The English Descendants

20

Healing is slow and grief takes time. Edith finds that the moments of Eliot in his children slowly move her from sadness to the great joy. The first day she realizes this has happened, she knows her heart is ready to honour his life instead of dwelling only in his death. It is spring, and there are bright red poppies in the front garden. They hold a second meaning for her now, and she cannot bring herself to pull the errant ones that spread from their garden box.

When the war ends and the soldiers come home, flags fly throughout Detroit and there is a parade on Woodward that dwarfs any that Anne, Dexter, and May have ever seen. It reminds Charlotte too much of the parade that marked the end of the First World War. And then there is also the reminder that their own soldier is not among them. The family retreats to the house in Brush Park to mark the day quietly.

With the war over and the Arsenal of Democracy no longer chugging out guns and tanks and planes, Detroit's factories return to making cars and all the trappings of middle class luxury that comes with a booming industrial sector. The neighbourhoods begin to change as soldiers from the South come to experience the heartbeat of the Midwest in its factories. Detroit is booming, thriving, and exciting.

But the Cushing-McMichael house in Brush Park is far quieter now than it has been these past few years. Charlotte and Harold have moved the Strong family into their own home. Every cent Anne earned during the war is spent on the dream, even though she will only be living there a few more years. She has met a young man.

It is only thanks to the war that they have crossed paths. While working for the US Geological Survey, Anne wrote letters to soldiers and sailors. One young man wrote back more frequently than the others.

His parents have died, so she is his first stop after returning home. She leaves her job at the switchboard and goes to meet a man she has never seen at a little cafe with which she is quite familiar. She sits near the front windows sipping a coffee, fiddling with the little pearl buttons on her gloves while she waits. He had told her that he would find her, not to worry, and she would know when he entered. She certainly does. He arrives in his dress uniform. He looks so much like the photograph she keeps in her purse. She shifts to stand so she can greet him, but he turns to her, smiles, and shakes his head. She sits down.

"Miss Anne Victoria Strong. You are every bit as radiant as your picture."

She blushes, "Would you allow me to say the same for you, Mr Matthew Porter Drake?"

He laughs, "Well you have a good memory if you know my middle name. I think I only signed it once."

"And it was written on the back of your picture."

"Ah, yes. That."

"I feel as though I've known you for years, and not merely through letters."

"Thank god for mail call. I waited for your envelopes every time."

"My grandparents thought I was going to jump out of my skin with excitement when your letters came in the post."

"The post? You speak like the British boys I served with."

"Sorry. It's one of my grandmother's words- the family's a little old-fashioned. We lived with them during the war."

"No, no, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just not something I've heard stateside very often."

There is a bit of a pause, then Anne asks, "So...what should I know about you that we didn't cover in the letters? Do you have any odd habits? Like to sleep with a teddy bear? Believe in ghosts? Tried to sneak onto Boblo Island?"

He laughs, "Odd habits? Hmmm...now that I think about it, my adoration of collecting early Victorian postcards might be considered odd. But beyond that, I'm rather normal. Or at least I think so. And no, not a teddy bear. A stuffed rabbit. On ghosts...I've seen some strange things, let's just leave it there. And while it seems like it would be impossible to sneak onto Boblo Island, I did manage to stow away on one of the ferries once."

"How on earth did you manage that?"

"With this clever mind, that's how. I can't give away all my secrets up front, can I, Miss Strong?"

"Please, we've been writing for years, I'm just Anne."

"Well, Anne, I have had a question on my mind since before the war ended." He takes a small velvet satchel from his breast pocket, "Would you consider a long engagement?" He draws out a ring, "And, of course, I have no idea if this will fit. But I know a very good jeweler if you accept it."

She is beaming, "Yes! You do remember that I would like to continue my studies?"

"Oh yes. I wouldn't stop you for the world." He tries the ring on her hand and it is a little big for her ring finger, but it fits on her middle one and she wears it home under her white gloves, the tiny diamond chips and delicate gold band hardly visible. Alan notices the ring first, but because she has said nothing, he doesn't mention it to anyone but Edith. She is giddy with the idea that her granddaughter is likely in love and engaged.

On Remembrance Day, Anne meets Matthew for ceremonies at Elmwood with a paper poppy pinned to her jacket. She cannot keep from crying as the bugles play. He does not know why she is so deeply moved. After, he offers to take her to the cafe, but she declines, instead asking if they can go walking on Belle Isle. He accepts and she tells him about Eliot as they sit on a bench overlooking the river. Matthew asks where he served and she says she does not know. He promises to find out for her and asks if he can tell her a little of his own service. She nods. He was one of the youngest men in his unit when he participated in Operation Overlord and it is only now that Anne knows just how close he came to death, with gunfire raining down from the cliffs of Normandy.

A year after they have become engaged, Anne finally tells her family that she intends to be married. While it was never a secret and, at this point, they had all noticed the little ring, Anne and Matthew enjoyed the quiet excitement of having a secret all their own. Charlotte approves of the match in nearly every way but one- Matthew has no intent to quit his military career, even once married. She is worried what will happen if there is another war. But while she has told her daughter her concern, she has never told Anne that she would stand in her way. Harold likes him, too, and loves how happy he makes his daughter. Edith and Alan happily welcome him into their home for family gatherings.

They are ready to take him to meet Maria, May, and Richard at the farm when Maria calls, distraught. May has announced she is pregnant. Charlotte and Harold respect that she wants time to figure out how to keep this from becoming some sort of scandal, but neither think it is as horrible as she believes it is. Anne, finding the entire idea of calling off their picnic ridiculous, invites them to travel to Detroit instead so they will not be seen by their neighbours. Maria declines, not wanting her daughter seen in public with the bump beneath her dress. Charlotte calls Edith and soon the invitation is changed from Belle Isle to Brush Park. Maria hesitates, thinking there will be some sort of chastisement from her in-laws. One never comes. They are all, as always, greeted with open arms.

Thomas has avoided appearing to anyone since Eliot's death, but he still watches the family and celebrates in his heart when things are joyful. This new growing little life, as well as the romance blossoming between Anne and Matthew, brings him happiness.

May's little girl, born in the winter of 1946, is named for her grandmother and great grandmother- Maria Edith McMichael. Thomas greets her at her crib. She gurgles and coos, reaching up to touch his cheek as he kisses her forehead. He is overjoyed to meet her and slips away before her mother returns.