The Blitz Murderer by Maureen Driscoll

Author:Maureen Driscoll [Driscoll, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2024-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The house next door to Mrs. Biggs’s place was cold, relying on only a few coal-fed stoves for warmth. The children were staying in one room on the second floor at the back of the house, with Mikey and Lizzie in the bedroom on one side of them, and Grant and Lydia in the other. Kurt had taken refuge in the old trunk room, while Dora had found lodging in Alice Winters’s former room at Mrs. Biggs’s.

Lawrence and Vernon were huddled together in the downstairs bedroom. “I always wanted to visit London,” said Vernon. “But I guess I always pictured it warmer and with less war.”

“I’m not sure it’s ever all that warm,” said Lawrence. “Though I pray peace will one day be here again.”

“I’m afraid it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” said Vernon. “I think it’ll have to, if we have any hope of ridding the world of Hitler.” He pulled the blanket closer to them. “You’ve heard what they’re doing to people like us in Germany, right? And not just to people like us.”

“I have. Of course, it’s not like we’re all that welcome at home, either.”

“I wish you’d reconsider the studio’s offer. Marry Dora. We see her all the time, anyway. Nothing will change.”

“Absolutely not. For one thing, I’m not a liar. Well, actually, that’s patently untrue since you’ve no doubt heard me tell countless hostesses how much I like their taste in clothing. But I will not live my life as a lie, regardless of what those prigs want me to do. Not to mention, I would never allow Dora to make that sacrifice.”

“Then I’ll leave,” said Vernon quietly. “They can’t gossip about you if I’m not there.”

“Of course they can. I gossip about things people did twenty years ago. Your absence won’t make them talk any less. In fact, it’ll be even worse because they’ll say that not only am I a deviant homosexual, but I’m a deviant homosexual who can’t keep a man. And that, darling, is too much to be borne. No, if you leave, I will find you. I’m afraid you’re rather stuck with me, you see, because I love you and cannot imagine the future without you.”

“I love you even more.” They lay in silence for a moment, huddled together. “Do you think there really is a future like Josie said? Where people like us can be ourselves?”

“I’m cynical enough to believe that even in an enlightened age, there would always be danger. But I like to think there will be a time when it’s much better than today. Too bad we’ll never see it. But that’s all the more reason for you to stick around. We have to make our own world better. And there’s no better world I can imagine than the one I have with you.”

* * *

It had been a long time since Clive had had such an uneasy feeling, but his senses were telling him that danger was closing in. And it was growing stronger by the hour.

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