J o h n e s c o t t agatha Christie

Tea at the railway station
evening, and Archie told her his plans.
T want to fly,’ he said, ‘and I’m trying to get into the 
Royal Flying C orps.’
‘How exciting!’ said Agatha.
A week later, she was having tea with some friends at 
a house opposite Ashfield, her home, when there was a 
telephone call for her. It was her mother.
‘Come home, will you, Agatha?’ said Clara. ‘There’s a
Archibald and Agatha danced together many times that evening.
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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
young man here.
H e ’s just arrived 
and I’m giving 
him tea. I don’t 
know him, and 
I think he wants 
to see you.’
Agatha had to 
leave her friends 
and hurry home, 
so she was not 
very pleased. But 
when she got 
home, she found 
Archie Christie 
waiting for her.
‘ H e llo ,’ 
he 
said. T was in 
Torquay and - and I thought that perhaps it would be nice 
to see you.’ His face was red and he looked at his shoes.
Agatha smiled.
Archie stayed for the rest of the afternoon, and for 
supper that evening. When it was time for him to leave, 
he said, ‘Will you come to a concert in Exeter with me, 
Agatha? We can go to the Redcliffe Hotel for tea after 
the concert.’
Agatha as a young woman
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Tea at the railway station
T d love to,’ said Agatha, then looked at Clara. ‘Can 
I, mother?’
A concert, yes, Agatha,’ said Clara. ‘But tea at a 
hotel? No, I don’t think so. N ot a hotel.'
‘Perhaps I could take Agatha to tea in - in the 
restaurant at Exeter railway station!’ said Archie.
Agatha tried not to smile, but her mother agreed. So 
Agatha and Archie went to the concert - and then had 
tea at Exeter railway station!
‘There’s a New Year’s dance in Torquay on the second 
of January,’ said Agatha, when Archie took her home 
later. ‘Will you come?’
He smiled. ‘O f course,’ he said. ‘I want to see you as 
often as I can.’
But when Archie came to the New Year’s dance he 
was very quiet and did not seem happy. He seemed to 
be worried about something, but Agatha said nothing. 
Two days later, on the 4th of January, 1913, they went to 
another concert together. Archie was still very quiet, and 
after the concert Agatha asked, ‘What’s wrong, Archie?’ 
‘The Royal Flying Corps have said “ yes” to me,’ said 
Archie. ‘I have to leave Exeter in two days’ time. I have 
to go to Salisbury.’ He looked at her. ‘Agatha, you’ve got 
to marry me! There will never be anyone for me, only 
you! I’ve known that since our first evening together, at 
the Cliffords’ dance.’
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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
Agatha was very surprised. ‘But - but I can’t marry 
you. I’ve already told Reggie that I’ll marry him.’ And 
then she told him about Reggie Lucy.
‘You didn’t marry him before he went away,’ said 
Archie. ‘Why not? It’s because you don’t really love him!’ 
‘We thought it was better to wait— ’ began Agatha.
‘I won’t wait,’ said Archie. ‘I want to marry you next 
month, or the month after.’
‘We can’t!’ said Agatha. ‘We haven’t got any money. 
How will we live?’
But she did want to marry Archie.
‘Archie has asked me to marry him, and I want to. I 
want to very much!’ she told her mother.
Clara was very surprised. ‘You must wait,’ she told 
them both. ‘I like you, Archie, but you are only twenty- 
three years old, and neither of you has any money.’
So Archie went to Salisbury, and he and Agatha 
waited. Agatha wrote to Reggie Lucy. It was a difficult 
letter to write, but Reggie wrote a very kind letter back 
to her. ‘D on’t worry about it,’ he told her. ‘I understand.’
In August 1914, England was suddenly at war with 
Germany. Archie went to France with the Royal Flying 
Corps, and Agatha went to work as a volunteer nurse at 
the Torbay Hospital in Torquay.
Archie came back to England for five days in December,
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