Olivia shrugged. ‘He didn’t mention anything about going for dinner in his letter, so I haven’t booked an evening pass.’ She hesitated. ‘Do you think I should have, just in case?’

Maude pursed her lips. ‘Not if your heart’s not in it, and I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but you’re hardly jumping for joy at the thought of seeing him.’

Olivia looked around her to make sure that Beth wasn’t in earshot. ‘I’m not, although I don’t want Beth to know that.’

Maude eyed her curiously. ‘I thought we’d been through all this, and agreed that it would be best to see how things pan out?’

Olivia scratched the top of her head. ‘I did, but … Oh, I don’t know.’ She sighed.

‘What’s up?’

‘Even if he does accept my past, I’m not sure I like the way he thinks about women,’ Olivia confessed. ‘I know I don’t like Beth, but with good reason – she was really mean about my size, and I’d not said a word to provoke her.’ She hesitated again, because whilst she’d not said a word against Beth, Josie and Maude had, and Olivia had agreed with them. If Beth had overheard that part of the conversation, then maybe that was provocation enough? Only she couldn’t prove what Beth had or hadn’t heard, so she continued, ‘But Ralph’s done the exact same thing to Beth – cast judgement without getting to know her. Surely two wrongs don’t make a right?’

Maude pulled a face. ‘Beth sets herself up for a fall by the way she acts. You didn’t do anything to cause her to be nasty to you. It sounds to me like Ralph can be a bit outspoken and over-opinionated, but he’s good reason, if he’s been cheated on.’ She waggled her ring finger at Olivia. ‘I was bitter about men for a long time after Billy, so I know where Ralph’s coming from. He probably doesn’t mean the things he says about Beth – it’s probably more a case of once bitten twice shy. He makes assumptions from his past.’ Tilting her head to one side, she eyed Olivia shrewdly. ‘You had a bad experience with that horrible little corporal in Chigwell, and it took you a long time to get over it. I seem to remember that you were convinced that Ralph’s motive for pursuing you was that he thought you’d offer yourself up, but you couldn’t have been more wrong.’

Olivia grimaced. ‘Are you saying I’m as bad as Ralph and Beth?’

Maude thought about this for a minute before shaking her head. ‘No, I’m saying it’s human nature. No one likes to have their feelings hurt, so they learn from past mistakes by not replicating them.’