The Silence of Ghosts by Jonathan Aycliffe

Author:Jonathan Aycliffe [Aycliffe, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781472109064
Publisher: Constable & Robinson
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I grinned.

‘Surely she wouldn’t think that.’

‘Oh, yes she would, believe you me. So what do we tell her?’

‘Tell her the truth.’

‘That we’ve asked for an exorcism?’

‘Of course not. Just say we’ve asked him to call the banns in this parish next Sunday and two Sundays after that. That should be long enough for you to make your mind up.’

She put her hand to her mouth, and I thought she would run off.

‘Won’t that be pushing things a bit?’ she asked.

‘How long do you need?’

‘For what?’

I took her hand.

‘To tell me you love me. To agree to marry me. Or to tell me to go back to London.’

‘I will marry you,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing I want more. But until this business with the house is done with, I don’t see what we can do. Even if the exorcism works, I don’t want us to move in there as a couple, to start our married life in a house with such associations. You may have to move back to London and live with your parents. I have to stay here to keep my job. With the war on, we might have to stay apart again for years.’

‘You’re forgetting one thing. Neither of us will be called up for war service. I may not have made it clear, but my family is quite rich. Things are tighter because of the war, but our money in this country is substantial and well managed. Once we’re married, we’ll move back to London and rent a small apartment. And we’ll find you a nursing job down there, if you think you’ll need one. Now, what is it? Banns or exorcism?’

For some moments, I thought she would storm off, but to my utter surprise she stepped up close to me and put her arms round me.

‘I don’t know what I’ll do with Mother,’ she said, ‘but she’ll find a way; she always does. What about Octavia? Will she go back to your parents?’

‘You’re sure about this? You’ll be my wife? I mean, we hardly know one another.’

She smiled.

‘We know one another well enough. I feel as if I’ve always known you.’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘that’s exactly how I feel.’

‘Well, then, we don’t have any choice. When I was younger, I had lots of boys. It was kissing and holding hands, but it was childish enough, it meant nothing. In the end, I might have married one of them, but I knew I didn’t want to. This thing I feel for you is an adult thing. When I kiss you, it won’t be a peck on the cheek. I want to be naked with you, I want to make love to you, I want to be part of you, and if I have to marry you to get all that, I’ll walk down any aisle in the kingdom. But first we have other matters to discuss with the minister.’

We had just finished lunch when Reverend Braithwaite knocked at the door. Rose’s mother made a fuss. He had come

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