First Published: 2018
SPOILERS!!!
We are now in the last year of the war, and people are war-wearied, and there is some apprehension that after all the sacrifices and pain they may lose the war to the Germans.
I knew that the road Beattie was walking would end up with heartache. After Louis loses his sight, Beattie is considering that she will have to leave Edward and her family to go to South Africa with him. It is at this moment that she starts realising what she may be losing. Then Louis dies, and his death devastates her. When she returns home that day, she goes to bed and doesn't get up in three days, and when she does, she says that she had had a terrible migraine.
Edward discovers that his wife has been unfaithful to him. One of the days a meeting is called off, so he thinks of giving Beattie a surprise and take her out to lunch. So he goes to Waterloo Station where the canteen is, and he is told that Beattie hasn't been going to the canteen in weeks, and they think that she was volunteering in the Second Hospital to read and keep company to blind soldiers. Edward is surprised that Beattie hasn't told him about it, and in a first moment he intends to go and find her in the hospital, but then he thinks that he wouldn't intrude in her business and leaves.
Then weeks after Louis's death Edward opens a letter that he thought was addressed to him, but instead of addressing the letter to Mrs, it was written Mr. When he reads the letter, he recognises the name as the man who had been in Beattie's past. It states that he died and left everything to Beattie, and when the letter details that the hospital is the one that Beattie went to and didn't tell him, he realises the deceit. He goes to find Beattie, and she can't deny it, and all she says that it was some kind of madness, and she didn't plan it.
After that confrontation, Edward goes to his club, and predictably he goes to see Elise, and they spend the night together. The following morning he is ashamed, and Elise knows that this won't happen again, but she wants them to keep being friends. As the law has raised the ages of conscription, Edward receives his call-up papers, and even though he could have appealed and got an exemption, he decides to do his duty, mainly because he needs to put some distance between him and Beattie.
In training Edward feels unsettled as all the other cadets are much younger than him and call him uncle. Edward trains for officer, and before he is sent to France, he goes home on leave. He and Beattie talk, and she asks him to forgive her. Edward says that it is not a question of forgiveness, but he tells her that it hurts too much thinking that all these years of marriage were just a lie, and all along she was thinking aobut him. The next day Edward goes to see Elise, and they eventually talk about Beattie, and Elise makes him see that the war is a time of madness, and it is not difficult to think that Beattie was not thinking right.
Edward is not the only one who is sent to France. William thinks that it is not enough for him to learn to build planes, and he wants to join up. After all, he will be called up soon, and he wants to do the job that Bobby was not able to finish. So he goes to the training school, and he is sent to France almost at the same time as his father.
There is a new death in the family. Diana gets a telegram, saying that Rupert is missing, and she is fretting. Yet, Beth and Laura tell her that sometimes soldiers are reported missing because it is a mess out there, and they haven't been registered, and the likely thing is that he has been taken prisoner. Yet, a relation of his that was in his unit goes to see her and explains that Rupert proved extraordinary bravery, and he was a witness how he was hit and killed. Diana is distraught, and her mother goes to her and persuades her to go to Northcote, and she decides to move to Dene Park and have her new baby there.
Antonia has had her baby son, and they have named him Marcus. David is still struggling with his daily life. The death of Oliphant hit him hard, and his leg hurts too much. His only relief is taking some drug, and when Edward visits, he is worried that he may become dependent. What he tells him is to go and see a specialist, and even though David is reluctant to do so, he finally promises that he will do so. What David fears is that the doctor will think that the only solution to his pains will be amputation, so when he asks Sadie, she tells him that even if the doctor tells him so, it will be his decision.
Sadie is now driving ambulances as well as helping at Highclere. Mrs Cuthbert tells him one day that John is in hospital very sick. A horse bit her and he is now fighting septicaemia, and when Sadie visits him, she can see that he is feverish. In his feverish state he implies that he loves her. For days John's conditon is touch and go, but he finally recovers. Sadie is disappointed that he doesn't say anything about his feelings before he goes back to the front. So she thinks that maybe she misunderstood him, and when Christopher asks her to go for a drive with him, she accepts. Some time ago he expressed his feelings for her, but Sadie told him that she liked him as a friend. Now she thinks that maybe she should give him a chance because after all, she likes him and John is something impossible.
Laura and Dr Ransley get together, and then he is transferred to a mobile centre near the frontline. Then she and Louisa are bombed and their club destroyed, and they have to leave Pop. Once in London Laura hears that a doctor has been killed, and she fears it is Ransley. However, he turns up at her home, which doesn't sit well with Louisa. The two women have an argument, and Louisa doesn't reappear in several days. When she does, Louisa says that she has decided to move with some friends, and she thinks that she has behaved wrong, feeling jealous. Louisa admits that she has followed Laura to some projects just because she asked her, but she wants to help in London and clinics in the East End.
Laura is restless, eager to return to the front, so she goes to ask Lady Overton, who gets her a job an ambulance driver, and she will be working with Annie again. And the best thing is that Ransley will be near where she will be stationed.
As for the servants, Ada's beau, Armstrong, is sent to the front, so he wants to marry Ada before he goes. Ada agrees, and they get married with all the servants attending. There is a funny conversation when Cook asks her what her wedding night was like, and Ada says it was horrible and very embarrassing. That makes Cook worried as she thinks of a possible future with Fred, her Australian beau.
I am not surprised that this is a great fifth book in the series. I hope that nothing happens to either William or Edward, and even though Beattie didn't behave well, I would like Edward and Beattie to find happiness together.
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