‘That must never happen again, Alex.’ Rosalind placed his breakfast tray on a small table by his chair in the drawing room. ‘If we’d come down a couple of minutes later we would have met Agathe on the stairs.’

‘She would probably think it very romantic. I don’t imagine the French are as prudish as we English.’

‘Even so, I don’t want what happened last night to come to Hester’s attention. We’d never hear the last of it, and I couldn’t live with that.’

‘I’m hardly going to boast about it, Rosie. It wasn’t my finest hour.’

She smiled reluctantly. ‘Maybe it was in a way. You must have been in agony by the time you climbed all those stairs on your crutches. I suppose I should be flattered.’

‘You are a wonderful woman. You would have made an amazing military wife – I just wish I’d carried you off when I had a chance.’

Rosalind shook her head. ‘You must stop thinking like that. When we get home you are going to marry my sister. Patsy is very young, but she will learn to cope with any situation that arises when you are living in married quarters. She will charm all your fellow officers and you will be the proudest husband in the regiment.’

‘Do you really believe that, Rosie?’

‘I have to,’ Rosalind said simply. ‘Piers is on the mend and soon we will go home and resume our old lives. All this will seem like a dream.’

Alex glanced over her shoulder. ‘Good morning, Hester. I hope you slept well.’

‘I thought I heard voices coming from your room last night, Rosie. I suppose I was dreaming. It must have been that foreign cheese.’

‘Yes, I think it must,’ Rosalind said quickly. ‘Would you like some coffee? I was just going to the kitchen to make a fresh pot.’

‘I’d prefer a cup of tea, but I suppose coffee will do. My head is aching and I blame the colonel for that. It’s just as well he’s leaving today – he’s a bad influence.’ She stared at Alex’s splinted leg. ‘If I didn’t know it was impossible I would have thought it was your voice I heard last night, Alexander.’

He smiled innocently. ‘Well, as you see, I’ve made it this far from my bed, but I doubt if I could manage two flights of stairs. I’ve heard that cheese eaten before bedtime can give you nightmares.’

Rosalind escaped to the kitchen, taking the coffee pot with her. She knew that Hester was suspicious and that the situation between herself and Alex could easily get out of hand. They needed to get back to the family and familiar surroundings. As soon as the doctors discharged Piers from hospital she would do her utmost to find a vessel to take them home.