Julie Berry

And when Hephaestus heard the grievous tale, he went his way to his smithy, pondering evil in the deep of his heart, and set on the anvil block the great anvil and forged bonds which might not be broken or loosed, that the lovers might bide fast where they were.

Kisses by the billions happen every day, even in a lonely world like ours.

When I pass by, Love is in the air.

People who talk of falling in love after just one meeting have their heads full of pillow down.

Aphrodite. There’s no going back once you’ve known the goddess of love. There is no forgetting. No moving on. No letting go.

‘If I should die, think only this of me, that there’s some corner of a foreign field . . .’”

“‘. . . that is for ever England,’”

“‘Why does Love love War?’”

Aubrey Edwards would have his wish at a price, following Jim Europe around the world, performing all the way to the gates of hell, in the killing fields of France.

“When I trip and fall, then?” She hoped this would come across as a bit of a joke.

He pressed his hand a shade more firmly into her back. “I won’t let you fall.”

And so James went from stranger to patriot, hero, bravely shouldering his duty to God, King, and Country.

Hazel went from stranger and pianist to reason why the war mattered at all, symbol of all that was pure and beautiful and worth dying for in a broken world.