He held her close so that she might not see his tears. ‘My mum’s gone, Roz, she passed away not long after we left for England.’

Roz pushed herself away from him. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she shook her head, refusing to believe such sad news. ‘You can’t possibly know, you must’ve got it wrong …’

He smiled kindly down at her. ‘I wish I had, but I haven’t. The rabbi who helped me escape got in contact with Reggie Jones, and he got in touch with me.’ He heaved a jagged sigh. ‘In short, my mother died in one of the camps. He didn’t say how, just that now she’s in a better place.’

Roz could hardly believe what she was hearing. ‘When?’

‘I found out the day before you came to Lincoln.’

Roz cast her mind back. ‘That can’t be right. We were in Lincoln when we were talking about the house in the country …’ She stopped speaking as she ran through the conversation in her mind. She buried her face in his chest. ‘You said your mother would be …’

Felix rocked her in his arms. ‘I didn’t want you to worry. I’d had my hopes dashed, and I couldn’t – wouldn’t see that happen to you.’

She allowed her tears to melt into his jacket. ‘I was too wrapped up in my own affairs to see that something was wrong …’

He lifted her chin with his finger. ‘You can’t know what someone doesn’t want you to,’ he said reasonably. ‘I said it at the time and I’ll say it again: my mother would’ve been pleased as punch to know that I had found myself such a wonderful woman.’

‘And I shall do everything I can to make her proud by being the perfect wife and mother.’ She hesitated. ‘What were your parents’ names?’

‘Belinda and Archie.’

‘Then if our firstborn is a boy we shall call him Archie, and if it’s a girl we shall call her Belinda, and we shall tell them who they are named after and how brave your mother was.’

‘And once again you remind me why I love you so much, and even though I have your mother’s approval I want us to wait until your father can be here to give you away. So I’m going to do all I can to find him.’

Roz gazed lovingly at him. ‘I know you will, because you’re Felix Ackerman, the most wonderful man in the world, and I’m lucky to have you as my fiancé.’

‘I’m the lucky one,’ murmured Felix. Holding her tight, he brushed his lips against hers, before kissing her with a love and passion that took her breath away.

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