by Maggie Ford
The voice was still whispering urgently in her ear. ‘Maddie, darling, it’s Anthony. Forgive me, darling, I’ve been a fool. I want to marry you. I want us to have a family, settle down…’
There were other words too: ‘Maddie, listen to me. I’m done looking for a good time. I want to settle down… with you, if you’ll have me.’
She was dreaming, the voice continuing, ‘I’ve no money any more. The bank’s gone, but I can find a similar situation in some other bank which is still in business. There are still openings for people like me despite everything and we can start again, you and I. We can have that baby you so wanted. I want it as well. You don’t know how much I’ve missed you. I love you.’
The fainting feeling was receding; strength returning and with it an overwhelming need to cling to him even tighter. Without looking up, she whispered in reply, ‘I’ve missed you too – so much.’
Seconds later she raised her head to feel his lips on hers, no more words needing to be said.
She was broke. So was he. But they were together, she knew that now, and together they would forge ahead, start again. And this time they would be a family. She could hardly believe it and she clung to him as if he might float away. But he was real enough. And he was here, holding her to him, his lips on hers.
In the hallway, Mrs Crossland, having overheard the two people, paused by the open door as she made her way down to the kitchen and smiled to herself.
She felt in her bones that Madeleine had at last found the happiness she had been seeking for so long. She’d once heard her remark almost bitterly that happiness after all was very often no more than mere illusion. Well, perhaps not such an illusion as she had imagined.
About the Author
Maggie Ford was born in the East End of London but at the age of six she moved to Essex, where she has lived ever since. After the death of her first husband, when she was only twenty-six, she went to work as a legal secretary until she remarried in 1968. She has a son and two daughters, all married; her second husband died in 1984. She has been writing short stories since the early 1970s.
Also by Maggie Ford
A Brighter Tomorrow
A Fall from Grace
A New Dream
First published in Great Britain and the USA in 2013 by Severn House Publishers LTD
This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2021 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
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Copyright © The Estate of Elizabeth Lord, 2013
The moral right of the author to be identified as the creator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781800324367
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Originally published as Illusions of Happiness by Elizabeth Lord
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