Chapter 4

George was standing out on the footpath, he could hear the sounds of raised voices inside; oddly it was Timothy’s high pitch that carried the furthest. George could almost laugh if the situation had not been as serious as it was.
It was hard to remember just how many times George had sat outside on the front porch while chaos erupted inside, it wasn’t that he had an exceptionally volatile family, it was just that he had sisters; and an extremely high spirited mother. On rare occasions George was known to go inside and ‘stir the pot’ as the saying goes. First he would encourage Maggie that she was right in her argument and that she needed to stand up for herself. He would then quickly change sides and tell Elizabeth that as the older more mature sister that she had gained more wisdom and life experiences and therefore would be correct in her argument. The coup would be to remind his mother that she carried he sisters for nine long months and then gave birth to them and feed them and clothed them...From that point he could stand back, like the devil himself would have done, and watched the pandemonium. George’s father had caught George doing this once and had told him that it wasn’t Christian behaviour to rouse the women like that and then he whispered that he couldn’t help but find it slightly amusing though. From that point Maggie would often be seen running from the room and slamming the door behind her, Mother would then cry out like she had been about to have a heart attack and Maggie would scamper back into the room apologising for everything she had said (even if she had been right in George’s opinion) and beg forgiveness of anybody and everybody.
George was caught up in considering whether or not to go inside, knowing that it would be a long time until he saw his beloved family again, when he heard a woman’s voice calling out to him.
“Excuse me, but do you not think that it is quite rude to be eavesdropping on private conversations?”
“Do you consider that noise to be private?”
“Well...no. But surely this family must be in some crisis to be so...vocal in their ...discussions”.
“Not really” George smiled at the woman “This family often has, as you delicately put in- vocal discussions” George could hardly stop his heart from beating faster. Women certainly had an affect on him but none had caused such an immediate response. She was beautiful but it was the detail that she was chastising him on his moral behaviour that really impressed him, many girls that he knew would have probably listened in with him and giggled at the family’s unfortunate events.
“So you are a regular listener then?”
“Well you might put it that way but this family is certainly more interesting than your average radio program”. George could see from her annoyance that it was time to let her in on his circumstances. “This is my house and those very sweet voices are that of my sisters and mother and my sister’s current fiancée.”
“Really?” The woman looked suspicious of his story, but just as luck would have it William opened the front door and came out.
Looking sheepishly at George he said “I thought it might be better to make myself scarce. Poor Maggie is really getting it. What do you think about her decision?” William then caught sight of the stranger. “Oh I’m sorry I didn’t realise there was someone else out here with you George. I might just take a little walk, if Elizabeth is looking for me you can tell her I’ve gone to get some Ice Cream to cool us all down” William smiled at George as he walked past. Once past the woman he turned around again and raised his eyebrows to George. George responded
“Actually I have no idea who this delightful young lady is”.
William smiled and kept on walking while the young woman looked down in embarrassment.
“You weren’t to know that I lived here”, George offered as the last thing he wanted was for the woman to be uncomfortable in his company.
“I had better be going”. The woman turned to leave through the open gate.
“Please don’t go yet, I don’t even know you name” George grabbed her hand to stop her and found that he didn’t want to let it go. She looked down at her hand which George released quickly as he didn’t wish to offend her. She slowing raised her eyes to his and said
“My name is Ann Thackery. And the truth is that I have come here to see your sister.” Ann confessed.
“Maggie? Is it something about the Nurse’s Army?” George’s demeanor changed from chirpy to serious.
“Oh no, I’m a friend of Elizabeth’s from the university. Has Maggie joined the nurse’s army? That’s wonderful; she is so courageous to get involved.” Ann replied with confidence in her voice which George found charming.
“Unfortunately for Maggie other people don’t seem to think the same. What exactly are you here for?” George wanted to know more about her and yet realised with all the sounds from coming inside it still wasn’t appropriate to take her in to Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth told me that Timothy and Maggie are engaged and that they were having a little get together this afternoon to celebrate.”
“Oh were they? I didn’t know that it was already public knowledge about Maggie and Timothy.” George enquired.
“Oh Timothy had told Elizabeth that he was going to propose last night and Elizabeth told me. Timothy was very excited, as was Elizabeth and they had planned this little get together last week.” Ann confirmed. Ann was feeling a little concerned now. Had she got it wrong or had Maggie said no?
“Really?” Was all that George had wanted to say but in order to put Ann’s mind at ease he revealed more. “That’s right Timothy had proposed last night and Maggie had said yes, well sort of, but then Father told Maggie that she needed to first join the Red Cross and work for them before she got married.”
“Oh, I understand why I can hear Timothy then”. Ann smiled much to George’s relief, she clearly must have understood Timothy the way he did.
Elizabeth poked her head outside the door only seeing George.
“George you have a lot to answer for, taking Maggie to the registry office. Timothy is so upset. And so is Mother and Father. Mother wants to see you...Oh Annabel, I didn’t see you there. What are you doing here. Oh my goodness I forgot all about the afternoon tea, I’m so sorry but we have had a little bit of a family crisis”.
“Yes, George has told me that Maggie has signed up with the Nurse’s army”, Ann said.
“Did he now” Elizabeth said with a slight annoyance, she didn’t enjoy her family business known outside the family. She liked Ann but she had always felt that Ann had looked down on her a bit because she was a secretary at the university while Ann was there studying to become a Botanist. Ann often commented on how clever Elizabeth was but Elizabeth for some reason felt like it was a put down rather than a compliment. Elizabeth had told Ann that it is wonderful that women were able to work in different fields and could go to university but that she was happy being a wife and looked forward to the day she could give up work and have children.
“I’m sorry I am clearly intruding” Ann said and made to leave when George quickly jumped up to her side.
“That sounds like a good idea, I might join you if that would be alright” George said.
“But aren’t you needed inside” Ann said. She felt obliged to say those words when in actual fact she was quite pleased at the idea of spending more time with Elizabeth’s brother.
“I am certain that they can all get along fine without me. Well maybe Maggie could do with a little support, but she did get herself into this situation. And besides this is my last night at home for some time and I truly do not wish to spend it arguing with my family. And if you would permit me I would much rather spend it in the company of a beautiful woman such as yourself”.
Ann eyed George suspiciously wondering if he was he was mocking her. She was relatively sure that he was sincere but he certainly sounded like a modern day Romeo with his sweet words. She looked to Elizabeth to confirm his story.
“Oh yes George, it is your last day. Listen I’ll tell Mother that you had already gone. Ann you must accompany him, it really is his last night tonight as he is finishing his final training and expecting to head for Europe next week. Please I feel so bad that Maggie’s silly idea has ruined your last night. Go on, off you two go”. Elizabeth smiled to herself. Well at least one of her plans had come to fruition today. She had invited Ann over to met George expecting her brother to fall madly in love with Ann. She knew that George had often dated girls at a lot lower intellectual capability than himself. Ann would challenge him and Elizabeth knew that was exactly what George needed in order to settle down with someone, he needed a challenge and a chase and Ann was exactly the type of girl to provide it.
George practically ran down the path to the gate so that he could open it for Ann who smiled shyly. Elizabeth could almost hear the sound of both of their hearts pounding as they walked down the street.
“Oh where has William gone?” Elizabeth called down the street after them.
George had forgotten to pass on his message. “He’s gone down to the Ice-Creamery on the High Street. He thought everyone needed some cooling down”.
That’s a clever man my husband, thought Elizabeth, I think I might join him. She waited a few minute until George and Ann had gotten far enough down the street in front of her so as not to intrude and started walking in the direction of the High Street.