It was early evening by the time she alighted at Plymouth and it took her some time to find somewhere to stay. She finally found a small room in a little bed and breakfast place just outside the city that was only a short bus ride from the hospital where Giles was being cared for. The room left a lot to be desired but seeing as she was only going to be staying there for one night, Livvy wasn’t concerned. She would have slept under a hedge if it meant being close to Giles, and despite the fact that she was exhausted after the journey she hardly slept a wink for excitement. She was up with the lark the next morning and after eating a fatty fried breakfast and getting directions from the slovenly landlady, she left.

The bus stopped outside the gateway of what had once been a rather stately manor. The enormous gates, which had once marked the entrance to the drive, were long gone, no doubt melted down to make ammunition for the war, but the drive was tree-lined and pleasant and reminded her a little of the drive at Treetops. As Livvy walked along she noted that the sweeping lawns on either side were well kept and when the house came into view, she paused to admire it. It was a huge place with many enormous windows sparkling in the early morning sunshine, and ivy and Virginia creeper climbing up the walls. On either side of the two stout oak doors in the centre of the house were flowerbeds that were a profusion of colour.

Now she was so close, Livvy’s heart began to hammer painfully and her mouth went dry. Giles was somewhere beyond those doors and very soon she would see him. It was the day she had prayed for and yet suddenly she felt apprehensive. What if he didn’t want to see her? She had treated him appallingly when they had both lived at Treetops. But then she had let him know that her feelings towards him had changed – if he had even got the letters, that was. Taking a deep breath, she decided in for a penny in for a pound. She had come too far to turn back now. So, after mounting the three carved marble steps, she rang the bell at the side of the doors. It was answered almost immediately by a young nurse wearing a crisp, white apron.

‘I’ve come to see Flight Officer Willerby,’ she informed the nurse and the young woman smiled and nodded, ushering her into an enormous foyer with a black-and-white-tiled floor and a sweeping staircase on one side leading up to the first floor. A desk stood against the opposite wall and the nurse hurried over to it and after checking a register that lay open on the desk she nodded.