She looked up at him in astonishment.

‘I thought this might perk you up a bit,’ he said, clearing a space on the desk for the waiter to unload the tray. ‘All work and no play isn’t good for anyone.’

Elsa’s eyes were suspiciously bright as she surveyed the simple meal. ‘How very kind you are,’ she murmured.

Jim paid the waiter, and once he’d closed the door behind him, he shifted the toppling stack of files off a chair and sat down. ‘Please, eat and enjoy it, and try to relax. You’re as bad as my Peggy, getting all wound up like a clock and forgetting to take care of yourself.’

Elsa’s broad smile made her look instantly younger and rather attractive, and she tucked hungrily into the delicate chicken sandwiches which had been cut into triangles, the crusts carefully removed.

‘Tell me about your Peggy, Jim,’ she said once the initial pangs of hunger were satisfied. ‘How long is it since you’ve been home?’

‘Too long,’ he replied. Sipping the refreshing Singapore Sling, he told her about his family, his home, the evacuees they’d taken in, and the town of Cliffehaven. He glossed over the part he’d played during the Burma Campaign and the medals he’d been awarded, and once she’d eaten her fill and shared the fruit with him, he lit cigarettes for them both and asked about her war.

‘It was all a bit boring really,’ she confessed. ‘My husband was in the army and sensed things were about to go horribly wrong, so managed to get me and our daughters on a boat to Australia before the trouble really started. We ended up in Sydney where we lived with his maiden aunt, who rather grudgingly took us in and complained constantly about the inconvenience we were causing.’

She gave him a wan smile. ‘The poor old duck was very set in her ways and extremely Victorian in her outlook on things, so one could hardly blame her for feeling put out. I eventually managed to find a place to rent in the city and spent most of the war ferrying the girls about and doing the admin for various charities. The only bit of excitement we had was when a Jap submarine was spotted in Sydney Harbour – but that was soon dealt with.’

‘So your husband didn’t make it out of Singapore, then?’

She shook her head. ‘Reginald was a brigadier and of course had to stay on here to defend the island. Unfortunately, he was taken prisoner shortly after the fall of Singapore, so the minute the surrender was declared I came back to try and find him.’

Her hazel eyes dimmed with sadness. ‘He died in Changi within weeks of being captured – but at least I know what happened to him. I can’t imagine what it must be like for Sybil and her girls not knowing if their loved ones are alive or not.’

‘So you knew them well before the war, then?’