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one, Audra.’

      ‘Perhaps she has bad feet – or a bad love life.’

      ‘I don’t know what she’s got. Yes, I do – a nasty manner, that’s a certainty. I remember her from past experience. Oh yes I do, very well, Audra. She’s always snotty-nosed with the customers, especially the older folk. I noticed her giving that grey-haired lady over there a hard time before you arrived. So it does serve her right.’

      ‘I suppose it does,’ Audra agreed. Like Gwen, she loathed unkindness, the small unnecessary cruelties inflicted on the weak by the strong. Besides, the waitress had been extremely short with them, to the point of rudeness.

      There was a small silence, and then Audra reached for her handbag, took out some coins and placed them on the table in front of Gwen. ‘Before I forget, this is what I owe you. The one and six I borrowed when I bought the blue dress.’

      Gwen was about to say it didn’t matter, to refuse the coins, then she thought better of it. Audra was very proud and she would be insulted; she might even take umbrage and that Gwen could not bear. And so she picked up the money and said, ‘Thanks very much, lovey.’

      ‘I am glad your mother has recovered her health at long last,’ Audra said with genuine feeling. ‘I know these last few months have been very worrying for you, and such hard work as well.’

      Gwen let out a tiny sigh. ‘Yes, Mum’s out of the woods, thank goodness. But I don’t mind telling you, she’s been a trying patient, Audra. Hard to keep in bed. The minute she felt stronger she wanted to be up and about.’ Gwen pursed her lips and sighed again. ‘Well, you know what Mum’s like, a typical Yorkshire-woman, very tough, who believes it’s a crime to be ill. My father has finally convinced her she must take it easy, so that’s all right then But listen, Audra, enough of this…tell me your news. You didn’t say much in your letters, except for boring bits and pieces about the boring hospital.’

      ‘There wasn’t anything special to tell,’ Audra replied, amused at the eager and expectant expression which had suddenly appeared on Gwen’s dimpled face. ‘Certainly nothing startling. It hasn’t taken you very long to forget that Ripon’s a sleepy old backwater, not a great big metropolis like Leeds.’

      Gwen giggled. ‘ ‘Course I haven’t forgotten, silly. But what I meant was how’re your brothers? What’ve you heard recently?’

      ‘Frederick’s health has seemingly improved – at long last. At least, so William wrote and told me. I was very upset with them both in June, though.’ Audra’s face changed slightly and the light in her eyes dulled. ‘I thought they had forgotten all about me…and my birthday, but then their card finally did arrive…two weeks late.’

      ‘That’s brothers for you, Audra, they’re a bit daft at times,’ Gwen said swiftly, wanting to make her friend feel better. It struck her once more how sad Audra’s nineteenth birthday had been. She vowed to make it up to her on her birthday next year.

      Audra said, ‘Anyway, how are your brothers?’

      ‘In top form. Jem’s got himself a job as a copy boy on the Leeds Mercury, Harry’s going to be apprenticed to one of the leading architects in Leeds, and our Charlie’s flying high, feeling very chuffed with himself.’ A huge grin spread across Gwen’s face.

      Audra looked at her curiously. ‘Why is Charlie so pleased?’

      ‘Because he got very high marks in his exams, Audra. Dad’s really proud of him, and so am I. Anyway, old Charlie can’t wait to get back to medical school now that the summer hols are just about over. Oh, and that reminds me, he asked to be remembered to you.’ Gwen’s eyes took on a wicked twinkle and she brought her fair head closer to Audra’s, whispered in a conspiratorial manner, ‘As I keep telling you, I think our Charlie really fancies you, Audra. And quite a bit, at that.’

      Audra blushed furiously. ‘Don’t be so silly, Gwen, of course he doesn’t.’

      ‘He does too! He’s always asking questions about you!’ Gwen shot back with unprecedented fierceness, giving her friend a stern glare. ‘He’s definitely interested in you, I just know he is.’

      ‘Oh,’ was the only thing Audra could think of to say, feeling flustered all of a sudden.

      ‘Well, you could do worse, you know.’

      ‘Yes,’ Audra murmured, and then clamped her mouth shut as the waitress hove in view.

      Much to Audra’s relief the young woman headed straight for their table, carrying a laden tray. She began to unload the tea things with a great deal of fuss and clattering, and this curtailed their conversation for a few moments. Gwen threw Audra a disgusted look and made a face, indicating her disapproval of the noisy waitress, who seemed hell bent on irritating them.

      Audra bit back a smile and glanced away. Once the waitress had departed, she picked up the large brown pot and began to pour tea into Gwen’s cup, remarking, ‘I suppose I could say she’s just had the last word.’

      ‘Oh no she hasn’t, not by a long shot,’ Gwen said with a sly little smile. ‘Wait until it’s time for her tip.’

       CHAPTER 5

      Gwen Thornton was a sweet affectionate girl, open hearted and generous of nature, and she genuinely cared for Audra Kenton.

      From the first moment she had met her, Gwen had been drawn to Audra. She had recognized there was something very special about the small, delicate-looking girl with the extraordinary blue eyes and the shy smile that could dazzle at times.

      Gwen had quickly come to understand what it actually was that made Audra stand out in a crowd. It was her background and upbringing. Coming from an ordinary, though solid, middle-class family as she did, Gwen knew that Audra’s air of breeding was downright impossible to imitate. You either had it or you didn’t. It simply could not be acquired. And it not only gave Audra distinction, but explained her aristocratic aloofness, her manners and her self-assurance, which were bred in the bone.

      However, Gwen admired and loved Audra for a variety of other reasons, all of which added to her uniqueness. Audra was a superior young woman in every way, one who was inordinately loyal and loving; she was also the most indomitable person Gwen had ever met.

      Yet, despite these commendable traits, Gwen could not help worrying about Audra sometimes. She chiefly worried because Audra was without a family. Gwen knew more than anyone how much this bothered Audra. She sorely missed her brothers, yearned to belong in the way she had when her mother had been alive. This was why Gwen went out of her way to make her best friend feel like a real member of the Thornton clan, to make her truly understand she was as much loved as her baby sister Jenny-Rosalie, and her brothers, Charles, Jeremy and Harry.

      Ever since Charlie, the eldest, had shown an interest in Audra, Gwen had been encouraging him, endeavouring to foster a relationship between them, to fan the flames. But from time to time Gwen had had to admit to herself that the interest was a trifle one-sided thus far; and she sometimes wondered if her sweet but rather dull brother was the right match for Audra. Inevitably, Gwen managed to convince herself that he really was ideal. Certainly there was no question in her mind that Charlie was a good catch, since he was such an admirable young man, and one with an assured future, after all. He would not stay a bachelor for very long, once he had qualified as a doctor, and he would make a wonderful husband and father. Gwen had always known in her bones that Charlie was cut out to be a family man.

      And in Gwen’s mind, the crucial word was indeed family. This was what Audra longed for the most and so she was going to help her dearest friend acquire a family of her very own. And, of course, Charlie was the key.

      All of these thoughts, which had frequently preoccupied Gwen during the past few weeks, had started to swirl around in her head again this afternoon.

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