When Daisy first told her what had been happening, Gill was a little put out. ‘You might have told me.’
‘The fewer people who knew about it, the better. Besides, there were enough people worrying about it.’
‘I’m amazed they let you go.’
‘They didn’t want to, but in the end they had no choice. It was that or leave Luke there.’
‘Oh Daisy, how brave you are.’
‘You’d have done just the same – for Luke – now wouldn’t you?’
‘I’d like to think so, but – oh Daisy . . .’ She flung her arms round her dearest friend as tears of relief flooded down her face. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can’t wait to see him.’
It was then that Daisy told her about her idea for them all to try to get leave at the same time and go to Lincolnshire. ‘If only it works.’
Miraculously, it seemed to all of them, it did. They all got leave together for a whole week. Even Pips was able to get leave from Bletchley Park. She went to stay for the first night with Milly from where Mitch picked her up in his car. He was nervous about seeing her and when she opened the door to him and they stood staring at each other for a moment, he found he was holding his breath.
‘I don’t know whether to slap you or kiss you,’ she said with a sudden grin.
‘I’d prefer the latter,’ he said, still holding her gaze.
As she invited him in, she said, ‘I suppose I should be angry with you for allowing such an escapade, and in your Lysander too, but I can’t be. She got Luke home – and only just in time, by the sound of it. Oh Mitch, thank goodness they’re both safe.’
‘And so say all of us,’ he said wryly. ‘I was so afraid you’d never forgive me, especially if something had gone dreadfully wrong.’
Pips shrugged. ‘It’s wartime, Mitch. We all do things we shouldn’t when push comes to shove.’
He touched her cheek with gentle fingers as he said huskily, ‘You certainly did last time. I wouldn’t be here now, if it hadn’t been for you.’
‘Oh phooey,’ she said and they both laughed.
‘Come on in. Milly’s got lunch ready for us before we set off north.’
It was the best way the week could have started for Pips and Mitch. With Milly’s delightful manner and constant chatter, they were soon both at ease with each other, and by the time they set off in Mitch’s car, it was as if any constraint between them had never happened.
It was an idyllic week for all of them in Doddington. Luke and Harry naturally stayed with Sam and Peggy whilst Pips, Johnny, Mitch and Gill and, of course, Daisy stayed at the hall, but they met up all the time.
‘We must have a party,’ Henrietta said happily. ‘I’ll invite the Dawsons, the Coopers and the Nuttalls, just like we do on Boxing Day. We must take advantage of us all being together.’ She did not say the words aloud, but it was in her mind that an occasion like this might never happen again. Whilst they were all safely home just now, the war was still raging over much of the world and Luke being posted missing had shaken them all.
Gill spent a lot of the time at the Nuttalls’ house and the more they saw of her, the more Peggy and Sam liked her. They took to Johnny too, but eyed Harry warily to see if he had any problem with the young man who was now so obviously Daisy’s boyfriend.
But Harry was his usual self, flirting with the girls in the village and every day sending off a letter addressed to a different WAAF.
‘Just how many girlfriends have you got, Harry?’ his mother asked.
‘Lost count,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Safety in numbers and all that.’
‘Is there no one special?’ Peggy persisted.
For a brief moment, a shadow crossed his face but it was gone in a flash. ‘They’re all special, Mam. Each and every one of them.’
‘Kitty Page from the village is always on my doorstep, asking after you. She’s such a nice girl – and pretty too.’
Harry pretended to give his mother’s words serious thought. ‘You’re right, Mam, she is. I’ll take her out one evening. Make her day.’
‘Oh you!’ Peggy laughed.
They all went riding, taking it in turns to use the horses in the stables at the hall. Jake was in his element showing Pips and Daisy all that he’d been doing in the grounds to help the war effort.
‘I see you’ve ploughed up the croquet lawn and the front lawn is being used for grazing,’ Pips said evenly. Jake glanced at her. ‘We’ll soon get it right again, Miss Pips, when all this is over.’
‘I know,’ she said gently. ‘I’m just sad to see it, that’s all, but it has to be done.’
On the first morning after their arrival, Luke took Gill to the Dawsons’ cottage. Norah flung her arms around him and wept against his shoulder. ‘Oh Luke, I thought we’d never see you again.’
‘Be a good job when all this nonsense is over and you can come back and take up your work again,’ Len said gruffly, but as he gripped his grandson’s shoulder, there were tears in his eyes. ‘You and Harry,’ he added, almost as an afterthought.
As they walked home, Luke was unusually quiet until he suddenly burst out, ‘Gill, will you marry me?’
Gill gasped and then stopped walking as they turned to face each other. ‘Yes, I will, Luke, but not until all this is over.’
‘But we can get engaged, can’t we?’
‘Of course.’
‘Ought I to speak to your father?’
Gill burst out laughing. ‘Only as a matter of courtesy. I’m a grown girl and you don’t have to ask his permission.’
Luke grinned. ‘I know, but he’d expect it, wouldn’t he?’
‘I don’t know about “expect”, but I’m sure he’d like it.’
‘We’ll go into Lincoln tomorrow and I’ll buy you a ring. Then we’ll announce it at Aunty Hetty’s party on Saturday.’
Gill laughed. ‘You certainly know how to sweep a girl off her feet.’
In the quiet stillness of the lane, Luke pulled her towards him to kiss her.
A little later as they walked on, Gill said, ‘Of course, there’ll be the problem of where we’re to live. That’s one thing my father will expect; that I go back and help run the farm. One day it will be mine.’
‘And one day my grandfather’s business will be mine,’ Luke murmured. He laughed. ‘But let’s not worry about all that yet. Let’s just enjoy now.’
Johnny did not actually propose to Daisy, but there was a tacit understanding between them. It was as if they didn’t dare speak about the future in case it tempted fate. They, too, were living – and loving – for the moment.
At Henrietta’s party on the Saturday night before they were all due to leave the following morning, Luke tapped a glass to attract everyone’s attention. When there was silence, he cleared his throat. ‘I have an announcement to make.’ He took Gill’s hand as he added, ‘Gill and I are engaged to be married. I hope you’ll be happy for us.’
After a moment’s surprised silence, everyone clapped and cheered but Len’s harsh voice rose above the excited chatter.
‘What on earth d’you want to go and do a damned fool thing like that for?’
Len’s outburst had put a dampener on what had been a wonderful occasion for all the families whose young ones were away fighting the war, each in their own way, and Gill was still worrying about it the following morning when they were preparing to leave.
‘I’m so sorry your grandfather took it like that.’
Luke didn’t seem to be worried. ‘When the war started, he told me that if I joined the RAF he would disown me. Now, it seems, he’s changed his mind.’
‘But . . .’
Luke silenced her with his lips, murmuring, ‘No “buts”, my darling, it will all work out. You’ll see.’
As they all departed in a flurry of ‘goodbyes’, Mitch took Henrietta’s hand and raised it to his lips. ‘Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs Maitland.’
Her eyes twinkled mischievously at him. ‘It’s good to see you again, Mitch. You’re welcome here any time.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ he said. ‘I might very well take you up on that.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ Henrietta said dryly. Their eyes met and they exchanged a look that spoke volumes but neither said another word.
Mitch drove Pips back to London, leaving her at Milly’s apartment to spend the night there before she had to return to Bletchley Park. As they said ‘goodbye’, Mitch was strangely hesitant. ‘When might we meet again?’
Pips wrinkled her forehead, reading nothing more into his question than a casual enquiry between two friends. ‘I really can’t say, Mitch. We don’t get a lot of leave. I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to get a whole week just now.’ She chuckled. ‘I’ll have to keep my head down for a while. Tell you what, I’ll telephone you if I get any time off. That’s if you don’t mind driving down to meet me.’
He arched his eyebrow and glanced at her as if to say ‘that’s rather a silly question’, but all he said was, ‘Of course I don’t.’
As she got out of the car and lifted her suitcase out of the back, she said, ‘Bye for now. See you soon . . .’
Milly and Pips enjoyed an evening together.
‘No Paul?’ Pips asked.
Milly sighed. ‘I don’t see much of him. He works such long hours, but at least he’s not away all the time, like a lot of women’s husbands are. I’m luckier than most. And I keep myself busy. I help out at the WVS now. There’s always plenty to do.’
‘Are you going back to your parents?’
Milly shook her head. ‘I’ve managed to persuade Paul to agree to me staying here, for the time being at least.’
And so it was back to life as they’d all known it before Luke had gone missing; Luke and Harry to their squadrons, Daisy and Gill to Hamble and Pips to Bletchley. Life in Doddington settled back into its routine, though the anxiety for those left at home was constant, perhaps even sharper than it had been. Now they knew what could happen.