How many other chances would she have to do this before he had to return to action? She must make the most of it and treasure it, putting away the memory for safekeeping, just in case the worst were to happen. She would always have this moment, this evening, in this beautiful flat, with the most courageous and handsome man on earth. Please don’t let this be the last time ever, she prayed fervently, screwing her eyes even more tightly shut. It had been bad enough getting the news when her brother had failed to return. She didn’t think she could stand any more of it but, knowing there was no point in making a scene, she released him and sat back, reaching for her drink and passing him his. She noticed that he drew in a sharp breath but tried to hide it as he sat up. He would never, ever complain about the pain from the old chest wound.

‘Happy days,’ she said lightly.

‘Happy days,’ he echoed, raising the glass and sipping. His eyebrows shot up. ‘Congratulations, Fawcett. Even by your standards, that is strong stuff. Good lord. I don’t know why we have the finest brains in the country trying to come up with weapons to destroy Hitler and his crew. We could just send you in disguised as a waitress and have you serve them the likes of this. They wouldn’t stand a chance.’

‘Whereas you, my love, have had plenty of practice withstanding the punch of a knockout cocktail.’ She sipped her own and smiled in satisfaction. ‘Just how I like it. You must thank your uncle. He’s too kind.’

‘He is.’ Peter nodded in acknowledgement. They were lucky, he knew, having the loan of the flat for an evening, and not having to make do with a half-empty pub with watered-down gin, or a restaurant that had little in the way of choice, or, even worse, trying to get past the dragons at Laura’s strictly women-only billet. For this brief interlude they could persuade themselves that all was right with the world, and that they had a glittering future ahead of them. Had they met under normal circumstances that would have undoubtedly been the case; he knew they looked good together and both came from privileged backgrounds. Their prospects would have been gilded. Now everything was clouded with uncertainty. He didn’t want to burden Laura with what he had just been told would happen. If they could keep this one evening special, he could think about it when he was in the thick of the action. He knew that would not be far ahead now.

‘He’s said I can come to see him here, when he’s off duty,’ she went on. ‘What a poppet. I don’t want to take up his time, though. He’ll have other things on his mind.’