Brenda shrugged. ‘I have no idea, Ron.’ She looked over his shoulder as a group of factory girls came in. ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get on. Will you be coming in to lend a hand in the evenings? Flo and Beryl are on night shift this week, and I’m not really up to coping on my own with this horrid cold still lingering.’

Ron knew when he was beaten, yet he wasn’t about to give up on Rosie, that was for sure. ‘Aye, I’ll be in,’ he said, carefully laying the bunch of roses on the counter. ‘You’d better put these in water and take them home after you’ve finished here,’ he muttered.

He dug his hands into his coat pocket and plodded down to the promenade. He didn’t feel like going home, or talking to anyone; he just wanted time and space to think, for the events of the past few hours had knocked him sideways and he was beleaguered by doubt and the most awful, sickening guilt.

He had only himself to blame for Rosie’s lack of faith in him, for he’d hardly been trustworthy of late, acting like a fool, going his own sweet way without a thought for her feelings. It was no wonder she’d decamped without a word. And to add to his guilt and fears about Rosie it was his fault that Danuta had put her life in danger, for without his interference, she would never have become involved with Dolly and her spymasters.

11

Peggy had gone outside to sit in a deckchair alongside Cordelia and enjoy the last of the warm sunshine while she drank her tea after supper. Daisy was in bed at last, Sarah and Fran had gone to the pictures to see Gone With the Wind for the third time, and Rita and Ivy were washing the dishes. They were chattering away like sparrows as they discussed their day and tried to assess how Rita’s bike would get mended and brought back to her, since there were rumours flying about Cliffehaven that the Yanks had moved out very early that morning.

‘I don’t know where those girls get their energy,’ sighed Peggy to Cordelia, who was trying to unravel her usual mess of knitting.

‘The enemy’s over the Channel, dear,’ she replied with a frown. ‘Really, you do worry me at times, Peggy. Are you sure you aren’t doing too much?’

Peggy smiled and patted her hand to reassure her that she was fine. She was too tired to repeat what she’d said, and when Cordelia had her hearing aid switched off, conversations got far too complicated – especially after the worrying events of the previous day and the long hours she’d put in at the factory.