She was sure that Pru would have loved her doing it. Emma smiled every time she thought of it. She had two days off, and she didn’t care if she wound up sleeping on a bench in the train station in York on Christmas Eve. She went to the train station near the base at seven A.M. on the morning of Christmas Eve. She waited two hours for a train, and then got one headed north. It stopped several times, and was sidetracked for an hour halfway there, but she reached the station in York at five o’clock, and found an old man who was willing to drive her to Pommery Manor. She offered him some money, but he refused it. He dropped her off in front of the manor and wished her a Merry Christmas. She was holding her precious package close to her chest.

She rang the doorbell of the imposing home, and no one answered for a long time. She was afraid they were out, but she could hear children shouting and laughing from open windows on the top floor. The blackout shades were already up. Finally, after a ten-minute wait in the cold, while she wondered what to do, a tall young man in uniform opened the door. Emma guessed instantly that it was Pru’s older brother, Max. He looked like Pru. He was surprised to see her and asked Emma what he could do for her. She had worn her uniform too, with the trousers, coat, and cap, so she’d be warm on the train.

“May I see Lady Pommery?” Emma asked politely, in her least East End voice. She felt self-conscious being there, and she had noticed immediately that the man in the uniform had the same aristocratic diction as Pru. “I have a package for her,” Emma explained. “From her daughter.” He looked startled at that and opened the door wider.

“Please come in,” he said with a smile. “I’m afraid Lord and Lady Pommery are out. They’re dining with friends. What sort of package is it?” He hadn’t noticed the slim silver-wrapped volume in her hand. She’d added a narrow silver ribbon, to make it look more festive. She hesitated, while standing in the front hall, and then extended it to him.

“I am . . . I was a friend of Pru’s. We trained together. I’m a nurse. We were in the same unit, and we were roommates. I loved her very much. We all did and we miss her terribly,” she said in a rush, fighting back tears. “I found her journal after I packed up her things. It’s wonderful, and there’s so much in it about everyone she loved . . . I’m afraid I read it. I thought your mother would like to have it, as sort of a Christmas gift from Pru.”