His Diamond Bride

‘It’s not like you to be fanciful.’

‘It wasn’t,’ he sighed. ‘But maybe it is now. What is “like me”, Dee? You tell me, because I don’t know any more. At night I lie here and listen to the things in my head, and I don’t know what to make of them. Nothing is the way I thought. Everything is different, but I don’t know what it all means. Can’t you tell me?’

‘My dear,’ she said gently, ‘how can I tell you when I’ve never been there, seen the things you’ve seen-?’

‘Done the things I’ve done,’ he finished for her. ‘You’re right. It must remain a mystery, more to me than anyone. But-’ he assumed a cheerful air, as though forcing himself to rally ‘-I won’t let you distract me from Mr Royce. Any day now, he’ll propose, mark my words.’

‘Will you stop talking nonsense, please?’ she asked crisply. ‘I want to finish your dressing.’

‘But you-’

‘Keep still and keep quiet,’ she said, with a sharpness rare in her.

He did so, but continued to study her curiously. She finished the job and departed as soon as she could.

Deny it as she might, she was left with the uncomfortable feeling that Mark had seen something that had entirely escaped her. And the next time she talked with Mr Royce she felt uneasy, wondering what he was thinking. When their meeting ended she began to walk away, then looked back to say something and found him still watching her with an unguarded look.

The Air Force doctor made two visits and examined Mark thoroughly, especially his damaged hand. The verdict came by letter two days later.

‘Invalided out,’ Mark groaned, showing her the letter in disgust. ‘Useless!’

He tried to flex his hand, whose limited movement had proved his undoing, more than the burns to his chest.

‘You’d have had a hard time controlling a plane with that,’ Dee said. ‘They had to do this. At least they’ll allow you something to live on.’

‘A pension, you mean,’ he said in disgust. ‘That says all that needs to be said. I’m a pensioner.’

It was Joe who cheered him up slightly. He’d paid several visits, and the next day he dropped in again.

‘I hate to admit it,’ he said, glancing over the letter, ‘but this is good news for me. I haven’t been able to find a decent replacement for you in the garage. They’re either useless or they leave. But now you can come back, and I’ll be glad to have you. We can put you up in the house, so you won’t have a journey to work.’

‘But I’ll be useless, too,’ Mark said, holding up his damaged hand.

‘You won’t have to fly a plane with that, just rework the movements so that you can do them differently. Lucky it’s your left hand.’

‘Joe, I can’t take charity.’

‘It’s not charity. You’d be doing me a favour. That house is empty without Sylvia and Helen. It echoes something horrible. But if you’re there, it’ll be more cheerful.’

Mark was still uncertain, fearful of being pitied but eager for the chance to work. Dee slipped out, leaving them to it. When she met up with Joe later, he was triumphant.

‘I told him you’d be there sometimes to keep an eye on him, so they might let him out of this place sooner. That did it. He’s going potty in here.’

‘You’re a cunning schemer,’ she told him lovingly.

‘That’s what your mum used to say, just like you said it. I told you once before-you have to know what you want and go for it.’

‘And you think you know what I want?’

‘Actually, love, I was thinking more of what I want. That house really is lonely, so a couple of grandchildren would suit me down to the ground, just as soon as you can get round to it.’

‘Dad! You’re shameless.’

‘Got to be. No time to waste. There’s a war on. Hadn’t you heard?’

Chuckling to himself, he fled her wrath.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MR ROYCE was understanding. ‘Your father’s right. It’ll help him to go home and live a more normal life, and you can look after him. I don’t suppose you’ll be sleeping here any more?’

‘No, I’ll be spending my nights at home now,’ she said.

He sighed and gave her a wry smile. ‘Just as I thought. Well, good luck.’

For a moment it was all there in his eyes, everything he’d felt but never said over the last few years. Then the shutters came down and he was once more Mr Royce, figure of authority.

Mark came home a week later and was installed in Sylvia’s old room. By now he was on his feet and able to take the bus with the assistance of Joe, who closed the garage for the afternoon to help him. They both reached home safely, followed in the evening by Dee.

Joe had even cooked the supper for her and they celebrated together, toasting each other in cups of tea. Then she ordered Mark to bed and he obeyed with comical meekness.

Over the next few weeks, things improved. Mark’s burns healed slowly but steadily. He could still manage many tasks in the garage, and having something to occupy his mind did him good.

Life settled into a pattern that was so strangely comfortable it seemed predestined. There was even a kind of happiness in the situation. Often Dee would awaken in the small hours and lie reflecting comfortably that Mark was there, safe under the same roof. It wasn’t the relationship she’d dreamed of, but it brought out the protective side of her nature. Whatever might happen in the future, he was here now, hers, to be looked after and kept from harm.

It was nearly five years since they had met and both of them had changed. The changes in him were clear enough, but she often wondered how she seemed to him. Surveying herself in the mirror, she saw no sign of the naive girl she’d once been. The person who looked back was a woman, settled in her successful career, in her life, and so mature that it was hard to believe she was only twenty-two.

One day, in the late afternoon, when Joe was out at a training session with the Home Guard and Mark was working in the garage, she made a cup of tea and was preparing to take it to him when a shadow appeared in the back door. It was Eileen, a young woman of her own age who lived a couple of streets away.

‘I just thought I’d drop in and see how you were,’ she said. ‘Haven’t seen you for ages.’

She was one of the crowd of girls who had sighed over Mark in the early days and, although she now devoted a respectable amount of time to chattering about nothing, Dee wasn’t surprised when she brought the conversation round to him.

‘I hear you’ve got Mark living here again. Fancy that.’

‘He’s working at the garage with Dad, and he boards here because it’s convenient.’

‘Oh, I’m longing to see him!’

‘Come on, then. I’m just taking him a cup of tea.’

From outside the garage, they could hear Mark singing tunelessly. There was no sign of him as they entered, only the noise coming from under a large car. Suddenly the noise stopped and Mark slid out from underneath. Dee heard a sharp intake of breath beside her and turned to see Eileen, her eyes fixed on Mark in horror.

Because of the warm day, he’d removed his shirt and his bare chest was visible. Eileen’s hands were pressed to her mouth and she was slowly shaking her head as though to say it couldn’t be true. Then she turned and hurried away.

The sight of Mark’s face as he understood that a young woman had fled from him in disgust, repelled by his disfigurement, made Dee want to commit murder. She slammed down the mug of tea and turned to pursue Eileen but Mark stopped her.

‘Let her go,’ he said wearily. ‘I must have given her a shock. I’m sorry; I wasn’t expecting anyone except you, and you’re used to the sight. I forget how dreadful I must look to anyone else.’

‘She had no right-’

‘It wasn’t her fault,’ Mark said simply.

He pulled on his shirt, buttoning it up to the neck so that none of the scars were visible. Then he sat down and