Chapter 6- 2nd half

“Goodnight”, George yelled after them, “Goodness I thought they would never leave” George moved chairs from sitting across from Annabel to the seat next to her. Anna really couldn’t believe everything that had been happening and she wanted to be fair to George. She knew she could have accepted his offer this afternoon of marriage; lots of girls she knew were getting married to soldiers who were being spent overseas. They said they were doing it to give these boys as much happiness as they could get before they went overseas, Anna wasn’t so sure, she believed a lot of these young women were expecting these poor lads to die over in the trenches and by becoming war widows they would be able to pick up a nice little widow’s pension. When she had said that to Elizabeth, Elizabeth told her she was being too hard on her own sex, but Anna knew that even though she had much more to gain then some of those other girls she just couldn’t do it, especially not to George.
“So are you reconsidering my offer?” teased George.
“What? No! George how can you tease me like that?” squirmed Anna. She stood up off her chair and made her attention focus on the lovely porcelain in George’s parents’ display cabinet.
“Ash, me thinks the girl protests too much”, George teased again. He could see that Anna was becoming flushed and he decided the last thing to do was to get Anna cross with him if he was to have any chance of her reconsidering. It was funny that in just one afternoon he had gone from being single and carefree to vigorously pursuing Anna to become his wife. If someone had of told him that this would be happening to him right now he would have told them that they were nuts and yet here he was seriously hoping that Anna would marry him, and not just one day but as soon as she would be willing. England had not fully declared war yet but it would not be long and he knew that because he was already to go that he would be one of the first over to Europe, he didn’t know what it was going to be like, he knew when he enlisted that there is the possibility of death but George had confidence, not that he thought he wouldn’t die but that he knew where he would go if it happened. But now, things had changed in his head, he didn’t want to die, not until he had been able to be with Anna. Not the way some of the lads had been going around using it as an excuse to deflower some of the local girls. George wanted Anna as his wife, he wanted those things just like any other man but he also wanted to be able to wake up next to her in the morning.
“George, things are just not that simple”. Anna knew it was crazy to be revealing so much about herself and her family but she just felt so different with George.
“Oh Anna, I know that you think I’m crazy and that you don’t feel the same way I do...” George began.
“No George, that’s the thing, I’m surprised and in shock myself but if it were that simple I would marry you”, Anna laughed, “even tonight if that’s what you wanted. But my life isn’t that simple”. Anna wanted to cry, she just didn’t know where to start, she knew that George would be polite when listening to her story but afterwards he would feel differently. Oh why couldn't her life be more simple, she thought. “George...”
“Listen Anna, you don’t have to be upset. You don’t need to tell me anything you don’t want to. That’ the funny thing about the way I feel, I don’t need to know anything about you, I just want to be with you”, George gushed. How was Anna to respond to this, she wanted to tell him her secret but she knew that it would be difficult for someone so young to understand, before it happened to her she hadn’t ever thought of a young woman being so gullible. Now because of that she had been left as a social outcast, many people in proper society tainted her with as a certain type of girl. “I don’t want to put anymore pressure on you tonight, lets just enjoy ourselves. Come on lets go and ask the others if they want to spend the rest of the evening at the music hall. I’m not much of a dancer but I’m dragged along often enough with two sisters to be considered tolerable.” Anna readily agreed; she knew that she would one day have to have the unavoidable conversation but until then she wanted to spend as much enjoyable time with George as she could. Who knew what would happen afterwards, tonight was going to be all about having fun.