Francine shook her head. ‘No, it is you and your people who defend our country that are brave,’ she told her. ‘But now you must go. Walk straight down the lane and you will come to the door at the back of the sister’s office. Goodbye, my friend.’

She turned and skipped through the trees as nimbly as a fox and within seconds she was gone as Holly ventured out of the trees and set off down the lane with her heart thudding painfully. Eventually she came to the door that Francine had told her about and tapped on it tentatively. She must make sure that the sister was alone before she entered. It wouldn’t do to be seen in the clothes she was wearing.

Sister Flynn herself answered her knock and dragged her inside. ‘Oh my dear girl, thank goodness you are safe,’ she said. ‘Monsieur Le’Fete left a short time ago after delivering the patient and he told me what has happened. Those poor, poor people. But sit down, you’re shaking.’ She crossed to a filing cabinet and to Holly’s amazement produced a bottle of brandy. ‘Here, get that down you, it’s good for shock,’ she ordered after sloshing a large measure into a mug on her desk.

Holly sipped at it, almost choking as the fiery liquid burned its way down her throat but almost instantly she began to feel warm and the trembling eased a little.

When she had finished every last drop as Sister insisted, she hurriedly changed into her own clothes again and the sister told her, ‘All of the nurses from your tent are on duty so by the time you get to see them you can say you returned today after extended leave. Meantime go and get some rest.’

Holly nodded and walked away with her head in a whirl. So much had happened in such a very short time that she could hardly get her head around it. Worst of all, though, was the terrible guilt she felt that by wishing so desperately for Richard to be alive, it meant that Harry was dead. Two good men, both of whom had loved her, and neither of whom deserved to die in such a terrible way. And if it was Harry who had been taken prisoner and they were to meet again, how could she ever face him knowing she had, in a roundabout way, wished he was dead? Yet as she lay sleepless in bed, it was Richard she prayed for, even though they could never be together.

Chapter Forty-Nine

The following morning, as Holly returned to her duties, heavy-eyed after a sleepless night, Sister Flynn called her into her office. She looked care-worn and exhausted, and with a terrible dread forming in the pit of her stomach, Holly braced herself for news of Richard’s death. But it wasn’t Richard she wanted to talk about. With tears in her eyes, Sister told her that the Le’Fete family had been shot for harbouring the enemy.