Darkest Before Dawn Episode 25
Where had the years gone, Maud wondered as she opened her sewing box.
Next month would mark the third anniversary of the start of the war.
So much had happened in those three years and still there was no end in sight.
It was almost three years, too, since Edward had married Tilly, and now Maud was about to start on the alterations to Tilly’s wedding dress so it would fit Isobel for her wedding to John.
She just had to take it in a little at the waist. Since she’d been working in the Land Army, Isobel had lost weight, but she was stronger than she’d ever been, at least physically.
Sighing, Maud began to unpick the seams.
It was only a few days until the wedding, but her heart wasn’t in it as it should be.
“What are you doing, Nanna?”
Little Peter appeared at her side and she smiled down at him.
The one good thing to come of all this was her two-year-old grandson. He was like a ray of sunshine on the darkest of days.
“I’m making your mummy’s dress fit Auntie Isobel,” she explained.
“Why?”
“Because Auntie Isobel is getting married.”
“Leave Nanna alone, Peter,” Tilly called from the kitchen. “She’s busy.”
Maud smiled at him and cupped his cheek.
“Go and see Mummy, sweetheart,” she told him.
As he bounced out of the room, she felt suddenly tearful and had to wipe her eyes quickly before tears fell on the dress.
Isobel had changed since John came back.
She’d stopped going out with the girls from the Land Army, and it seemed to Maud that she’d lost her shine.
At one time, all Maud had wanted was for Isobel to be married, but what was the point if she wasn’t happy?
She’d tried talking to her, but her daughter just closed up like an oyster shell.
Alf came in, puffing on his pipe, and Maud waved her hand at him.
“Take that thing out of here! You’ll make Isobel’s dress smell.”
Grumbling under his breath, Alf went off to the kitchen. She soon heard him tickling Peter and making him giggle.
She couldn’t help smiling.
There was something so heartwarming about a toddler’s laughter. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to smile.
When Alf came back, he brought a cup of tea.
“Thought you could do with this,” he said, then nodded towards the dress. “Hard work?”
“Not really.” She sighed.
“What is it, then? Something’s up.”
“I’m worried about Isobel, Alf,” Maud admitted. “She doesn’t seem happy.
“Remember how Tilly was before she married Edward?
“The girl was brimming over with happiness, but with Isobel it’s as if a light has gone out inside of her.”
“She’s growing up, that’s all,” Alf said airily. “You’re worrying needlessly.”
“But she never goes out with her friends any more. Remember how she loved going to dances and to the cinema?”
“What are you talking about?” Alf asked. “She’s about to get married!
“Of course she’s not going out and about now John is back.”
“You weren’t so keen on them getting married three years ago,” Maud reminded him.
“Rightly so. They were both too young, but things have changed now. Isobel would speak up if it wasn’t what she wanted.
“If there’s one thing I know about our daughter, it’s that she’s no shrinking violet when it comes to saying what she thinks,” Alf went on.
Maud put her sewing aside. She wished she could put her worries aside as easily.
She looked across at Alf and found him watching her with a smile on his face.
She still adored him, even now. Would Isobel feel the same way about John in a few years’ time?
“Penny for your thoughts?” Alf asked.
“I was thinking that you could do with a haircut,” Maud replied briskly, picking up the dress again.
Alf was right. Fretting wasn’t going to help, and she might as well keep busy.