The Second-last Woman In England - Plot & Excerpts
It was to be a special measure during Coronation year. From the top deck of the number 14 bus Jean looked down at the paper-boy, muffled up in a long scarf, who shouted these words as he tossed papers at passers-by and neatly caught their coins. A lady in a wide-brimmed hat side-stepped the noisy paper-boy and climbed into the back of a black cab. During the war men had died and other men had survived, some had fought and some had not. Now, eight years on, what mattered to the people of Knightsbridge late on a chilly Tuesday afternoon was hailing a cab ahead of someone else further up the street, avoiding the frozen puddles on Old Brompton Road and getting home before dark. The bus pulled away from the kerb and a young couple, giggling and clutching a wet packet of chips, emerged onto the top deck and took a seat at the front of the bus. Behind the couple came a man, a little older, in a long overcoat and hat and carrying a hastily folded newspaper.
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