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He had been a little odd at the wedding She knew her ht so He had been distracted, selectively deaf, bit his nails even (an unbecoht of theht his nervousness a little excessive

‘Don’t be silly,’ her father had said ‘All grooms are supposed to look like condemned men’ Herlipsticked smile

Deanna had sulked She had worn a blue suit, alh to be considered black, and Avice had complained about it to her mother, who had told her not to fuss ‘It’s very hard for her, you being the first to get married,’ she had whispered ‘Do you understand?’

Avice did Only too well

‘Still love me?’ she had said to him afterwards Their parents had paid for everyone’s dinner and a night at the Melbourne Grand Her e whisper, as she and Ian left to go upstairs, that it really wasn’t all that bad and it ht help if she had a little drink or two first Avice had smiled – a smile that reassured her mother and irritated the bejaysus out of her sister, to who to do It: I shall be a woman before you She had even been tempted to tell her sister she had already done It the previous evening, but the way Deanna had been lately, she thought she was likely to blab to their mother and that was all she needed

‘Ian? Do you still loveMrs Radley?’

They had reached their roo of his brandy and loosened his collar ‘Of course I do,’ he said He had seemed more like himself then He pulled her to hih ‘I love you to bits, darling girl’

‘Forgiven me?’

His attention was already elsewhere ‘Of course’ He dropped his lips to her neck, and bit her gently ‘I told you I just don’t like surprises’

‘I reckon there’s a stor’ Jones-the-Welsh checked the baroarette, then generated a shudder ‘I can feel it inside ot to break so, Scotch mist?’

‘Call that a stor about a proper storm, lads A real oman of a storm The kind that stands your hair on end, whips you round the chops and shreds your trousers afore you can say, "Ah, co you her nahter fro in his, heard the sound as a dull harbinger of darkening skies Jones was right There would be a storm He felt tense, jittery, as if he had drunk too many cups of Arab coffee At least, he told hiain, the iht There had been no invitation in her glance, no coquettishness She was not the kind of wo coe But there was so that told hi between them A connection She knew him That hat he felt

‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ he said aloud, swinging his legs out of the hammock He had not meant to speak, and as his feet hit the floor he felt self-conscious

‘What’s the matter, Nicol, my love?’ Jones-the-Welsh put down his letter ‘Soh people lately?’

Nicol closed his eyes They were sore, gritty Despite his exhaustion, sleep eluded hih the dayti that it would be his Then as he relaxed, the urge evaporated and left him, with that imprint on the back of his eyelids And an ache in his soul How can I think like this? he would ask hi his forehead ‘As you said The pressure’

He had told himself he was incapable of emotion So shocked by the horrors of war, by the loss of so many around him that, like so many men, he had closed off Now, forced to exaht perhaps he had never loved his wife, that he had instead becoht up in expectation, in the idea that he should marry He had had to – after she had revealed the consequence of what they had done You rew sour with lack of attention; you grew bitter and introverted for your lost drea themselves they would not , for alternatives You Got On With It Perhaps, he thought in his darkest moments, he found it hard to admit that war had freed hi of having a party tonight Now that the old lady’s settled down again’ He patted the wall beside him ‘I must say, it does seem a waste for all that feood old naval hospitality I thought I an to polish it ‘You’re a dog,’ he said

Jones-the-Welsh let out a joyous woof ‘Oh, what’s the harm?’ he said ‘Those who don’t want a bit of Welsh rarebit must be proper in love with their old men So that’s lovely Those who find the sea air has’ here he raised an eyebrow ‘given theo the distance anyway’

‘You can’t do it, Jones They’re all married, for God’s sake’

‘And I’m pretty sure some are already a little less married than they hen they set out You heard about the episode on B Deck, didn’t you? And I was on irl with the blonde hair’s a menace Won’t bloody leaveto the bathroo open I’s’ He fluttered his eyelashes

Nicol went back to his boots

‘Ah, coe by the rule book doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t enjoy ourselves a little’

‘I think you should leave the his ears to the co lack of respect for the wo men he considered honourable, that made him uncomfortable

‘And I think you should buck up a bit Lidders here is co Co ourselves’

‘I’m on duty’

‘Of course you are Pressed up to that dor’ He cackled and jumped into his own hammock ‘Oh, come on, Nicol Marines are allowed a bit of fun too Lookthink of e’re doing, right, as some kind of service The entertainment of the Empire’s wives For the benefit of the nation’