Cordelia looked at Peggy over her glasses. ‘Rita got a letter from that rather cheeky Australian this morning. It appears he’s refused to stay grounded while all this hoo-ha is going on, and has joined the local squadron.’

Cordelia gave a little sigh. ‘She also got a letter from her father – a sort of farewell in case he doesn’t come back, which obviously upset her tremendously. I do wish he hadn’t done that, but I can understand why he felt the need.’

‘Poor little love,’ murmured Peggy. ‘She’s been through too much already, what with losing Matt. If anything happens to Jack, she’ll be inconsolable, for he’s all she’s got.’

‘She’s got you, Peggy,’ said Cordelia firmly. ‘You’ve filled the gap left by her mother and taken her under your wing since she was a little girl. All the while you’re by her side, she’ll never be alone.’

‘That’s sweet of you to say so, Cordelia,’ said Peggy, kissing her cheek. ‘But it doesn’t stop me worrying.’

She hurried off to check on Daisy, who was indeed fast asleep, clutching a knitted rabbit that Lil must have made for her. Peggy softly ran her fingers through the dark curls and kissed her lightly on the forehead, regretful that she’d spent so little time with her today and vowing she would devote the majority of the weekend to her.

Returning to the kitchen, she fetched her plate of food from the warming oven and sat down at the table. ‘Where’s Sarah?’ she asked before tucking into the delicious fish pie.

‘She came in briefly, pushed her supper around the plate without eating much of it, and went out again. There’s something on that girl’s mind, you mark my words. I tried to ask what was wrong, but she said it was nothing and not to worry about it. She was just tired.’ Cordelia sniffed. ‘I don’t believe that for a minute, but if she won’t share her troubles, what can I do?’

‘It’s probably Delaney,’ said Peggy through a mouthful of gorgeously rich pie. ‘There was a letter from him this morning, and I expect, like Rita, she’s worried about what might be happening to him on those beaches.’

‘Hmm. You could be right, but it’s her father and Philip she should be thinking about – not some American fly-by-night who’s leading her astray.’ Cordelia stuffed her knitting into the bag at her feet and stroked Queenie, who was sitting on her lap.

‘It was lovely to see Danuta again after so long, but she did look tired and very frail,’ Cordelia went on. ‘It strikes me she was incredibly lucky to survive that enemy raid, but it’s strange we heard nothing about it on the wireless as they’ve been so few and far between of late.’