‘That’s not what I meant and you know it. If people found out that I had to let you pay for this, my reputation would never recover.’
‘True,’ she said in a considering voice. ‘Perhaps I won’t tell anyone just yet. I’ll keep it in reserve to blackmail you with. I’ll enjoy that.’
He grinned. ‘That’s all right, then.’
‘Meaning that you think I wouldn’t?’
‘No, I’m sure you would. I’ve sized you up as a very tough character and I’m treading carefully. You scare me.’
‘Oh, stop talking nonsense!’ she chuckled, but in truth she didn’t want him to stop. She wanted to sit here talking nonsense with him for ever.
‘Yes, ma’am, no, ma’am, anything you say, ma’am. Shall I go down on one knee?’
‘I’ll chuck this tea over you in a minute.’
‘That would be a waste after what you paid for it.’
That sent them both off in more gales of mirth, while Billy glanced from one to the other with a look that said there was no understanding humans.
‘Sylvia tells me you’re on duty over Christmas,’ he observed.
‘Someone has to be. People still get sick.’
‘But surely you’re still a student?’
‘Yes, but there are some things I can do. A dogsbody is always needed.’
He regarded her with admiration. ‘Giving up Christmas to fetch and carry. Good for you. I couldn’t do it. I like to enjoy myself, but I suppose you get your kicks out of doing good works.’
She made a face. ‘Don’t make me sound like some dreary embodiment of virtue. I don’t want to work over Christmas either, but it’s the job I’ve chosen. The dull bits are worth it for the wonderful bits. Good works, my foot!’
‘I didn’t mean to offend you.’
‘Don’t you put up with the dull bits of engines for the sake of the others?’
‘There aren’t any dull bits in my job. If there were, I wouldn’t do it.’
‘But life has dull bits. You can’t opt out of them.’
‘I can try. Live for the moment. Tomorrow may never come.’
‘Do you know,’ she said, suddenly struck, ‘I hear a lot of people talking like that in the hospital. They’re convinced there’s going to be a war and they must make the most of what time they have now.’
‘Very wise of them.’
‘Does that mean you think there’s going to be a war?’ she asked seriously. ‘People talk about it but-I just can’t believe it.’
‘Of course. Hasn’t our Prime Minister assured us that Hitler is a man he can trust?’
He was referring to Neville Chamberlain who, following Hitler’s aggressive behaviour in Europe, had gone to meet him in September and returned, apparently reassured. Two weeks later he’d attended a conference with Hitler and signed an agreement accepting the annexation of the Sudetenland. On his return to England, he’d given a speech at the airport promising ‘peace for our time’.
‘It sounds all right,’ Dee said, ‘and yet-’
‘And yet the government is already issuing gas masks and sending children away to the country for their own safety,’ Mark continued. ‘Does that look like peace in our time? Of course not. Winston Churchill was right.’
‘Who’s he?’
‘An MP. He’s always been a rebel voice and just now he’s a bit of an outsider, but he talks a lot of sense. He said you can’t make yourself safe by throwing a small country to the wolves. And he’s right. We’ll know in a few months.’
Until now, Dee had seen mainly Mark’s flippant side. Hearing him talk in this serious way was almost like listening to a different man, but the very strangeness made her alert. She shivered. In a little while the skies might darken.
‘Will you be drafted into the army?’ she asked.
‘I won’t wait for that. I’ll join the Air Force. I’ve always wanted to fly a plane and this could be my chance.’ His eyes gleamed as though for a moment he’d forgotten everything but the hope of adventure.
‘Yes, this could be your chance to get killed or horribly injured,’ she said crossly.
He shrugged. ‘That’s the risk you take. The best fun always involves a risk.’
‘Fun?’ she said, aghast. ‘The most terrible danger and you call it fun?’
‘The more danger, the more fun,’ he said irrepressibly.
‘Surely there’s more to life than fun?’
‘Is there?’ he asked innocently. ‘What?’
She didn’t try to answer. After all, he was right. There was no point in being gloomy. Enjoy the moment, especially if the moment could be spent like this, alone with him, enjoying all his attention, feeling their minds meet.
She guessed that he didn’t share such understanding with Sylvia. Her attraction for him was something very different, nothing to do with minds or understanding. Tonight was special because it was hers, all hers.
‘I don’t suppose it will happen at all,’ he said in a reassuring tone.
‘That’s not what you really think, is it?’ she said. ‘You’re just trying to make the silly little girl stop worrying.’
‘I don’t think of you as a silly little girl,’ he said seriously. ‘How can you be? You’re a nurse. People depend on you for their lives.’
‘Then heaven help them!’ she said wryly. ‘Mr Royce says it’ll be a long time before he’ll put anyone’s life in my hands because I’d only drop it.’
‘Who’s Mr Royce?’
‘He’s a surgeon at the hospital. He’s given the students a couple of lectures. I asked him a question once. I thought it was quite clever, but as soon as the words were out I knew it was idiotic. He just looked at me wryly and shook his head. Afterwards, he told me to go and have a cup of tea. He said I looked as if I needed it. And I really did need it.’
‘He didn’t offer to buy it for you?’
‘Goodness, no!’ she said, shocked. ‘He’s the Great Man of the hospital. Students are beneath his notice, unless he’s telling them how they did something wrong.’
‘Does he tell you that often?’
‘All the time. So does Matron, and the ward sisters. In fact, I’m just useless. I’ll fail all my exams and probably have to go into the forces.’ An imp of mischief made her add, ‘Perhaps they’ll let me join the Air Force. They say women will be allowed in very soon. I’ll fly about the heavens and you can be my mechanic on the ground.’ She giggled at the thought.
Mark listened with a sardonic expression. ‘Be very careful what you say,’ he warned. ‘They may let women in the Air Force, but they will
‘Aren’t you afraid that I’ll sabotage your engine?’ she teased.
He assumed a lofty tone. ‘On second thoughts, I think you should stay quietly in the kitchen, which is where a woman belongs. I don’t know why we ever gave you the vote. All right, all right, don’t eat me!’
He edged away, holding up his arms in a theatrical parody of self-defence.
‘I’ve a good mind to set Billy on you,’ she laughed.
‘He wouldn’t do it,’ Mark observed. ‘We’re the best of friends.’
As if to confirm it, Billy put his nose on Mark’s knee, gazing up at him worshipfully. Mark scratched his ears, returning a look that was almost as loving.
Dee was fascinated by this new side of him. His normal persona-cool, collected and humorous-had relaxed into the kind of daft adoration that dogs seemed able to inspire. She watched them for a while, smiling, until he looked up and coloured self-consciously.
‘I always wanted a dog,’ he said, ‘but my mother wouldn’t allow it. I tend to get rather stupid about other people’s.’
