best cousin May and I could ever have had.”
As they left the pub, both men walked for a while in silence, the younger slighter blond figure contrasting with the elder, robustly built and dark-haired. As they turned the corner to Oak Street Sam stopped in front of the war memorial.
“I remember how you said these men had done their duty,” he said, almost shyly. “I think we could all learn a lesson from them, don’t you?”
Nat linked his arm through Sam’s and together they walked the short distance to number 52.
“Come in, come in, Shalom Shabbat,” Rachel said, bustling them into the kitchen. The table was laid for the Sabbath feast. “We are having our meal punctually, Nat, as we all want to hear the king, that’s the latest old king, if you see what I mean. He is going to be making a speech on the wireless at ten o’clock tonight.”
Rachel had noticed the newspaper in Nat’s hand. “What have you got there? More terrible news, I suppose?” she asked.
“I made an exception and bought myself today’s edition,” Nat told her. “Couldn’t wait for tomorrow. Take a look.”
Rachel, Simon, Sam and May crowded round the paper.
“Well, I never,” Rachel said, sighing loudly. “I mean seeing it written down there like that. He really is going. Makes you think, doesn’t it? I mean who can we trust, Nat, I’m asking you?”
“I agree with you,” Nat said. “It’s hard to believe that a man who seemed to care so much about this country, our country, I should say, has gone and abandoned us. Love is one thing, I know, but perhaps it should sometimes take second place for kings.”
“Mind you, May knew something was up, didn’t you, May?” Rachel was smiling at her approvingly. “I like a girl who keeps a secret when she’s asked to and you’ve done well to respect the monarchy. I am sure Sir Philip respects you for keeping secrets, my girl, and Sir Philip’s judgement is good enough for me.” Rachel was not the sort to hold a grudge, and had quite forgiven May for pretending the king was enamoured of a member of the Greek royal entourage. She could even have a laugh that things would have been different if he had been. Later that evening, after the Sabbath meal, the whole family gathered round the wireless. As soon as they heard Sir John Reith introduce the former king as “Prince Edward,” Rachel insisted they all stand out of respect.
“You must believe me when I tell you,” the former king began, speaking very slowly in his curious accent, that mixture of truncated vowels and transatlantic roll that was so familiar to May, “that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duty as king as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.”
In a voice sounding steady and as clear as if he was speaking to them from the leather settee, the man who had once been king lingered over the personal pronoun, emphasizing, lest anyone be in any doubt, that his decision had been taken by him alone. The Oak Street family, along with a captivated nation, heard his entreaty for understanding, a message intended for anyone, even cynics like Nat, who had ever known what it is to be in love. When the broadcast came to an end Rachel was the first to speak.
“And just to think he could have had his pick of those foreign princesses. Princess Wallis, if that’s who she is to be, is no more royal than Mrs. Cohen or me. Still it takes all sorts to make a world. Put the kettle on, will you, Sarah? I think we all deserve a nice cup of tea.”
May came downstairs the next morning to find the coal fire in the front room already lit. What with the rustling of newspapers, the voices coming from what felt like the ever-intrusive wireless and the cries of hunger that engulfed Joshua at regular hourly intervals, May needed some air. She went to find Sarah who agreed at once to go up to Gardiner’s with May to buy Nat his long-overdue tie. A generous bottle of milk before leaving ensured that Joshua slept the whole way in his carriage and while Sarah was choosing the tie, May noticed some pretty photograph frames edged in delicate blue flowers sitting on a nearby counter.
“Forget-me-nots, they are,” the sales lady told her.