‘I can’t wait until we can be married,’ Archie said as they sat in a small tea room facing each other across a table.
Phoebe was studying her hand, thinking how much better it looked with her beautiful diamond and sapphire engagement ring on her finger.
‘I’m sorry we couldn’t find one with larger gemstones.’
Phoebe worried that Archie might not realise how much she loved her ring. ‘It’s the most exquisite ring I’ve ever seen and I wouldn’t change it for the world.’ She looked down at it once more. It was sparkly and even if it had been made of tin instead of gold, she would have loved it simply because of Archie having bought it for her and the sentiment behind it.
‘I never want to take it off,’ she said, aware that once she was back in France she would have little choice. ‘I wish we could marry right away, but I’m glad I’ll be able to return to France for a little while, if only to feel like I’m finishing what I started there and end my time as a VAD at the hospital properly.’ She thought of her close friends. ‘And I want to say a proper goodbye to Hetty and Aggie face-to-face. And to Geoffrey Sutherland,’ she added. ‘He’s been so kind to me, letting me come here in the first place.’
Archie reached out and took her left hand in his, kissing the ring, and then, turning her hand over gently, drew back her fingers to look at her cut. ‘I’ve only ever met him a couple of times, when he examined my wounds,’ Archie said. ‘I can’t say I know him but he seemed pleasant enough. He must like you, to arrange for you to come here, and I can’t blame the man if he has feelings for you. After all, I do, don’t I?’
‘Geoffrey has other options,’ she said, not wishing to say anything more about Hetty and Geoffrey.
He shook his head. ‘I’m pleased. We all need someone to love, don’t you think?’
‘We do.’
‘I’m glad you love me, Phoebe,’ he said. ‘I’d hate to be the one having to see you with another man.’
Phoebe placed her hand on his cheek. ‘That, my darling, will never happen. You are the only man I will ever love.’
Archie’s smile vanished. ‘Don’t say that.’
She was confused. Surely he would want her to only love him?
Archie took both her hands in his and kissed the back of them in turn. ‘It’s not that I want you to love anyone other than me, but if anything did happen to me, I wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life alone.’
She didn’t want to think about such horrible things. ‘Please, Archie. Let’s not discuss this. I want to be happy and enjoy being engaged with you.’
He sighed. ‘I know, my darling. I want to do the same thing, but now that this has come up, I feel it’s the right time for me to share my feelings about it with you.’ He gazed down at her hands thoughtfully before looking her in the eyes again. ‘We don’t ever have to mention it again, but it’s important to me to know that you aren’t alone. If the worst ever did happen to me, I would want you to find someone to love, who loves you back.’ He narrowed his eyes and grinned. ‘I wouldn’t want you to love him as much as you do me, of course.’
She could see he was trying to make light of their conversation and smiled back, wanting to reassure him that she wasn’t offended. ‘I understand.’ She did, and hoped that he would never mention the prospect of not being there for her again. The thought was too horrendous to contemplate, even if only hypothetically.
He turned her right hand over and opened her fingers gently with his thumb. ‘It’s healing well.’
‘It is. The rest here has done me more good than I ever imagined it might.’ She pursed her lips at him. ‘You coming here was the perfect tonic.’
She saw him smile and knew she had said the right thing. For such a handsome and often cheeky man, there was a part of Archie that she sensed lacked confidence.
‘I think maybe I should meet your family before we get married.’ She also hoped he could meet Celia.
‘I would love you to meet them. I know Mrs Dunwoody will be in Sandsend but my brother is with his unit and my sister is with her family in London. Hopefully we’ll have a chance for you to meet them before too long.’ He sighed. ‘As a gentleman, I should have liked to be able to ask your father for his permission before proposing to you.’
Phoebe waited for the waitress to place the pot of tea that they had ordered onto their table. ‘I’m sure he would have enjoyed that,’ she said, trying to picture her father meeting Archie. ‘I know he would have taken to you. Then again, I can’t imagine anyone ever not.’
‘I like to think that your parents would approve of me.’
‘They would have, I’m certain of it. Do you think your parents would have liked me?’
He nodded. ‘Definitely.’
‘Shall I be mother?’ she asked, indicating the jug of milk and the tea pot and smiling at him.
‘Yes, and I’ll sit here and make the most of watching my wife-to-be pouring us both a perfect cup of tea.’
* * *
That evening Jocasta invited Archie to the house for supper.
‘What time are you leaving in the morning, Archie?’ Jocasta asked. ‘Will it be early, like our dear Phoebe?’ She looked at Phoebe with a miserable expression on her sweet face.
‘Yes,’ he replied.
‘We decided to catch the train back to London together,’ Phoebe explained. ‘Then I’ll make my way from Victoria on one of the returning ambulance trains back to France, and Archie will take another train to Sussex.’
‘I’m going to miss you both,’ Jocasta said. ‘Especially you, Phoebe. You’ve been a joy to have around these past ten days.’
Phoebe’s heart ached to hear her friend’s sad voice. ‘And I’m going to miss you and Bryony terribly.’
As soon as supper was over, Jocasta suggested Phoebe and Archie make themselves comfortable in the living room. ‘I’m going to have an early night,’ she said, making a point of yawning to emphasise her words. ‘Will I see you tomorrow, Archie?’
‘You will,’ he said. ‘I’ve hired a horse and cart to collect me from The Penny Farthing and bring me here for Phoebe, so I’ll see you and little Bryony then.’
‘I am pleased.’ She led the way from the kitchen, stopping in the hallway outside the living-room door. ‘I’ll say good night, then.’
‘Good night, Jocasta,’ Phoebe said, giving her friend a kiss on her cheek.
‘Good night,’ Archie said. ‘Thank you for supper.’
‘It was my pleasure,’ Jocasta said, her voice slightly wobbly. Without another word she took hold of the banister and began walking upstairs to her room.
Once settled inside the living room, Phoebe gazed up at the portrait of Ronnie and Jocasta, unable to help thinking how fleeting life could be. She shivered and lit a small fire before settling down to snuggle up to Archie. ‘It’s going be strange being back in France again, especially as you won’t be there.’
‘I suppose it will.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘I’m not looking forward to returning to the hospital. They’ll probably court martial me for leaving without permission.’
Phoebe gasped in horror and sat up. ‘You don’t really think that, do you?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘At least, I hope they won’t. Mind you, I wouldn’t mind being able to return to being an architect. I miss it very much.’
‘I imagine you do.’ She looked up at him, wishing they could make the night last for much longer. ‘I love you so much, Archie,’ she whispered, her voice trailing off as his lips met hers in a passionate kiss.
‘I want to make love to you so much,’ he murmured, his voice husky. ‘I wish we could have been married by now.’
So did she. Phoebe melted into him, wishing she was the sort of girl who didn’t have such strong principles.
‘It would be wrong of us to take advantage of Jocasta’s hospitality, and I could never ask you to come to my rooms.’
‘I know,’ she whispered, pulling him into another kiss.
Phoebe knew she should be shocked to hear him even mention them becoming intimate, but instead she resented that there was no decent way they could. If it was summer, they might have been able to find a private place outside, but it was the middle of winter and that wasn’t an option.
‘We’ll just have to make the most of kissing each other, then,’ she said, lying back and holding onto Archie, making him smile as he lowered himself over her and began kissing her again.
* * *
Their parting came only too soon, and Phoebe wondered if she felt more emotional to be leaving him at the station because she had been unable to sleep the previous night. Or maybe it was simply because she had no idea when she would be with Archie again.
‘I’m going to miss you so much,’ she said, clinging onto him, aware that she had mere seconds to get on board the waiting train. ‘How am I going to cope without seeing you each day?’
His arms wrapped even tighter around her waist. ‘Because, my darling, we know that once this war is over, we will be married and living in Sandsend, happily bringing up our babies. We have the rest of our lives to enjoy, you must never forget that.’
Unable to hold in a sob, Phoebe kissed him. ‘Promise me you’re right, Archie.’ He had no way of knowing what their future held, she knew that only too well, but needed him to promise her nonetheless.
‘I promise you, my darling girl.’ He took her face in his hands and kissed her. ‘Always trust that I will do all I can to be with you again. I came to Cornwall when you didn’t expect me to, didn’t I?’
Phoebe nodded. ‘You did.’
‘And I will find you wherever you are. I love you, Phoebe Robertson, and I will do my best to give you the future I’ve promised you.’ He kissed her hard on the mouth. ‘You do believe me, don’t you?’
‘I do, Archie,’ she sniffed as he lightly wiped away her tears with his fingers.
The whistle rang out and Phoebe tensed.
‘You must go now, my darling,’ Archie said, leading her to the train and holding her hand as she stepped on board. He closed the door and she pulled down the window and leaned out to take his hands once more. ‘We will see each other again. But until then, take good care of yourself, Phoebe. You are very precious to me.’
‘As you are to me, darling Archie.’
The train began to move slowly away, and for a few seconds Archie managed to keep up, but then she felt his hand slip from hers as the train picked up speed, and although she wiped away her tears, more replaced them. She waved at his blurred figure for as long as she could before sitting down heavily on the seat and giving in to her sobs.