The Soldier's Daughter by Rosie Goodwin

girl, Briony,’ he smiled. ‘I really don’t know what we’d all do without you.’
    Briony glanced into the little sitting room where her mother was reading a story from a book James had bought the children from the market, and lowering her voice she said, ‘Mum told me about our grandparents in Cornwall.’
    ‘Did she now? Well, you had to know about them sometime,’ he answered.
    ‘Mum says that our grandfather has said that if things get bad, we can go and stay with them,’ she added.
    ‘I know, she told me.’ James grappled with his feelings. Truthfully, he had no love for Lois’s parents after the way they had treated her, but he knew that he would rather his children were somewhere safe if things became too dangerous, so he would just have to bite his tongue. ‘And how do you feel about that?’
    Briony sniffed. ‘I feel I’m too old to be evacuated,’ she admitted. ‘And I would have to give my job up. But then I don’t like the thought of the two little ones having to go away on their own. Especially Sarah. She needs someone who knows her to look out for her . . . but what are our grandparents like? Mum won’t say too much about them when I’ve asked her anything.’
    Checking to make sure they couldn’t be overheard, his hands became still in the soapy water, and lowering his voice James confided, ‘Actually, I rather liked your grandfather. He was a gentleman and he gave me work in the grounds of the house when I first landed there. It was more your grandmother that was the problem. She’s a bit of a tartar, to be honest, and your grandfather is rather under the thumb if you know what I mean? She ruled him with a rod of iron from what I could see of it, and he was so besotted with her that he allowed it. There wasn’t a problem until I became involved with your mum, and then the trouble started and she made him sack me. I wasn’t good enough for her daughter, you see.’ He grinned ruefully as the memories flooded back. ‘Between you and me, your mum is a lot like her in some ways. She likes to be waited on and looked after, but I put that down to her upbringing. She was used to having servants do everything, and it was a bit of a shock when we first got married and she had to learn to do a few things for herself.’ He chuckled. ‘I don’t think your mum had ever cooked a meal or lifted an iron in her entire life, and we had many burnt offerings and scorched shirts in the early days, but she did try.’ He became serious then. ‘I know she leaves you to do more than you should, lass, but it isn’t because she doesn’t love you – she does, I promise you. She adores all of you.’
    ‘I know that,’ Briony answered. ‘And I don’t mind helping out, really I don’t. But I’ll be glad when the war is over and you can come home. Mum is no good without you.’ She briefly wondered if she should mention that Lois had taken to drinking to drown her loneliness and heartache, but then thought better of it. Her dad had enough to worry about as it was and she didn’t want to make things worse for him.
    ‘And what about Mum’s brother, Sebastian – what is he like?’
    James’s face darkened as he slapped another dirty plate into the water, sending a shower of suds onto the wooden draining board.
    ‘I never got on with him from day one,’ he said tersely. ‘And if you do end up going there, I’d suggest you keep your distance. There was something about him that I just couldn’t take to, although he could do no wrong in your grandmother’s eyes. She thought the sun rose and set with him. On the few occasions when our paths did cross he talked to me like I was something dirty stuck to the sole of his shoe – but then he thought he was a cut above everyone, from what I could see of it.’
    ‘Oh, I see.’ Briony didn’t like the sound of this uncle at all.
    Seeing that he’d worried her, James added hastily, ‘Of course, this was all a very long time ago. He will probably have