But Lord Ashford simply smiled. Oh, he did have a lovely smile. His eyes twinkled. ‘Excellent,’ he said. ‘Do you think you could teach me?’

Chapter 20

That evening, Maggie and Charity were sitting side by side in The Royal Oak, making a pint of shandy last all night.

Charity had suggested sitting up at the bar but Maggie didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation, so they’d bought their drinks and headed for a table far away from anyone else.

Charity looked at Maggie curiously. ‘You have been in a pub before, haven’t you?’

‘Of course!’ Maggie said, but, in truth, only a few times and never like this, with a girlfriend.

Back home, Maggie had to account for everything: where she was going, who she was going with and what time she’d be home. Now – it was a kind of miracle – she was absolutely free. Free to go for a walk with an airman, free to go to the pub with a friend and roll home whenever she liked.

‘So, what’s new?’ Charity asked. ‘I’ve nothing thrilling to report, I’m afraid. Oh, except that Molly’s started laying double yolkers.’

They laughed.

It was a few days since the girls had seen one another and Maggie had so much to tell Charity, she barely knew where to begin.

‘The good news is that I’ve finally had a letter from my sister,’ Maggie said. ‘But the bad news is that her billet is twenty miles away. Ray Maguire found a map and looked it up for me.’

‘Twenty miles? Oh, rotten luck. Couldn’t you hitchhike? No, on second thoughts, you could wait all day for one car to come by—’

‘—and then it might not even be heading in the right direction,’ Maggie agreed. ‘Ray did make another suggestion.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Oh, but it’s too stupid to even contemplate.’

‘Go on.’

‘He said – oh, it’s silly – he’s found an old tandem in the barn. It’s a complete wreck but Ray says he can fix it and once it’s ready, he’s offered to take me to my sister’s.’

Charity laughed and slapped her thigh. ‘On the tandem? What a lark! And what did you say?’

Maggie frowned, suddenly doubting herself. ‘I said no, of course. I don’t think I can even ride a bicycle, for a start.’

‘But you could learn! Look at me. D’you honestly think I knew how to dig and sow and muck out before I came here? Finishing school to farming, in the blink of an eye!’ Charity took a gulp of her shandy and licked her lips. ‘Anything else? You look as though you’re bursting!’

Maggie swallowed. She should have come straight out with it but she was jittery. Charity was her only real friend here. What if she didn’t want to be pals anymore, once she knew the truth?