“You know,” Stone said when they were finishing dessert, “while I admire your charming little car that we came in, I confess that my temporary disability caused me to be less than comfortable in it. Perhaps it would be a good idea for us to remain overnight upstairs, in what was described to me as their finest bedroom, then hazard the return journey on the morrow.”

“Well,” she said, “since the morrow is a Sunday, I think that is an entirely sensible suggestion. I accept your kind invitation.”

They left their table and, once at the staircase, Stone was able to ascend to the upstairs floor using the banister, followed by Rose carrying his crutches. They entered an impossibly charming bedroom furnished with a large four-poster bed.

“Now,” she said, “either you have to sleep with one leg in your trousers, or we must find a way to get them off without causing you undue pain.”

“It’s good that you are a medic,” Stone said.

She met his gaze. “I am a physician, and you will kindly remember that, if you wish to remember this night fondly.”

“I am desolated at my faux pas,” Stone said. “Dr. McGill.”

“In Britain, specialists are not called doctor but are referred to as Mr., Mrs., or Ms.,” she replied. And in a trice she employed her medical training to free him from the boot, his trousers, and everything else.

6

They slept late, had a huge breakfast in bed, read the Sunday papers, then returned to the base.

“By the way,” Rose said as they alighted in the parking lot, Stone with some difficulty, “it’s not my car. It belongs to the base.”

He was about to ask how she had traveled to the base when a middle-aged woman appeared at the door of HQ and called out to him.

“Mr. Barrington, the colonel would be grateful for a moment of your time.”

“‘Grateful’?” Stone muttered. “I expect that is her word, not his.”

“He’s really not so bad,” Rose said. “Go and see him, and behave yourself.”

Stone swung along into the building and was ushered into a comfortable office where the colonel sat, gazing at some paperwork. He looked up. “Ah, Mr. Barrington, will you take a seat for a moment?” He indicated the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

Stone sat down and arranged his crutches so that they wouldn’t fall onto the floor. “Yes, Colonel?”

“I wish to apologize for my manner in the ward yesterday,” he said, sounding sincere.

Stone was taken aback. He had not been expecting conciliation. “Thank you,” he managed. “It’s possible that I overreacted just a bit.”

“Thank you, also. I have had news that caused me to reevaluate your driving skills.”

Stone couldn’t think of anything to say.