She had just turned into Oxford Street when someone calling her name made her glance nervously over her shoulder, and there hurrying towards her was Dr Parkin. Her heart did its customary little leap at the sight of him and she was suddenly glad of the darkness that would hide her blushes. She stopped and when he caught up with her he smiled.

‘Hello, what are you doing out and about on such a chilly night?’

‘I’ve just been to see a friend,’ she explained.

‘And are you in a rush to get home?’

She shook her head.

‘Good, then perhaps you’d join me for a bit of supper? I haven’t eaten since early this morning and I’m starving. There’s a rather nice little restaurant just a little further up the road, what do you think?’

Holly hadn’t had her evening meal yet either so she nodded shyly and taking her elbow he led her along chattering all the time. Soon he ushered her into a cosy-looking restaurant with tables covered in crisp, white tablecloths and tiny vases of flowers on each one; the waitresses were all dressed in smart black dresses and frilly white aprons. They were seated at a table by the window where they could watch the world going by, and as Dr Parkin handed her the menu, their hands brushed and Holly felt a little tingle run up her arm and she blushed. He looked so handsome sitting there that he almost took her breath away and she had to force herself to concentrate on choosing what she wanted to eat. When they’d placed their order he asked the waiter for a bottle of wine and Holly sipped hers cautiously.

‘So, was it Ivy you were going to see?’ he asked as they waited for their food to be served and she nodded. She had told him about her friend moving out during her lunch break at the hospital a couple of days before.

‘And how is she?’

‘Oh fine,’ she answered airily, reluctant to share her concerns with him. She hadn’t told him, or anyone else for that matter, about the baby either, considering it to be no one else’s business but Ivy’s. The way she saw it the gossip would spread quickly enough when Ivy began to show.

He went on to speak of his mother and his family then and she warmed to him even more. He was clearly very fond and proud of his mother, which Holly found endearing.

‘I’ve tried to get her to move out of Spitalfields and into a better area now that we’re all grown up,’ he grumbled. ‘But she won’t even consider it. She can be a stubborn old devil when she makes her mind up to be.’ He chuckled as he topped Holly’s glass up. ‘She says she’s always been happy enough where she is so why move now? Some of her neighbours have been her friends for years and she doesn’t want to leave them.’