First Among Equals - books

and. Raymond
discovered that if he twirled Joyce very fast he could
see the tops of
her stockings, and he remained on the dance floor far
longer than he
would even have thought possible. After the quartet had
put their instruments
away, Joyce kissed him goodnight before Ray
went back to his
small room above the butcher shop.
The following Sunday, in an attempt to gain the upper
hand, he took Joyce
rowing on the Aire, but his performance there was no
better than his
dancing, and everything on the river overtook him,
including a hardy
swimmer. lie watched out of the side of his eyes for a
mocking laugh, but
Joyce only smiled and chatted about missing Bradford and
wanting to
return home to be a nurse. Ray wanted to explain to her
that he longed
to escape Leeds. He couldn't wait to travel to London.
But he also knew
he didn't want to leave this pretty girl behind. When he
eventually
returned the boat, Joyce invited him back to her
boardinghouse for tea.
He went scarlet
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FIRST AMONG EQUALS
.is they passed her landlady, and Joyce hustled him up
the wom stone
staircase to her little room.
Ray sat on the end of the narrow bed while Joyce made
two inilkless mugs
of tea. After they had both pretended to drink, she sat
beside him, her
hands in her lap. He found himself listening intently to
an ambulance
siren as it faded away in the distance. She leaned over
and kissed him,