December 1939
Jim Brading felt surprised.
"I can't see why Nancy would mind." he said, offering Peggy his arm. "After all, she went chasing across Europe unchaperoned with John. And she's about the last person I would think of being prim and proper."
"She is the last person. Nancy, having organised things so that we had time off at the same time, then invited Titty to London, and then told me what she's arranged. So I told her I had a prior engagement."
Too late, Peggy realised that Jim might suggest that they all have tea together. She would like to see Titty and hear about the film studio of course, and there was no reason why Jim wouldn't want to see Titty and Nancy too. Peggy wanted to be alone with Jim this afternoon, because….
… because you're definitely soppy about him aren't you, Peggy Blackett? She told herself as sternly as she could manage. It didn't make any difference. She still felt ridiculously happy about being here with Jim.
She grinned up at Jim. "I don't mind Second Officer Walker ordering me about, or the Captain of the Amazon, for that matter, but I'm not going to let Nancy boss me around all the time.
"You don't mind missing meeting Titty then?" Did Jim look worried as he said it? Peggy hoped that meant he saw this afternoon as a date with a girl he rather liked, not just taking his friend's sister-in-law to tea.
You're being a galoot, Peggy Blackett.
"So somewhere other than a Lyons corner house then?" Jim suggested. "If we don't want to run into them."
Since they were in Oxford Street, they spent what was left of a fine December afternoon wandering along Oxford Street, talking about nothing much and making intermittent attempts to find presents for Jim's Aunt Maggie and Peggy's Mother.
"I said I'd buy from Nancy and myself." Peggy explained, feeling the need for some explanation of her extravagance as the assistant in John Lewis's wrapped up a cream and black checked sweater, with extra cards of darning wool to match. Peggy knitted well enough, but knew she did not have the patience for knitted collars, or the time to finish anything so fine. Nancy had suggested a jacket of some sort, oblivious as usual to the finer points of clothes actually fitting and therefore needing to be tried on. Nancy had never bothered to alter her frocks, so that they all remained slightly too big on the waist. Peggy did put extra darts in hers, so that Peggy's frocks, blouses and skirts fitted Nancy better than Nancy's own clothes. Peggy had smiled to herself when she noticed that Nancy's tendency to borrow her clothes had increased during her sister's engagement – at least when Nancy would be seeing John. After all, Nancy had not had many opportunities to see John and the clothes had all survived the experience.
Jim also thought buying warm clothing for his aunt, while it was still obtainable, was a good plan. Unfortunately, she discovered as they wandered into Selfridge's, his ideas on clothing sizes were extremely vague.
"Ummm. She's an ordinary sort of size." Jim replied to Peggy's question. Knitwear it would have to be then. At least there was some leeway there. If they bought something a little too big, it would still be wearable, even if it was meant to be something fitted and wasn't.
"Compared to me?" Peggy asked, feeling entirely too self-conscious the moment the words were out of her mouth. "Would my clothes fit her, do you think?"
Jim gave it some thought. "Well, she's a little bit taller. And thinner in places, but maybe fatter overall. I'm not sure." He looked hopefully at Peggy as if she would somehow understand what he meant. To Peggy's private surprise, she didn't feel irritated.
"Have a look round at the other people in here and tell me who is most like your aunt in size." She suggested.
"That one." Jim said, glancing around at the women shopping for clothes and the assistants helping them "The one with the brown coat over her arm."
Peggy nodded. The ordinary sort of size had not, after all, been a bad description. "Why not get her one of these twinsets?"
There were only two colours left in the medium size, a very bright blue and a plum colour, so they got the plum coloured one.
"Thank you." said Jim. "I'm extremely grateful. It's about the first time I've been really confident that Auntie will really like her present since my first year in prep school. She always says it's a perfect choice of course, with everything I get her."
"What did you get her then? At prep school I mean."
"A catapult." Jim grinned at her. Peggy laughed.
"People always say things about Auntie being a mother to me, and taking mother's place and so on. They mean to praise her when they say it, but they've missed the point really. The decent thing about Auntie Maggie, or one of them at least, is that she never did try to take Mother's place or be Mother. She did a lot of things for me that other chaps' mothers did for them, but it was all more part of doing a rather splendid job of being an aunt. I don't know if I'm making sense." Jim looked somewhat abashed at having said so much.
"I understand what you mean." Peggy assured him. "Uncle Jim doesn't try to take Father's place. Not that I remember Father very much really. I'm never quite sure when I do remember things, whether I'm remember things that Nancy told me or really remembering."
Jim paused, as if waiting to see if Peggy wanted to say anything else, and then said, "I think we've earned ourselves some tea."
He treated her to a tea in the restaurant which, war-time restrictions on supplies not withstanding seemed rather extravagant to Peggy.
They had nearly finished when he asked, "Would you still want to write, if I'm posted abroad?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Peggy said. "Not that my letters will be anything like as exciting as yours."
"It's not just what you write about." said Jim, which seemed a rather obscure thing to say. "Look, I know it's a bit of an imposition, but could I ask you to look after this for me?" He slid a key across the table. "It's the spare key to Goblin's cabin door. She's moored at Pin Mill at the moment. I've got someone keeping an eye on her, but I can't really ask them to make any decisions. It wouldn't be fair on them. You shouldn't need to actually do anything, if things carry on as they are …. My uncle would be even harder to contact than I would be if things changed."
Peggy knew she must have looked puzzled, because Jim explained, "Not Uncle Fred, who is married to Auntie Maggie. They don't know anything about sailing, although they'd do their best to make the right decisions, I'm sure. Uncle James is the uncle who gave me Goblin. He's in the RNVSR. He's in the Med. now. Anyway, if Goblin needs to be moved or whatever else, and I can't be contacted, and give whatever instructions you see fit about her."
"Are you sure?" Peggy asked. "I mean, you've never even sailed with me."
"Susan says you're a better helmswoman than she is. And she is good. Nancy and John said so too. In fact, in the Baltic Nancy once said you'd used to be pretty much the same as her, but would be likely to be better now, because you'd have more practice."
"I'm not quite sure why she thought that. Uncle Jim let me have my turn on Sea-Bear, of course, the same as Susan when it was straight forward, but Nancy and John always had…"
Jim was smiling at her. "And they were on Goblin last summer. All rather keen for "their turn." And you were on Sea-Bear as pretty much the only other adult apart from her skipper."
"Titty's pretty good as well." said Peggy. "And Dot and Dick aren't bad when they keep their mind on things. But, yes, I can see Nancy's point when you put it like that. And I'll do my best not to let you down." She took her key-ring out of her bag and carefully slipped Goblin's key next to the one for the Beckfoot front door.
February 1940
"You'll let us know what you're doing in Dover, won't you?" asked Colin eagerly as they all stood on the station platform waiting to see her off. Bridget and Elspeth would be appallingly late for school that morning, but no one seemed to think it would matter.
"She might not be allowed." said Bridget.
"Don't worry, Mother, I'm sure it will just be paperwork." said Peggy hastily.
"Well mind you don't get it in a muddle then." said Mother, with a really very creditable attempt at brisk cheerfulness. "Have you got everything?"
"Except my keys which I left on the hall table." said Peggy. "You'll just have to make sure you're not all out when I come home next."
"We won't be, because we'll have come to meet you." Elspeth said.
Guards whistle. Train whistle. The locomotive slipped a little but began to move.
"Good-bye!"
"Goodbye!"
"Mind you take care of Mother, you three!"