Van Gogh Sunflower

Van Gogh Sunflower
She opened her handbag and took out a worn and faded letter. She read from it:
"I hope this won't be a shock to you, Emmie, but I'm getting married – to a French girl. It's all been very sudden – but I know you'll be fond of Martine – and look after her if anything happens to me. Will write you all the details in my next - by which time I shall be a married man. Break it gently to the old man, won't you? He’ll probably go up in smoke."
Inspector Craddock held out a hand. Emma hesitated, then put the letter into it. She went on, speaking rapidly.
Van Gogh Sunflower
Two days after receiving this letter, we had a telegram saying Edmund was missing, believed killed. Later he was definitely reported killed. It was just before Dunkirk - and a time of great confusion. There was no Army record, as far as I could find out, of his having been married - but as I say, it was a confused time. I never heard anything from the girl. I tried, after the war, to make some inquiries, but I only knew her Christian name and that part of France had been occupied by the Germans and it was difficult to find out anything, without knowing the girl's surname and more about her. In the end I assumed that the marriage had never taken place and that the girl had probably married someone else before the end of the war, or might possibly herself have been killed."
Van Gogh Sunflower