To better fit herself to become the wife of a professional man, too, she started taking music lessons at an academy in the West End, and Percy used to meet her upon his free evening and take her out to dinner or to the pictures, or for a long drive in the country. He urged her to keep their meetings secret so that it might not give rise to talk in West Ham.
They were soon on kissing terms, but he delayed actually proposing to her until he had finally made up his mind. He realised it was a most important step and, although he was decidedly taken with the girl, he wanted first to be quite sure of her father’s financial position.
Then one day he heard that the factory was not doing too well. A great loss had been made upon a Government contract, trade was bad, and more than half of the empl
