‘Can’t help it,’ he said, never taking his gaze from her. ‘I don’t know when I last felt so happy.’

She gave a little gasp of surprise and turned to look back at him, but the look on his face told her that his words were genuine.

She had never seen him looking so relaxed and contented. His face looked years younger and, with the lines of worry smoothed from his forehead and a sparkle in his eyes, he was even more handsome than ever.

‘Go back to where we parked last night and, no, I don’t mean the cornfield. The top of the hill, you know where I mean?’

Kate nodded.

‘We can sit and talk there, yet I think we can see the road in both directions if anyone comes along.’

She pulled carefully on to the wide grass verge, bringing the car to a halt and pulled on the brake. As she switched off the engine, Philip reached for her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed each one of her fingers slowly and deliberately. A thrill of pleasure ran through her and she knew she was blushing.

‘Kate – I want you to know that this is not just a wartime fling. I’ve been falling in love with you for ages, oh, maybe ever since that first moment I opened my eyes and saw you bending over me in the little boat off the beach at Dunkirk. I don’t know. I wanted to see you again and all the time I was making inquiries to see if you’d joined up and then pulling strings to have you posted as my driver. Well . . .’ He shrugged his wide shoulders. ‘All I know is I had the strangest – compulsion – to see you, to be with you, even though I also had the feeling that it might be – well, dangerous.’

‘Dangerous?’

A cloud came over his new-found happiness. His eyes were filled with sadness as he said hoarsely, ‘I want to be honest with you . . . I don’t want to hurt you . . .’

‘What is it, Philip?’ she encouraged, guessing what he was trying to say.

‘I’m – married.’

‘I know,’ she said, and the look on his face was so comical that she laughed, leaned across and kissed his cheek.

‘You know?’ he said incredulously.

‘Mmm – Mavis!’

‘Oh – Mavis,’ he echoed, and a wry smile curved his mouth briefly.

‘Yes. What Mavis doesn’t know, Mavis will make it her business to find out,’ she smiled, and added, so that he would not get the wrong idea about her friend, ‘but it’s not malicious nosiness. Not with her, anyway.’

‘No, I know that.’ He sighed. ‘I’m glad you do know. I spent half last night reliving . . .’ he looked at her and his eyes darkened with desire at the mere memory, ‘the cornfield – and the rest of the night feeling a real heel because it

had happened.’