‘We know there are many spies among us, but we don’t know who they are, or where they are. We feel it is possible that an alert will have been sent to these spies about your mother. Not that she is in any danger, as we feel confident, from what she told us, that it won’t be thought she knows anything of interest. When we brought her in, we did so in such a way that any spies wouldn’t know where she was going, and we made sure she wasn’t followed. But just the same, as a precaution, we have warned her that she may be being watched. If these spies find out that she has a daughter here, they might look into what you are doing. We can’t take any chances.’

‘I understand, and I trust you to take care of her, darling. So is this what you were doing yesterday? How did you manage it, as you seemed so certain that I wouldn’t be able to see Mama?’

‘When you told me last night, darling, about your mother’s heroics in the last war, I decided then to try to do something, using that information. I was granted an interview with M. He was very interested to hear about how your mother got herself and two other nurses out of Belgium. He intends to look into it further, once this war is over, when he may have recourse to interview people who were involved and prepare a case for the women to receive an award.’

‘That’s wonderful. They so deserve to be recognized. And this led to him relenting and letting me see Mama?’

‘Yes. Your mother was brought in. She was there a long time, because before M would see her, I had to take her through the Official Secrets Act and get her to sign it. She was then questioned about you, and it was learned that she had told a neighbour you were stationed in Lincolnshire. She was told by M to tell this neighbour that her information was wrong, and that you had since transferred to the Medical Corps; that at home you had been a member of the Red Cross society, had trained in first aid and are now stationed in Africa.’

‘How was Mama, and how did she take all of this?’

‘Remarkably well. She showed the mettle that she must have had as a young woman, when she was in Belgium. M was very impressed.’

‘He won’t think of recruiting her, will he?’

‘No, although he expressed regret at this. But it isn’t policy to recruit members of the same family. Your father is a possible encumbrance, as it is. But we are working on a plan to have him informed of our intentions for him, if he will come home. If he agrees, he will be lifted out at some stage.’