They all left the room as the doctor arrived and when he came out, having completed his examination, his face was solemn. ‘I’m afraid it is a stroke,’ he confirmed. ‘Poor chap. It’s no wonder after the shock he’s just had but now would you like me to have him admitted to the hospital? If I can find a bed for him, that is. I’m afraid the hospital is bursting at the seams at present.’

‘There’ll be no need for that. We can nurse him just as well here if you tell us what to do,’ Sunday said. Since coming back to the manor, they had all become like a family and she knew that John would want to stay in his own home. When Cissie and Edith nodded in agreement the doctor heaved a sigh of relief.

‘All you can do for now is let him rest and make sure you get plenty of fluids into him,’ he advised. ‘We won’t know how severe the stroke is for a few days but peace and rest for now is the best advice I can offer. Can you manage to get him to his bed?’

‘No problem,’ George assured him. ‘Soon as Kathy gets home, we’ll get him upstairs between us. She’s a nurse so it’ll be a godsend having her to hand.’

‘Good, then I’ll bid you good day and I’ll be back sometime tomorrow to see how he is, but should you need me before don’t hesitate to call the surgery.’

It was only later that evening when John was safely tucked up in his own bed that they all had the chance to speak about Giles.

‘Missing in action don’t necessarily mean that he’s dead,’ Cissie said optimistically as a great fat tear rolled down her cheek. ‘He could have been captured by the Germans and taken prisoner.’

‘I’m not sure if that would be better or worse, but that’s about the best we can hope for right now,’ Sunday agreed, although after reading in the newspapers about some of the atrocities the prisoners of war were having to endure in the camps, the very thought of Giles being incarcerated in such a place made her blood run cold.

That night, she, Cissie and George took it in turns to sit beside John in case he should need anything, but although he appeared to be wide awake now, he simply lay staring unseeingly up at the ceiling with tears sliding from his eyes and soaking into the pillows.