That moment, the door at the top of the stairs opened with a creak and a bang.

At last! Ray stood up but it wasn’t the chaps. It was an airman, in RAF uniform. He looked vaguely familiar.

Just in case the new arrival had any ideas about taking his seat, Ray quickly sat back down. ‘Evening all! Better late than never!’ the airman called cheerfully. He trotted down the stairs with a confident swagger.

Now Ray remembered. They’d seen him on the first night, at the drinks reception out on the lawn. He’d sent the girls into a tizzy. Ray noticed Nancy give Pam a hefty nudge and on the bench beside him, Maggie gave a little start of recognition.

Lord Ashford glanced up. ‘Ah, there you are. Can I introduce my nephew? John Rosman. Air Bomber Command.’

The airman’s arm was still in a sling, so he saluted them with his left hand. ‘Call me Jack!’ he said. ‘All my friends do.’

A pilot, an actual fighter pilot and if that wasn’t enough, Lord Ashford’s relative too. He probably flew Spitfires. There were gasps and giggles from the girls. No doubt they were thinking, here comes a proper man, a man in uniform.

Call-me-Jack’s eyes darted around and landed on Maggie. She cleared her throat and looked down at her hands, clasped in her lap.

‘Hello there, Poppy!’ he said. ‘Room for a little one?’

‘I think you’ll find her name is Maggie,’ Ray muttered, wondering how on earth they knew each other. This clearly wasn’t the first time they’d met.

‘Shift along there, fella, would you mind?’

Ray moved ungraciously to his right, while Maggie shuffled along to make room the other way. The airman dropped into the gap between them, making the bench shake.

So much for ‘room for a little one’. This chap was over six feet tall and bulky. His not insubstantial rear end had landed on the edge of Ray’s jacket, which was now tugging at his neck. Ray pulled the jacket out from under the airman with a grimace. Not that the fellow noticed – he was too busy making eyes at Maggie.

Pam leaned over from the bench behind. ‘Excuse me, do you mind me asking what you did to your arm?’

The airman looked down at the sling. ‘Bit of a prang, broke my wrist. It’s such a nuisance, not being able to fly.’

‘There was an altercation between his car and an oak tree,’ Lord Ashford called over. ‘The tree came off best.’

His nephew put his left hand up in a gesture of surrender. ‘Guilty, as charged.’ He looked down at Maggie. ‘Warm enough, Pops? There’s a blanket, put it on your lap. It’s chilly as an ice store in here.’