But Frank cut in on her garbled thoughts. ‘Kitty, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I must tell you something. This isn’t exactly how I’d planned to say this, but, well, lying here in the dark makes you realise what’s important, doesn’t it?’ He must have caught her tone and understood it for what it was. ‘And the fact is, you are. You’re the most important person in the world to me, Kitty. I know I’ve had the accident with my leg and I’ll never be the man I used to be, but I have to say this anyway. I can’t go on kidding myself I think of you just as a friend. Sylvia could tell that wasn’t so, even if I wouldn’t admit it. You’re the woman I love, Kitty. You always have been.’

Kitty gasped, in shock and yet in delight that his words echoed exactly what she’d been thinking. The terrifying darkness seemed to recede. ‘Frank, I don’t … I can’t believe it. Really? I thought you looked down on me, like a kid sister or something. I never dared tell you how I felt. I don’t care about your leg. It makes no difference to me. How could you even think it?’

‘Because I was stupid and had my pride,’ he said ruefully. ‘I thought I couldn’t condemn you to spend your life with a disabled man, especially when you’d known me before, in the days when I could dance and box and everything that normal men do. I never looked down on you, ever. Yes, you were like a sister to start with, but then things changed. I always wanted to take care of you, but it’s something different now, you have to believe me.’

‘Frank, you’re the only one for me, I don’t care about anything else,’ Kitty breathed. ‘If we get out of here—’

‘No, when we get out of here,’ said Frank staunchly. ‘They’ll come for us soon. They’re bound to. Then we’ll get your arm sorted, and after that we can make up for lost time. We can be together properly – as long as that’s what you’d like, Kitty.’

‘Of course, it’s what I want more than anything.’ She gave a small laugh. ‘Really? Are you sure? Oh, Frank. We can’t lose each other now. Do you think we would have ever said this if we hadn’t been trapped like this? Would we have gone on misunderstanding one another and being unhappy? Perhaps we should be grateful that fate has done this.’

‘Perhaps.’

‘We’re going to be all right, Frank. Fate couldn’t be so cruel as to harm us any more now we finally know we’re going to be together.’