Funny enough I was thinking about this today. Not wanting to cause a row with you Diane but I actually think that Hugh Lupton is careful not to make us think Peggy is an arse. I think he is very careful not to make any of the characters 'bad'.

I think the contextual information is all there for us to understand her initial reaction. She is a young, beautiful woman, for whom dreams of a good life are fast passing her by because she has worked (it seems) in her dad's chippy all her life, with little hope of ever getting out. Accepting his initial offer (when I assume she was still quite young) would have been a resignation that she was never going to get out of a life she doesn't like and that all her dreams are gone. She wasn't ready to give up on that yet, even though she 'likes' Billy. In addition, she doesn't know the value of the ring or what Billy has put into it.

Only years later, when she is older does she realise what is in front of her. I actually think this is one of the brilliant things about the song, that nobody is an arse, they are just all dealing with their life the best they can, in the only way they know how.

Anyway, that's just what I get from it.

Hugh - are you out there? can you tell us more :-)