‘Here, let me help you,’ Ada said, and she helped him undress, then settled him on the bed; once his head touched the pillow, Jamie fell into the deepest sleep.

Seeing his body naked apart from his underclothes, Ada was visibly shocked to see how thin Jamie had become since his last visit home: his ribs poked out of his ribcage, and his arms and legs were thinner too.

Filled with love for her sweet husband, Ada lay down in the curve of his arm and, with her head pressed against his chest, listened to the regular beat of his heart. All she wanted to do was to fold him into her arms and keep him there, loved and safe, never to leave her. Feeling her baby gently changing position, Ada held her husband’s hand in one hand while with the other she held her tummy. For a few minutes she felt a feeling of complete and utter joy; all that she had ever wanted was right here with her now.

26. Jamie

Jamie slept solidly for almost five hours, and when he did next appear in the kitchen he was smiling, refreshed – and starving hungry.

‘Mmm, what’s that delicious smell?’ he asked, as he sniffed the air appreciatively.

‘Corned-beef fritters, baked potatoes and fresh peas and green beans from Farmer Arkwright’s vegetable garden.’

‘The man’s a miracle worker,’ Jamie joked and circled his arms around Ada’s thick waist.

‘And,’ she added, as she nodded towards two bottles of beer on the kitchen table, ‘he thought you might appreciate a drink.’

Opening a bottle, Jamie downed half the beer in one thirsty gulp. ‘Just what the doctor ordered.’

After Ada’s hearty supper, which Jamie demolished with great appreciation, Ada suggested they went for a stroll before it went dark. Hand in hand, they walked down the lane that ran alongside a gurgling beck, chattering happily to each other about anything but the war. Occasionally they stopped to gaze at the distant northern mountains of the Lake District towering in a twilit sky. They watched in awe as the sun burnished their summits in a blaze of gold and crimson before it sank, and the mountains were engulfed in darkness.

Throwing up his arms, Jamie gave a joyful cry. ‘God! This place is heaven on earth. What a piece of luck you were offered Farm Cottage,’ he said gratefully.

‘Luck and a lot of friendly intervention,’ Ada chuckled. ‘As I said in my letter to you, Sister Mary Paul, Sister Theresa and Sister Ann put the idea into the Reverend Mother’s head; secretly I think they never stopped nagging her, and she was probably worn down by their insistence, and so eventually offered the place to me.’

‘And you’re not too lonely, all on your own?’ he earnestly enquired.