The day of her graduation was warm. She’d sent a ticket to Aleksy but he’d been unable to get leave. Isabel was unable to come either.
She’d not seen Richard since the evening at East Fortune. He’d sent several invitations to concerts and dances at the airfield, but she always wrote back with an excuse. In the last weeks she’d thought a lot about what Aleksy had said. Why shouldn’t she and Richard grasp happiness where they could? Yet a part of her resisted. She was going back to Poland and there was a chance she would be killed. She had nothing to give him, especially not now. Nevertheless, knowing he was in the world and not far away was a sweet kind of torture.
When she was handed her diploma her pride was tempered with sadness. If only Tata could have seen this day. His daughter was finally a doctor. It was what they’d both wanted. Along with her fellow graduates she repeated the Hippocratic Oath, closing her eyes when it came to the part of Doing No Harm. Despite what she’d told the people on the assessment course, she wasn’t sure she could kill anyone.
She walked out into the sunshine to find Richard amongst the crowd waiting in the square outside McEwan Hall. Seeing him, silhouetted against the sun, his blond hair like a halo, sent a shock of desire and longing through her. She knew it then. Whatever she’d tried to tell herself, she loved him. She’d loved Piotr, but this was different, no less intense but stronger, surer.
Catching sight of her he walked towards her. ‘Well done, darling,’ he said, kissing her cheek.
‘I didn’t know you were coming.’
‘If Muhammad won’t come to the mountain, and all that…’
‘Richard, I —’
‘Mother told me about Piotr. I’m so sorry.’
‘Would you like me to take your photograph?’ Natasza, one of Irena’s fellow graduands, interrupted. ‘I can see you don’t have a camera.’
‘Thank you,’ Richard said quickly. ‘Where would you like us?’
‘What about on the steps? It’s where most people are having theirs taken.’
Irena stood beside him, feeling awkward, certain everyone could see the way her body reacted to being so near him – as if every part of her was reaching out to him.
‘Where shall I send it when it’s developed?’ Natasza asked.
‘Nineteen Charlotte Square, please. Care of Dr Maxwell.’ Richard turned the full force of his smile on Natasza. ‘I don’t suppose you could make two copies?’
She blushed and smiled back. ‘I could.’
When Natasza had left to join her friends, Richard took Irena by the elbow. ‘I’m taking you for lunch. No arguments.’
‘Why are you here?’
‘Because I couldn’t stay away.’ He said it matter-of-factly, but the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know.
They crossed the road to The Doctors, a pub that Irena had been to before with Katherine. He raised a glass. ‘To Dr Kraszewska. What will you do now? Will the Polish Hospital keep you on?’ Although it would be the first time she’d lied to Richard, it was time to use her cover story. She’d received a letter asking her to report to an address in Scotland in two weeks’ time. She had been warned that there would be several stages to her training and it could be discontinued at any point. But she knew she wouldn’t fail. She would do whatever it took to return to Poland.
‘I’ve been asked if I would fill in for doctors on leave in the military hospitals.’
‘In Scotland?’
‘It could be anywhere.’
‘England?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘It would be good if you were sent to England. I’ve to report back for active service in ten days’ time. They need experienced pilots more than ever.’
It felt as if she there was a band of steel squeezing her heart. ‘No!’
He frowned. ‘No, because you don’t want to be near me?’
‘No, because I don’t want you to go back into active service.’
‘So you do care for me, just a little?’
‘You know I do,’ she whispered.
‘Before I leave, I need to go to Skye to check on my father’s lands and houses. I also want to see how the tenants are coping with the war. I want you to come with me.’ The look in his eyes sent a tingle from her toes to her fingertips. ‘What do you say? Will you come?’
She had two weeks before she was due to report for her preliminary training and to spend some of that time with Richard was suddenly irresistible. How could she bear to say no? God help her, she wasn’t strong enough to deny herself just this little time with him.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’ll come.’