She had little idea what to expect. Four years of nursing had taught her about male anatomy, and she knew how babies were born, but she had little idea how they got there. Even listening to the other girls’ chatter had barely given her any answers; for all their talk, they seemed as clueless as she was.

Once again, Anna longed for her mother. She would have been able to tell her what to expect.

She shivered inside her lace-trimmed nightgown. She felt a little foolish when she looked at her scared, pale face in the mirror. She had chosen the gown especially, but now it seemed too sophisticated for her. She looked like a little girl in her mother’s clothes.

She picked up the bluebell brooch from the dressing table, admiring the way the coloured enamel caught the light as she turned it this way and that.

‘Something blue.’

Anna turned around. Edward stood in the doorway, looking slightly dishevelled. His suit jacket was missing, the top buttons of his shirt were undone and his tie hung loosely about his neck. But he was still the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life.

She smiled at him. ‘I didn’t hear you come in?’

‘I’m not surprised, all that racket going on outside.’

Edward came over to stand behind her and slid his hands down her shoulders. His fingers felt warm through the thin silk.

‘I’ve missed you,’ he said.

‘We’ve only been apart an hour!’

‘If I’d known you were sitting here looking this beautiful, I would have come home sooner.’ He bent down and nuzzled her neck. Anna squirmed with pleasure.

‘And there was me, thinking you were going to spend your wedding night with Mr Wheeler!’

‘I wouldn’t want to spend it with Mrs Wheeler, let alone her old man!’ His hands slid slowly down her bare arms, then slipped to cup her breasts. Her nipples hardened under the light graze of his thumbs.

Anna felt herself melting inside with a sweet heat she had never experienced before. She turned to face Edward, entwining her arms around his neck, surrendering to his kiss.

He pulled away from her, laughing. ‘Blimey, girl, hold your horses! Let me get undressed first.’

Anna looked down, embarrassed, as Edward started to unbutton his shirt. Had she been too keen? she wondered. She had no idea what she was supposed to do.

She turned away and put the bluebell brooch back in her jewellery box. All the while, she was aware of Edward behind her, taking off his shirt. Even the scars from the gas burns on his chest couldn’t mar the perfection of his body with broad, powerfully muscled shoulders tapering to narrow hips. His skin gleamed like gold in the lamplight.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen that brooch before. Where did you get it?’ he asked.

‘It’s from France.’

Anna answered without thinking, her mind elsewhere. It was only when she looked up that she saw Edward’s frozen expression reflected in the mirror.