‘What’ll ’appen to me now?’ she had asked piteously when John and Edith had broken the news to her as gently as they could.

‘Nothing for now,’ Edith had assured her. ‘You’re quite safe here with us for the time being.’ But already she knew what she was planning to do, and she just prayed that her employer would go along with the idea. But first they must know without doubt that the child who had been killed was indeed their Bobby.

At the lodge, David and Kathy were getting along famously. He had already stayed far longer than he had intended but somehow, now that he was there, it was very hard to leave. He was the closest thing to a father figure the twins had ever had and they clearly adored him.

‘I really should be thinking of setting off for Yorkshire tomorrow,’ he told them all as they sat enjoying their lunch after yet another morning of playing out in the snow on their sledges with him.

He saw the way Kathy’s eyes suddenly narrowed and his heart did a little skip. He had loved her ever since the day he had first set eyes on her. Even the fact that she had become pregnant by another man had not been able to dim that love and now he wondered if finally she might be feeling something more than friendship for him. He could only pray that she might, and meantime he intended to enjoy every moment spent with her and the children.

‘No,’ Daisy said petulantly, flinging her chubby arms about his neck and planting a sticky kiss on his cheek. ‘Me an’ Thomas loves you an’ we wants you to stay here with us!’

‘Oh, all right then, perhaps I could manage just another couple of days,’ David answered. He was easily persuaded and heartened to see that Kathy looked happy with the idea. ‘So, what do you want to do this afternoon?’

‘We could go skatin’ on the duck pond, it’s frozen over,’ Thomas suggested hopefully, and David chuckled and agreed.

In Lincolnshire, it was Livvy’s day off and she had agreed to take Giles into Lincoln that evening – if they could get a lift there, that was. Thankfully they found a jeep that was already taking some of the others into the city and they crammed inside it.

‘Blimey, this must be what it feels like to be in a tin of sardines,’ Giles laughed as yet another pilot piled in beside him, squashing him yet further along the seat

Livvy was very aware of the warmth of his body through their uniforms as they sat pressed together and she felt herself blushing. Daft oaf, she scolded herself. He’s not coming because of you, he just has nothing better to do. And yet suddenly she was painfully aware of how handsome he looked in his smart uniform.