‘Shush, yer daft ha’porth an’ kiss me,’ she told him sternly, placing her finger on his lips. ‘If we only have a week till you leave then we’d best make the best of it.’

Marcus was only too happy to do as he was told, and as his lips found hers her heart soared.

‘So where will yer be goin’?’ she asked eventually when they came up for air.

‘I have to report to Budbrooke Barracks near Warwick then I’ll be sent to train on the Isle of Wight. I shall be in the second battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.’

She nodded as she digested what he’d told her. ‘But why didn’t yer say somethin’ about how yer felt about me before?’ she asked as they sat with their arms about each other.

‘Why didn’t you?’

‘Because I didn’t think someone o’ your class would look twice at a girl like me who has a baby born the wrong side o’ the blanket.’

‘And I was worried that you might still have feelings for Alice’s father.’ Placing his finger gently beneath her chin he tilted her face and kissed her again. ‘And class doesn’t even come into it. I knew you were the girl for me the moment I clapped eyes on you, and when I come home we’ll be a family.’

‘Is that a promise?’

He nodded solemnly.

‘In that case I’ll wait forever if need be.’

‘And about time too,’ Holly chuckled when Ivy told her the news later that evening. ‘I was beginning to think you pair were never going to get around to admitting how you felt about each other. It’s as plain as the nose on your face that you’ll be perfect together.’

‘Ooh hark at the pot calling the kettle black!’ Ivy’s eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘An’ what about you an’ Dr Phillips?’

‘We’re still just good friends,’ Holly said quickly. ‘Which is just as well because he’s talking of going to work in one of the field hospitals they’ve set up in France.’ She swallowed nervously and went on, ‘And actually, I’m thinking of going with him. I’ve been considering it for a while and when he said he was going it helped me to make up my mind. I’ve already spoken to Matron about it and she said that although she’ll be sad to lose me she thinks it’s a good idea. As it happens, there’s a load of Red Cross nurses and doctors being shipped out there shortly before Christmas so I might go then. I was going to tell my mother and my grandfather first but you may as well know now.’

‘Well, I’ll be!’ Ivy looked as if she had well and truly had the wind taken out of her sails. ‘But won’t it be really dangerous working close to the front?’ It seemed that today was full of surprises, and not good ones!

‘The hospitals aren’t right on the front,’ Holly pointed out. ‘And there’s such a desperate shortage of doctors and nurses out there that I feel I ought to go.’