‘Of course.’ Emma snatched up her bag and after saying their goodbyes she and Walter departed.

‘I’ve had a horrible feeling this was going to happen for some long time,’ Gilbert said when they’d gone. ‘But don’t look so frightened. Hopefully it will be all over in no time with not too much harm done.’ And he left the room leaving the girls to their gloomy thoughts.

The next morning on her way to the hospital. Holly could hardly believe her eyes. A recruitment centre had appeared in the town centre and young men were queueing outside it, eager to enlist and go to war. They were laughing and happy as if they were about to embark on some great adventure and she felt sick as she wondered if they realised they might never come home.

‘The whole world has gone mad!’ Matron declared worriedly when Holly arrived. ‘Did you see those young boys in the town signing up to go to war? Some of them didn’t look older than fifteen or sixteen, they must be lying about their ages to get in. There will be no young men left in the town at this rate.’

‘I know.’ The sight had upset Holly too but there was nothing she could do about it so she quietly went about her work.

Harry came to the hospital later that day. ‘You aren’t thinking of signing up too, are you?’ Holly asked him.

He shook his head. ‘Not exactly, but if doctors are needed to treat the wounded abroad then I may well go.’

‘Oh, Harry, it’s all so senseless.’ She leaned heavily on the office desk. ‘Surely someone can do something to stop this madness.’

‘I think it’s gone too far for that now. The prime minister did give Germany a chance when he asked them to respect the neutrality of Belgium but they chose to ignore it. The newly appointed secretary of war, Lord Kitchener, has already called for at least 100,000 men to start a new army and the Royal Navy has been put on a war footing with orders to be prepared to open fire on the enemy at any moment.’

Harry was usually such a happy-go-lucky chap that it was strange to see him looking so sombre.

‘Try not to worry,’ he told Holly as he saw her nervously nibbling at her lip and without another word he went to see his patients.

Emma and Walter visited again at the weekend, and Walter was concerned. ‘I won’t have any men at all working for me at this rate,’ he told Holly’s grandfather. ‘They’re all going to sign up for the army.’

‘It’s the same in the mill and the pits from what I can make of it,’ Gilbert replied worriedly. ‘How everyone is supposed to keep the businesses going is a puzzle to me.’

‘I believe the prime minister has stated that women will be expected to take over the roles of some of the men for the duration of the war.’ Gilbert shook his head. It made him wonder what the world was coming to. After all, how could women possibly do men’s jobs?