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too. Her lipstick had worn off and her eyes looked puffy, as if she’d been crying.
    “Yeah, I’m Polly Barnett.”
    “I’m Tess. My family came down from Cambridge for the wedding.”
    Polly eyed the newcomer warily. She’d been shocked when Sadie had told her she’d befriended Priscilla’s niece. Everyone knew that Priscilla’s sister had married above her. People with money who spoke all proper like that usually didn’t mix with the poorer class. Especially a housemaid like Sadie. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “Sadie told me all about you.”
    “Sadie makes me laugh,” Tess said, though she didn’t look like she wanted to laugh right then.
    Polly gazed with envy at the bridesmaid’s black curls. Her own hair was black, too, but it hung as straight as a blackout curtain. She’d give anything to have curls like that. No wonder the Yanks were looking at her. She looked like a flipping film star.
    Tess seemed not to notice the flirty looks coming her way. Something had upset her, that much Polly could tell. The girl sat twisting her glass around in her hands as if it were someone’s neck she were wringing. “Sadie’s playing darts over there,” she said, her voice low enough that Polly had to strain to hear her above the racket the dart players were making.
    “She’s always playing darts.” Polly shot a look at the dartboard as a cheer went up from that corner. “She comes down here a lot. She likes playing ’cos she nearly always wins. She says it makes her feel good to beat the boys at something.”
    “There’s not much else to do for excitement in this place, is there.”
    Polly shrugged. “Depends who you’re with, I suppose.”
    “I know. There’s someone I . . .” Tess’s face crumpled, and she covered her mouth with her hand as if to smother a sob.
    Polly felt a stirring of sympathy. She knew what it felt like to miss someone. “I’m sorry,” she murmured awkwardly.
    After a moment or two, the other girl seemed to get herself under control. “Well, my father will be happy. He hated Brian. He kept telling me he was too old for me and that he was only after me for the money.” She looked up, her face clouded with misery. “Brian was only thirty-three. Daddy made him sound positively ancient.”
    Polly’s attention sparked, in spite of herself. After all, this was a subject dear to her heart. “So how old are you then?”
    “Twenty.” Tess hunted in her pocket and found a handkerchief. She blew her nose with it, then crumpled it in a ball in her hands. “It’s only thirteen years’ difference.”
    Thirteen years! There’d been only seven years difference between her and Sam. Deciding she had something in common with this hoity-toity miss, after all, Polly found herself telling her all about her and Sam. “Everything was going fine,” she finished, “until he had an accident in the Jeep and messed up his face. I know it was because he couldn’t stand me looking at his scars.”
    Tess shuddered. “How awful. Where is he now?”
    “Gone back to America, hasn’t he.” Just thinking about him made her own eyes prickle with tears. “I’ll never see him again.”
    Tess leaned forward. “You’re still young. You’ll find someone else.”
    “I don’t think so. I tried it once, but I picked the wrong bloke. He turned out to be a criminal.”
    Tess’s eyes widened in shock. “How absolutely rotten for you!”
    “It was,” Polly agreed gloomily. “I don’t seem to have any luck with men. Really I don’t.”
    “Well, I’m sure you’ll meet someone nice soon.” Tess shook her head. “I thought Brian was going to be the man of my dreams, but I was wrong.” Her face turned suddenly ugly, startling Polly. “I hate to say it, but Daddy was right about him after all.”
    “So what happened?” Polly asked, now glued to her chair.
    “Well, we’d been seeing each other on and off for quite a while. Behind Daddy’s back, of course. I told Brian I was going to be in