ‘Aren’t you glad to see me?’
Diana giggled. ‘Of course I am. You took me by surprise, that’s all. I was expecting an elderly porter with hair sprouting out of his ears, not a conquering hero.’
‘I’m hardly that,’ he replied as she put the light back on and motioned him inside. ‘None of us are. If it wasn’t for the newspapers to remind us, you
wouldn’t know we were at war at all. Perhaps Mr Hitler’s forgotten all about us.’
Diana closed the door and they stared at each other for a moment.
James’s cap and shoulders, Diana saw, were white with snow. It was far too chilly in the college corridors for the flakes to have even begun to melt yet. His blue eyes glittered out at her
from under the cap’s peak, and his cheeks glowed with the cold of outside. He was grinning at her with something like triumph. Diana felt her heart miss a beat.
To James, Diana looked sensational in her belted, French-style raincoat and bright red leather gloves. She was wearing fur-trimmed bootees, and a red cloche hat to match the gloves. Her green
eyes were fixed on his and for a long moment, neither of them seemed able to speak.
It was Diana who broke the silence.
‘Well,’ she said at last. ‘This feels rather peculiar, doesn’t it?
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