‘Mum, stop fussing and sit down,’ said Brendon, gently pressing Pauline into a chair. ‘Drink your tea and eat something. My train isn’t due for a while, and it would be lovely to spend the time we have sitting quietly together as if it was just another ordinary day.’

‘But it’s not, is it? How can anything be ordinary with this war on?’ Pauline burst into tears and fled upstairs to lock herself in the bathroom.

Brendon sighed and sat down beside his father. ‘I do wish she wouldn’t do that,’ he said sadly. ‘It makes me feel awfully guilty.’

‘Ach, you’ve nothing to feel guilty about, son,’ rumbled Frank, who was clearly still battling a hangover. ‘She’s always been emotional.’

Peggy wondered if she should go and see if Pauline was all right, then decided it was probably best not to, because Pauline liked an audience for her misery, and without one, she’d pull herself together more quickly and come back down.

She kept an ear open for Daisy waking and sipped the welcome tea as Fran finished her breakfast of dried egg and toast, washed her dishes and reached for her nursing cape. ‘Try to get a decent lunch, Fran,’ said Peggy. ‘I know how busy you get, and you need something substantial to keep you going.’

Fran fastened the cape around her shoulders and smiled. ‘The canteen provides a good hot meal, so there’s nothing for you to worry about, Aunt Peg. And don’t fret if I’m late home. Robert’s managed to get a couple of hours off, and is coming to meet me at the end of my shift to take me out to tea.’

‘It’s about time you two got engaged,’ said Peggy, kissing the girl’s cheek.

‘Ach, we’ll do that when he gets around to asking me,’ replied Fran with an impish grin that lit up her green eyes. ‘But I’m thinking he has rather more important things to concentrate on at the moment.’

‘There’s nothing more important than love,’ replied the ever-romantic Peggy with a happy sigh.

Fran laughed. ‘I don’t think his bosses at the MOD would agree with you.’ She turned to Brendon. ‘Good luck, and just remember we’ll all be here waiting for you to come home, so make sure you do – okay?’

‘I’ll certainly try my best,’ he replied.

Fran patted his shoulder and ran out of the house, slamming the scullery door with a crash that made Frank flinch and woke Daisy.

Peggy was about to go and fetch the child when Cordelia came into the kitchen and eyed the two older men over the rims of her half-moon spectacles.

‘You certainly look cleaner and more respectable this morning,’ she said with a twinkle in her eyes, ‘but if you’re suffering hangovers, you fully deserve them. I’ve never seen anything like it, and hope never to again.’