‘When I informed Monty that I was pregnant with his child, he couldn’t get me out of the War Office fast enough. Instead of setting me up in a nursing home of my choice, in a familiar environment, he sent me as far away from London as he could.’

Rosie gave a grim smile. ‘The bastard got rid of you before he could be disgraced?’

‘Exactly, packed me off up North,’ Sybil agreed. ‘I begged him to take me away, but the more I begged, the more determined he was to keep me here.’

‘I nearly died of fright the first time I saw him strolling into the Home,’ Rosie confessed. ‘I thought after all those years I’d never see him again, but there he was as large as life, bragging about saving Mary Vale from being requisitioned. He had the nuns running after him like a clutch of frantic hens. They still think the sun shines out of his backside.’

‘Monty may have saved Mary Vale for the time being, but, believe me, he only stopped the threat temporarily, until it suits him otherwise. Once I’ve left and the baby is adopted, he won’t give a damn if the place goes up in flames.’

‘Oh, my God!’ Rosie cried. ‘The requisitioning business could start all over again once Mary Vale has served the Brigadier’s purposes?’

‘I don’t doubt it for a second,’ Sybil answered bitterly. ‘The good news, Rosie, is that all the information you have on Monty has helped me – enabled me to bring the bastard down.’

Rosie gave her a sly wink. ‘If you play your cards right, you might be able to “persuade”,’ she said, grinning as she emphasized the word, ‘the Brigadier into keeping Mary Vale open. I’m sure the Brigadier’s superiors would be embarrassed to discover that one of their senior officers was using a Mother and Baby Home for his own private purposes.’

Sybil’s witch-green eyes widened in surprise; clapping her hands in delight, she laughed gleefully. ‘The final cherry on the cake! I’ll have to work on that.’

After their joint laughter had subsided, Rosie gave Sybil a long level look. ‘So all those chocolates and chats, and the posies too, were they just a way of milking me for useful information?’

Wriggling uncomfortably on the bedside chair, Sybil cleared her throat. ‘Yes, to start with, but, to be honest, Rosie, it was during those hospital visits when you were stuck in bed, when we laughed and shared secrets, that I really began to like you – as a friend,’ Sybil said shyly.

‘We did have some nice times, given the circumstances,’ Rosie reluctantly agreed.

Thoroughly ashamed of herself, Sybil murmured, ‘As time went by and we got closer, I wanted to cheer you up, especially when you got upset about the children, who I, in effect, had banished from your side.’