The Last Letter from Juliet - Melanie Hudson Page 0,70

would never carry all the way back to her, for goodness sake, she was miles away. The couple who had been frolicking on the stage stopped their steady climb out of the theatre and turned to look at me, smiling.

‘Be more Marie,’ I whispered to myself, standing on the stage. ‘We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day …’

I was dreadful. Croaky. Out of tune. But it didn’t seem to matter. The fun couple dashed back to the stage to link arms with me to join in. Competing with the elements to throw our voices into the amphitheatre was not easy, but Juliet was right, who the hell cared, certainly not the handful of other people milling around the theatre who, by the second verse, all joined in, too. Two further women joined me on the stage while others flashed up the torches on their phones and swayed side to side as we all sang.

‘So, will you please say hello, to the boys that I know, tell them I won’t be long…’

By the second rendition someone from the café put on the stage lights and we were all really rocking it – legs kicking in unison, the lot. It was my very own flashmob Vera Lynn moment, and I loved it.

‘Keep smiling through just like you always do, till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away … We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again some sunneeee day.’

As we closed the final line, I waved up at Juliet who was clapping much more wildly than I’d imagined a woman two days from her centenary should be able to manage and feeling a sudden jolt of electric energy – of determination – I realised that it was time to start looking forward rather than constantly glancing over my shoulder trying to keep a focused view of the past in sight. I would help Fenella tonight with the bottling of the gin and if it wasn’t too late, I would persuade the village mafia to put aside their differences and hang the Christmas lights – if only for the sake of all the little (non-existent) children.

But first, there was another ammunition box to find, near the Helford river this time, and as we drove away from Minack, I hoped more than anything that my wish at the monument would come true.

Chapter 25

Juliet

A visit to Lottie

I began my story by saying that there are certain days in life that are printed, for good or for bad, more indelibly into our minds than most. Such was that day with Edward, when we played like children on the river, in his boat, in the sunshine, in love. My promise to Charles to spend the day at Lanyon, checking on Ma and Pa, had been thrown out of the window completely. How easy it is to go back on one’s word when the alternative is spending time in the company of a new and exciting love.

But it was only during the train journey back to Southampton that I began to consider how little I knew about Edward and wondered what the exact nature of his work was for the war effort at Lanyon. He was, he had finally explained, of Austrian origin – the American/English accent developed as a by-product of travelling the world with his father, a diplomat. In his work for the Foreign Office it had been suggested he adopt the Cornish surname, Nancarrow, while living in England. His real surname was Gruber, first name Felix, and was far too Germanic-sounding to sit comfortably for a man living in a country on the brink of (and now firmly ensconced in) war.

I did manage to spend a little time at Lanyon during my stay. When probed about the changes at the house, Pa Lanyon had explained, simply and straightforwardly, that the chaps who had taken over the other side of the house kept themselves to themselves and that we were encouraged not to ask questions. Edward (it was too late to think of him under another name) when asked directly, had been matter-of-fact. He shrugged and said, ‘I can’t tell you. It’s a Foreign Office type of affair. And it’s best you don’t know.’

When I pressed, ‘But is it dangerous, Edward?’

He simply said, ‘No more than your job.’ Which meant nothing.

On returning to Hamble the next day, I went straight to the mess and sought out