Read Online The Way We Were by Marcia Willett - Free Book Online Page B

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    â€˜I liked her,’ he says – and sees Em smile. He's thankful that Em isn't one of those jealous types who goes all grim and silent each time he looks at a pretty girl. Couldn't have coped with it. No, Em's more likely to say ‘Isn't she pretty?’ or ‘Do you like that woman's frock?’ or something like that. Not that she's ever had anything to fear; until he met her he'd never liked a woman enough to make any kind of change to his life. Em took him aback all standing: caught him right off guard. He knows he lets her down a bit; he still needs time to himself, to go off on the boat or have a run ashore with his chums at the sailing club. After all, by the time he and Em met he'd got rather set in his ways. Even now that he's retired, Em still spends quite a lot of time on her own. Archie feels a tiny twinge of guilt.
    Em smiles and touches him lightly on the arm. ‘I think you made a hit.’
    â€˜Who, me? Nonsense.’
    â€˜Tiggy said that she thought that Julia and Pete were lucky to have you for an uncle and I said you were everybody's uncle. Was that rather bitchy of me?’
    Archie chuckles. ‘If you mean I'm a bossy interfering bugger, well, I can't really argue with you.’
    â€˜Tiggy was rather shocked,’ says Em ruefully.
    â€˜That's the trouble with the young,’ says Archie. ‘They're so easily shocked. I expect she'll get over it.’
    â€˜I liked her too,’ says Em. ‘She reminded me of myself at that age.’
    â€˜What, to look at? Can't see that.’
    â€˜No, no. Not physically. There was just something. A kind of wistful eagerness.’
    Archie unexpectedly catches a little glimpse of what she means; he's not overly imaginative but he can remember that rather attractive hopefulness in the young Em. Despite her overbearing elderly relations she retained an optimistic view of the future; a readiness to believe that there was more to life than she'd been shown.
    As they drive into the village and round the little green, Em wonders whether to tell Archie that she suspects that Tiggy is pregnant – but decides not to; after all, it's pure instinct and Archie can be a bit strait-laced. She gets out so that Archie can park the car in close against the stone wall, still thinking about Tiggy and the odd sense of recognition she experienced, and wondering if Tiggy felt it too.
    The next time Aunt Em visits Trescairn she goes alone. Uncle Archie is busy with fund-raising for the RNLI. After lunch, whilst Julia is upstairs putting Charlie down for his sleep and the twins are in their bedroom setting up the hand-painted buildings of the little wooden village that Aunt Em has brought for them, Tiggy tells her that she is expecting Tom's baby. To Tiggy's relief she looks neither disgusted nor shocked; instead, an odd, rather wistful expression passes fleetingly over her face.
    â€˜At least you have something of him,’ she says gently. ‘I was so sorry to hear that he had died.’
    â€˜I was dismissed from my job. The headmistress said that I was a bad influence on the morals of the young. I expect everyone will feel like that so I wonder how I shall manage for us both.’
    â€˜Not everyone,’ says Aunt Em firmly.
    Tiggy smiles gratefully. ‘It's silly to be frightened. Only I rather depended on Tom, you see. He was quite a bit older and he always took charge when there was a crisis.’
    â€˜That sounds like me and Archie.’ Aunt Em hangs the damp tea cloth over the Rayburn rail to dry. ‘I think that's often the case in any relationship where the man is quite a bit older. Archie is fifteen years older than I am and I feel that I shall never quite catch up in the experience slakes. It can be frustrating.’
    â€˜Yes, it was rather like that. But in a way it was often a relief too.’
    â€˜Perhaps what we were looking for was some kind of stability. Julia told me that your mother died