‘I simply can’t wait to meet the infamous Mr Howard R. Henderson.’ Ava grinned mischievously. ‘They’ve dropped the minimum height, you know?’

‘You mean the army?’

‘Yes. Five foot three. I could be in stockinged feet and still tower above the men they are sending to fight to defend my honour. It all seems rather desperate.’ They moved into the drawing room, where the windows were wide open, letting the summer air drift into the house. Vivian sat on the large sofa, placing the sleeping Mabel close to her, Ava stood by the open window, looking out. ‘And then there are men like your chap.’

‘He’s not my chap.’

‘Well, you know what I mean. Look, isn’t that him?’

Vivian joined her friend at the window. She could see him clearly, working in the nearby cow field, just at the end of the garden. He was shovelling manure into a wheelbarrow; it was dirty, low work. She wished Ava could have seen him in the pond. Glorious, sparkling, like an Olympian god. But then she was grateful Ava had not seen his magnificence. Selfishly she didn’t want to share it.

‘The age limit has been extended to fifty. Grandfathers, some of them. Now there’s a way to dispatch your father-in-law permanently.’

‘Ava, that’s a tasteless joke. Besides, he’s fifty-three.’

‘Still, you see my point. Rather yellow-livered, your chap, don’t you think?’

‘He believes it’s more manly not to fight.’ Vivian did not feel comfortable repeating Howard’s arguments. She didn’t believe them firmly enough, but then nor could she dismiss them decisively either.

‘Does he now?’

‘Yes, he’s very persuasive.’

Ava noted his broad back, his height, his wide thighs. ‘I bet he is. You know, I think he is the most handsome man I have ever seen. Do you understand what I mean? Of course you do. Genuinely beautiful. He must stay here, on these lush green fields, for ever. It’s such a charming backdrop for him. We can’t let him be blown to smithereens.’ She rooted in her bag and lit a cigarette.

‘Do you think he might have a point?’ Vivian knew the value of Ava’s approval and support. She wanted it for him. If she could, she would protect him.

Ava shrugged. ‘All I know is that it seems rather odd that he wants to be less of a man when women are so thrilled at the chance of being more of one.’

‘That’s just it. Maybe things aren’t so very clear cut.’ Vivian paused but felt compelled to be honest rather than discreet. ‘I really don’t see him as less of a man. I did at first, but not now.’

They both let their gaze linger on him as he bent and straightened, bent again, shovelling. His muscles rippled. He was always so active; he put everything he had into this essential work. No one could call him a slacker. His shirt, damp with sweat, had turned transparent and clung to the base of his back. Vivian wondered what it would be like to place her hand there. How was it that Aubrey seemed so fragile in comparison, when he was the soldier and Howard the objector?