‘It’s very kind of you to take me, Mrs Bayes,’ Lizzie said as she climbed into Constance’s car the following Sunday morning. She’d taken some persuading. ‘But I’m not at all sure about this.’
Today, she was wearing one of Constance’s pretty hats with a pink veil tied beneath her chin, one that Constance had always worn when driving her open-topped car. The veil, cleverly positioned, hid the left side of Lizzie’s face.
‘It’ll be fine. They’re very brave young men, who’ve had all sorts of injuries, but Riversdale is a happy place. You’ll be surprised.’
‘I’m not very brave,’ Lizzie said in a small voice.
‘I think you’re very courageous,’ Constance said, telling what she thought of as a little white lie to try to boost the girl’s confidence. Constance was honest enough to admit that had the same thing happened to her, she didn’t know how she would have coped.
When she ushered a hesitant Lizzie in through the front door, both Josh and Amy were there to greet her. Amy moved forward and, for a brief moment, the two women stared at each other, then Amy put her arms round Lizzie and held her.
‘I’m so, so sorry to hear about your boy, Amy,’ Lizzie whispered.
‘Thank you, Lizzie,’ Amy said softly and then with forced brightness she added, ‘Now, we’ve afternoon tea laid out in the patients’ lounge.’
‘Amy will look after you now, Lizzie,’ Josh said gently. ‘Mrs Bayes,’ Josh turned to Constance, ‘might I have a word?’
The two moved away towards the office.
‘Will – will patients be there?’ Lizzie asked nervously.
‘One or two. They know you’re coming and are waiting to meet you.’
As Amy led Lizzie to the room that had once been Constance’s morning room, Lizzie heard loud laughter greeting them. As they stepped through the door, she saw that there were three young men sitting there. All of them had scars on their faces. One had lost his left arm, for his empty sleeve was tucked into the pocket of his jacket, but they all stood up politely.
‘Hello,’ they chorused and shook her hand in turn.
‘This is Roland,’ Amy said, introducing them, ‘William and Bernard.’
‘Here, sit by me,’ Roland said. ‘We’ll let Amy be mother today and pour the tea, shall we?’
‘You’re quite capable, Roland, even with one hand,’ Amy laughed, ‘but, yes, as we have a visitor, I’ll pour.’
Lizzie glanced round at them all again and then, slowly, she took off her hat and veil. For the first time since the accident she didn’t feel embarrassed, not even when the three of them all leaned closer to inspect her injury.
‘I reckon Archie’d make a marvellous job of that, don’t you, chaps?’ Roland said.
‘It doesn’t look like it’s gone too deep. I reckon one op, or two at the most, would do it.’
Lizzie looked round at them all. They were all smiling at her. ‘What? What are you talking about?’
‘We’ve all been treated by Archibald McIndoe at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead,’ William explained. ‘He’s fast becoming an expert in the treatment of burns. It’s happening quite a lot to pilots.’
Lizzie couldn’t help glancing at Amy. How could she cope with meeting these airmen every day and wondering if that was what had happened to her son?
‘It’s called plastic surgery, but it’s skin grafts really.’
‘Don’t tell her where they take the skin from,’ the one called William teased. ‘Let’s just say that sitting down was a bit uncomfortable for a week or two.’
‘And it’ll give me a heck of a kick when my mother-in-law kisses my cheek.’
The three men laughed uproariously at their own banter and Lizzie wasn’t sure if they were joking or not.
Now Roland leaned towards her and examined her face closely. ‘I really think he could help you, Lizzie.’ His tone was serious now, the joking and the teasing over for the moment. They could see how nervous and lacking in confidence the young woman now was. They could also see how beautiful she’d been.
‘Do you?’ she asked tentatively.
‘Sure of it,’ Bernard, the quieter one of the three, said. ‘He’d need to see you first, of course.’
‘But – would he do it? I mean, I’m not even in the services.’
‘Not exactly, but you were injured whilst doing valuable war work, weren’t you?’
It seemed they’d been told all about her – or at least as much as they were allowed to know.
‘I suppose so, but . . .’
‘No “buts”. William will write to him straight away and ask if there’s anything he can do.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ Lizzie murmured and, for the first time, she had real hope.
‘And now,’ Roland said, holding out his arm to her, ‘let me show you around Riversdale and you can meet some of the others. Of course, they’re not all burns patients. They’ve all sorts of injuries and have come here because they’re well on the mend. Some of them will go back to their units when they’re fully fit.’
To her surprise, Lizzie enjoyed her visit. All of the patients, without exception, were cheerful, exchanging merry banter with each other and with the staff, even – to Lizzie’s astonishment – with Constance when she came to speak to them all.
As they climbed back into her car for the return journey, Lizzie said, ‘I can’t thank you enough for bringing me today, Mrs Bayes. I didn’t want to come, but it’s given me real hope. I must write and tell Billy when I get home.’
‘I’m glad, my dear,’ Constance murmured. She was heartened on two counts, though Lizzie would not realize it. She was happy to hear that the girl had a newfound confidence, but she was also relieved to hear that Lizzie’s first thought was to write to her husband.
As Constance was about to start the engine, Lizzie put her hand on the woman’s arm. ‘Can I tell you something in confidence?’
‘Of course.’
‘Normally, I would tell Emily, but I – I can’t. Not about this.’
‘Go on.’
Lizzie took a deep breath. ‘I expect you know all about my silliness over Josh and – and even about my more recent –’ Lizzie ran her tongue nervously around her lips – ‘stupidity.’ When Constance remained silent, Lizzie went on, ‘I just want you to know that for the first time ever I could look at Josh today and see him just as a friend. I’m no longer imagining myself in love with him, Mrs Bayes. And I – I feel released. Is that a strange thing to say?’
‘No, I don’t think so, my dear, and I’m so glad to hear it.’
‘I know now that it’s Billy I love. He’s been so good to me. So understanding and – and forgiving.’
‘So he knows about . . . ?’
Lizzie shook her head. ‘Not really. I tried to tell him when he came to the hospital, but he stopped me – said he didn’t want to hear. I suppose he suspected something, but he just asked me if it was over and, when I said “yes”, he said we’d never speak of it again.’
‘Then you mustn’t – not to him, but I do think you should tell Emily how you feel about Josh now. I think it would set her mind at rest.’
Lizzie was thoughtful for a moment. ‘I expect you’re right. I just feel so sorry for them – Josh and Amy – to think that they have lost their son.’
With that, Constance started the engine and they drove home, each busy with her own thoughts.