Their values made Alex feel sick, and she couldn’t imagine being married to any of them. It would have been her worst nightmare. She felt like a stranger in her own world, and even in her own home. She was sad to think that her four nieces would be brought up with her sister’s superficial values, believing that only people in their own limited world had any merit, and a woman with a job, or an occupation of any kind, was to be treated as a pariah, ridiculed and shunned. Alex had every intention of continuing nursing after the war, and she knew that would be a battle with her parents too. Everything she did elicited their criticism. She could barely make it through dinner without speaking her mind and losing her temper, but she managed to slip away when everyone moved into the drawing room for coffee and brandy. The crowd was large enough that her absence wasn’t noticed, and she sat peacefully in her own large pink satin bedroom, smoking a cigarette, and having a glass of champagne alone. This wasn’t her idea of the spirit of Christmas, a night of showing off, snobbery, and insensitive bragging, but it was the way her family spent it, and her older sister fit in perfectly with all of their views and traditions. Alex never had, and now even less than ever.

She was startled when there was a knock at the door. She said, “Come in.” It was her mother’s maid, a small Frenchwoman who had worked for her family since Alex was a child.

“Yes, Brigitte?” She was surprised to see her, in her evening uniform of black dress with white lace apron and cap. Alex knew only too well that if any of her fellow nurses in the army had seen the trappings of her home life, they would have ridiculed and shunned her too. She was a misfit everywhere, and she had kept this side of her life well hidden from her colleagues in the army, even Lizzie, whom she considered her best friend. But there were some things she just couldn’t share. They would never have understood.