‘What question?’ Phoebe asked, not daring to imagine it might be the one she hoped to hear above all others.
Archie gave her a thoughtful frown. ‘I wanted this to be perfect but it’s raining outside and I can’t kneel properly yet, so I hope you’ll not mind me doing this differently to how I’ve been imagining it.’
She could barely find the words to reply. ‘I don’t care how you do it,’ she said honestly.
‘That’s a relief.’ He took her right hand in his and, raising it to his lips, kissed the back of it. Then he looked her in the eye, smiled and cleared his throat.
He was nervous, she realised. ‘I love you, Archie,’ she whispered.
‘I love you, too.’ He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. ‘Phoebe Robertson, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’
‘Yes.’
He drew her into his arms and kissed her. ‘You didn’t even think about that before answering.’
‘I didn’t need to!’ She laughed, holding him tightly.
‘You’ve made me the happiest man alive.’
Phoebe kissed him again. ‘I’d love us to be able to marry straight away,’ she said, wishing she never had to leave his side ever again.
‘As do I, my angel. Unfortunately we don’t have enough time, before I return to the hospital and you to France, to register a notice of marriage and wait the necessary number of days before marrying.’
‘No, I suppose not,’ she said, telling herself that being married to Archie wouldn’t make him any safer. She pushed away the thought. Nothing was going to happen to him. She had to believe he would be fine and stop fretting that he would be killed, like her parents and brother had been.
He kissed her. ‘There is something we can do, though.’
Excited to know what he might have in mind, Phoebe forced a smile. ‘Really? What?’
‘Will you meet me first thing in the morning so we can at least buy you a ring?’ he asked, smiling at her.
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Maybe Jocasta will know of a jeweller in the village or a town nearby where we could buy one.’
‘I’ll ask her tonight,’ Phoebe said, ‘and tell you when I meet you in the morning.’ Hearing Jocasta’s footsteps upstairs in her bedroom, Phoebe felt the need to spend time alone with Archie. She glanced out of the window and was cheered to see it had stopped raining. ‘Will your leg be all right if we take a walk?’
‘It will be fine,’ he said, smiling.
‘Good. Let me go and tell Jocasta that we’re popping out for a while.’
‘I’ll wait here for you,’ he said. ‘But first there’s just one thing I need to do.’
Phoebe glanced at him and had opened her mouth to speak, when he took hold of her arm, pulled her close and kissed her.
Phoebe closed her eyes and relished the feeling of being held by him.
‘Are you happy for me to go now?’ she teased a few moments later, loving how much he wanted her.
‘Only if you’re back here in less than a minute. I don’t think I’ll be able to cope with being away from you for any longer.’
Phoebe laughed. ‘You can start counting,’ she said before running from the room.
* * *
As they walked slowly from the house towards the cliff path, Phoebe relished every moment of her hand being in his as she walked alongside the man she loved above all others, whom she would soon be married to.
‘What are you thinking?’ he asked quietly, smiling down at her.
Phoebe rested her free hand over her heart. ‘Just that I can’t ever imagine being happier than I am right at this moment.’
He pulled her to a stop. ‘A newly married friend of mine once told me that when you meet the right woman, you just know it. I never believed him until I opened my eyes and saw you, that first time at the hospital. At first, I noticed your eyes and then your soothing voice as you tried to reassure me, and I knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.’
Phoebe couldn’t speak. ‘You knew then?’
He raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes. ‘You mean it took you longer than that?’
She nudged him. ‘It did, but not much longer.’ Phoebe thought back to seeing Archie for the first time and how handsome she had thought him, once she had cleaned him up and changed him into fresh clothes.
‘I recall coming round and seeing a pretty nurse leaning over me tying my pyjama bottoms, and it dawned on me that you must have seen me naked.’
Phoebe recalled his reaction, and laughed. ‘You seemed very angry with me.’
‘That was mortification, my darling, not anger.’ He winced. ‘Anyway, what did you think of me?’ he asked, as if sensing where her mind had drifted off to.
‘I thought you were incredibly handsome,’ she admitted. ‘And you are.’
‘That’s very kind of you to say so, but then, as my fiancée, I presume you would probably approve of the way I look.’
‘Fiancée,’ she said to herself. ‘I’ve never been a fiancée before.’
‘That’s a relief!’ He laughed. ‘If you had been, then you’d more than likely be married to some other lucky man and bringing up his brood of children somewhere.’
‘Children,’ she said. ‘We’ve never discussed children before.’ Phoebe realised she desperately wanted to know what her husband-to-be thought about children. ‘How many would you hope to have?’
She looked up at him, waiting for him to answer as he stared out over the sea thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know. Two, maybe? Six?’
She saw his lips draw back into a cheeky smile and knew he was teasing. ‘Six?’ She had never imagined having so many children and was glad he was joking.
‘Why? How about you?’ He gazed down at her.
‘Three? Maybe four at the most, but I don’t think I could cope with more than that.’ She also didn’t want to spend most of her marriage being pregnant.
‘We’ll have as many as you wish,’ he said, kissing to the top of her head affectionately. ‘I would love to have at least one child and know that you and I will live on forever through them.’
Phoebe thought it such a sad thing to say. She didn’t want to think about their mortality when they would have to part in two short days’ time.
‘We will,’ she said, wanting to reassure him. Maybe he was anxious about her returning to France and being closer to danger, she mused. Or it could be that Archie was preparing himself to return to the Front in the next couple of months. He knew only too well how it felt to be injured. ‘Come along,’ she said, wanting to change the topic of conversation. They needed to enjoy every moment they had together. ‘I want to take you to see the most perfect view I’ve ever seen.’
‘It’ll have to be pretty impressive to beat Sandsend,’ he said, giving her a wink.
She thought of the place he had grown up in and loved so much. ‘Will we live there when we’re married?’
‘Sandsend?’
‘Yes. Your home in Yorkshire.’
‘I’d love to return there to make a home with you and bring up our children, if that’s what you’re happy doing.’
He had a look of hope in his eyes and Phoebe knew that he could have told her he wished to move to anywhere in the world, and she would have gone with him without a moment’s hesitation. ‘I can’t wait to see it for the first time,’ she said honestly.
He bent and kissed her again, cupping her cheek with his hand. ‘You are perfect, do you know that?’
She pulled a face. ‘I’m not sure my sister would agree with you,’ she said, ‘but I’m happy you think so.’
They reached the top of the cliff and stood on the damp grass a safe distance from the edge. ‘Well?’ Phoebe said, waving an arm in an arc to encompass the sea, with its white horses far below them. ‘What do you think?’
He gazed at the view and, slipping an arm around her waist, held her close to his side against the windy weather. ‘I have to agree, it is impressive.’
‘Better than Sandsend?’ she teased.
He must have heard the smile in her voice and looked down, grinning at her. ‘They’re two very different places,’ he said. ‘But this comes a close second, in my opinion.’
‘Maybe we can come here on our holidays each year, then?’
He nodded. ‘I like that idea very much.’
She noticed him wince and realised his leg must be giving him pain. It hadn’t been that long ago that Archie struggled to stand, and now she had him standing on the edge of a cliff on a freezing January afternoon. What was I thinking? She should know better.
‘We should go back,’ she said, aware that Jocasta’s home was closer to them than the public house where he had booked to stay.
‘I’m all right, if you’re concerned about my leg.’
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. ‘I’m sure you’re fine,’ she fibbed. ‘But it is rather cold out here, with no protection from this sharp wind, and I think we should probably go back and warm up for a while before you have to return to your room at The Penny Farthing.’
He looked down at her thoughtfully before smiling. ‘You’re right. Let’s make our way back.’
They walked in silence and Phoebe was trying to commit every second to memory: the touch of his hand over hers, the sound of his footsteps, his smile, his kiss.
* * *
The following morning she woke too early to walk to meet him, so lay in bed until she knew Jocasta would be up and making breakfast, and then washed, dressed and went downstairs to join her.
Jocasta looked up from where she was stirring porridge for their breakfast. ‘Good morning.’ She gave Phoebe a cheery grin. ‘I was going to ask how you felt today but I can imagine it’s deliriously happy.’ Phoebe went to make them some tea but Jocasta shook her head and pointed for her to sit down. ‘I want to hear everything.’
Without meaning to, Phoebe blurted out her news. ‘Archie asked me to marry him.’
Jocasta dropped the wooden spoon into the pan and spun round. ‘Marry him?’ She looked stunned, then smiled. ‘And I’m guessing by the look on your face that you said yes?’
‘I did.’ Phoebe had lain awake most of the night, not sure if it was because of the excitement of being engaged to the man she loved, or because they had spent the day together and she still had two more days to look forward to. ‘I know we’ve not known each other for very long, but…’
Jocasta spooned the porridge into two large bowls for them and a smaller amount for Bryony. ‘These are unusual times, though,’ Jocasta said, confirming what Phoebe also thought.
Phoebe blushed. They were.
‘What?’
‘I’ve seen him naked,’ Phoebe explained. ‘I had to wash him when he arrived at the hospital.’
Jocasta’s eyebrows shot up and she stared at Phoebe for a moment. ‘Well, then.’ She laughed. ‘Sorry, I’m not certain what to say to that comment.’
‘I shouldn’t have said it.’ Phoebe wished she had thought before speaking but her mind was on Archie today and little else, it seemed.
Jocasta placed the bowls on the table. ‘It’s fine. It must be enlightening in more ways than I can imagine, having to nurse these men.’
Phoebe nodded. ‘I have to admit I’ve had many shocked moments since starting my training. I thought that the things I saw and had to do at the hospital in England were surprising, but the hospital in Étaples is something else entirely. I doubt there’s much that could shock me now.’
‘I can imagine.’
They stared at each other for a few seconds before Jocasta grimaced. ‘I always thought I might want to be a nurse, but now I’m not so sure I’d have been any good at it.’
‘I didn’t think I had it in me to nurse either, but now I find that I love it. I’ll miss it when I’m married.’
‘I suppose you will. Now eat,’ Jocasta said, handing Phoebe a spoon. ‘I can tell there’s more.’
Once her friend was seated, Phoebe continued. ‘Archie wants us to be married as soon as possible, but first he wants to buy me an engagement ring.’
‘I could see how much he loved you, just by the way he looked at you when I walked into the room yesterday.’ She stroked Bryony’s cheek and smiled. ‘I sense that he’s a very kind, decent man. I like him very much.’
‘I’m glad you think so,’ Phoebe said, a happy warmth washing through her that had nothing to do with the mouthful of porridge she had just eaten.
‘When I met and liked you so much, I was excited to think that one day we might become sisters-in-law.’
‘But I explained about Geoffrey and me…’
Jocasta shook her head and smiled. ‘You did. I was just being fanciful, I know that.’
Phoebe noticed something in her friend’s eyes. She was troubled, Phoebe realised. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘What do you mean?’ Jocasta asked, busying herself feeding Bryony.
Phoebe sensed she was hiding something. ‘What is it? Please tell me.’
Jocasta shrugged. ‘It’s just that I suspect Geoffrey might have feelings for you – perhaps that’s partly why he offered for you to come and stay here.’
Phoebe gasped. ‘Do you really think so?’ she asked, needing time to come to terms with the thought that she might have hurt Geoffrey, albeit unintentionally.
‘Please, don’t be upset,’ Jocasta said. ‘You don’t know him well and it’s not your fault if you didn’t suspect this to be the case. Knowing you now, I can understand his fondness for you,’ Jocasta said. ‘Whether it be as a friend or otherwise. I’m very fond of you myself.’
‘As I am of you,’ Phoebe said gratefully.
‘Anyway. Enough of Geoffrey. We’re supposed to be discussing your engagement with that very handsome man. I’m glad you found each other.’ Jocasta skimmed a little of the porridge from Bryony’s bowl and blew on it before feeding it to the toddler.
‘Me, too.’ It made more difference to her that Jocasta liked him than Phoebe had imagined it might. ‘We were wondering if you knew of a jeweller near here.’
Jocasta spooned another small amount as she considered Phoebe’s question. ‘There’s only one in the village,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘But he is trustworthy. Where are you meeting Archie?’
‘Outside the public house where he’s rented a room.’
‘Then the jeweller’s will be easy enough to find. There’s a lane almost directly opposite where Archie will be waiting for you, and the shop has a small bay window and is at the start of that lane. You won’t be able to miss it. Go inside and mention my name. I haven’t been in there apart from once, but we have met up a few times at local events in the past.’
Phoebe’s excitement for her day ahead grew. ‘Thank you. I’ll do that.’
‘I can’t wait to see it,’ Jocasta said as Bryony began grumbling and pointing to the spoonful of porridge. ‘Oops, there you go, sweetie.’ She pointed at Phoebe’s bowl. ‘Now it’s your turn to eat,’ she teased. ‘And I’m not letting you leave until every morsel has vanished.’
Phoebe took a mouthful of the cooked oats. She had no idea how Jocasta made them so tasty, but they were delicious.
* * *
After eating and helping Jocasta clear up, it was almost nine o’clock, so Phoebe put on her hat and coat and walked to the village.
He was waiting outside for her, smiling broadly when he spotted her. ‘Are you ready to go shopping?’
‘Yes,’ she admitted, barely able to conceal her excitement that in a few minutes she would be wearing an engagement ring. ‘Jocasta said there’s one jeweller and he should be along this way,’ she said, recalling her friend’s directions. Spotting the small bay window by the corner of a lane, she pointed. ‘Look, there it is.’
‘I just know we’re going to find the perfect ring in here,’ he said, pushing open the door and holding it for her to enter.
They soon discovered there wasn’t much choice, but the selection of rings they did have was enough for Phoebe to immediately spot one that called out to her. She waited to see if Archie reacted to the same piece, wanting him to like it as much as her.
He studied the rings. ‘Are there any that you like?’
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘Which ones?’ he asked, looking delighted.
‘I want to see which one you like best,’ she said. ‘This ring should mean as much to you as it does to me.’
He grimaced. ‘This is the time we discover if we share the same taste in jewellery. I’ll have to cross my fingers that we do.’