The Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas

Author:Maisie Thomas [Thomas, Maisie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473571730
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2020-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Entering the foyer of the Ritz Ballroom, Joan blinked to adjust her eyes. Coming indoors from the blackout, the light in here seemed brilliant. Steven went straight into the ballroom to see if there was a table to be had. Mabel and Letitia headed towards the cloakroom to hand in their coats and hats, but Joan hung back, perching on a chair to change her shoes. After a moment, Letitia came back.

‘I thought you were beside me. What are you doing? Oh my goodness.’

Joan kept her head bent over to hide the blushes. ‘Lizzie lent them to me.’

‘But …’

‘But what?’ Joan looked up at her sister. What was that in her face? Censure? No, just concern. ‘But Gran would be angry? I’m perfectly well aware of that.’ She stood up, dropping her own shoes into the cloth bag. ‘It’s just a pair of shoes. I’m not doing any harm.’

Letitia blew out a huge breath. ‘As long as Gran doesn’t find out.’

‘She won’t. Why would she? You aren’t going to say anything and I certainly shan’t. It’s just this once and I do love them.’ She almost asked, ‘Don’t you?’ but it wasn’t a fair question.

‘Come on, then.’ Letitia led the way to the cloakroom, where Mabel was waiting. They handed in their things in return for tickets. ‘Let’s see if Steven has bagged a table.’

‘I wonder if Alison and Paul are here yet.’ Joan looked around. She was so aware of wearing such stylish shoes that she almost felt embarrassed by the pleasure. It was only a pair of shoes, for heaven’s sake – but a pair of shoes that made her feel special and beautiful. As they walked into the ballroom, she could have sworn that the red dancing shoes responded with a little lift of their own as they trod on the sprung floor.

The ballroom was packed. This was among the most popular venues in town and people flocked from miles around, especially now, when, in spite of the blackout and the grim news from the other side of the Channel, an evening of music and dancing, fun and companionship, beneath sparkling chandeliers, could make you feel happy and hopeful and blissfully alive.

Steven had found them a table right beside the dance floor. Letitia gave Joan a secret nudge. If Bob Hubble went whirling by, he would be easy to spot. Letitia and Steven took to the floor in a waltz. They always had the first few dances together and were so accustomed to being partners that their steps were perfectly fluid. Now that her infatuation for Steven had dissolved, Joan could watch the two of them one-two-three, one-two-threeing around the floor with admiration instead of with her bones tightening with envy.

She danced a couple of times with fellows whom she knew slightly from having danced with them before. She was happy to sit out a few as well, so she could scour the dance-floor for any sign of Bob. As for Mabel, she could dance every dance if she so chose.

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