Peggy shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Doris. It was a V-1 rocket and it all happened too quickly for anyone to get out.’

‘No, oh, no,’ she groaned, sinking onto a low garden wall. ‘And it’s all my fault,’ she sobbed. ‘If I hadn’t asked them to lunch they’d still be alive.’ She buried her face in her hands and cried in anguish.

Peggy sat next to her and put her arm round her shoulder. ‘Don’t torture yourself, Doris,’ she begged. ‘It’s not your fault. It was a million to one chance that the rocket came down where it did.’

‘I can’t believe it,’ spluttered Doris, mopping her face with a handkerchief, unaware she’d become the centre of attention from the bystanders and gawkers now the flames were dying down. ‘I simply can’t believe they’re all gone.’

Peggy held her and waited until she was calmer. ‘I thought you’d gone with them,’ she said, her voice ragged with emotion. ‘I really thought I’d lost you, Doris, and it was the worst moment of my life.’ She took her hands and held them tightly. ‘I can’t tell you how relieved I am you weren’t in there. But where were you?’

Doris sniffed miserably and dabbed her eyes. ‘I’d forgotten to pick up the smoked salmon I’d ordered for lunch. It’s Lady Chumley favourite.’ She took a quavering breath. ‘But the specialist place I’d ordered it from is in the next village. And then when I finally picked up the salmon the blasted car broke down, and I had to walk all the way back in my new shoes.’

‘So the car wasn’t in the garage?’ asked Peggy sharply.

Doris shook her head. ‘No, it’s parked on the side of the road about three miles away.’

‘How many people were in the house?’ asked Frank. ‘The firemen will need to know when it comes to a search.’

‘There were twenty for lunch, including me. The two evacuees were supposed to stay and help serve, but as usual they skipped off without a word and left me in the lurch.’

Doris fell silent and then took a shallow, ragged breath. ‘Their disobedience saved their lives, just as my forgetfulness saved mine. But when I think of Lady Chumley and Mrs Anstruther-Fox and Camilla …’ She broke down in tears again.

Peggy looked up at Frank and he helped them both to their feet. ‘Let’s get you both home,’ he said gently.

‘But I don’t have a home any more,’ wailed Doris. ‘I’ve lost everything.’

‘You have your family, Doris,’ said Peggy. ‘And from now on Beach View will be your home. Come on. Let’s get back there and help you settle.’

Epilogue