‘You mustn’t be silly.’ I tried to kiss her, and she evaded me. ‘No; don’t start like that again. David, I want to get things straight. I like you a lot, but I don’t quite know how much. I … No; you’ll have to be content with that.’ She leaned forward and brushed my lips lightly with her own. ‘And with this.’

I said foolishly: ‘I could stay a few more days – send a wire to Dadda.’

‘No.’

‘Or come down for next week-end? That would be easy enough.’

She shook her head. ‘No. I’m going to Oxford next week-end – a friend’s engagement party.’

‘You could skip it.’

‘I would, if it were likely to do any good. But it wouldn’t. David coz, I hope nothing happens to you. Jinny will be praying for you – she prays for all the soldiers she knows. You won’t expect me to do that, but I’ll be thinking of you a lot. Look after yourself. Never mind about winning the war – look after yourself.’

‘Am I forgiven?’

She grinned. ‘Of course. I hope the French girls are kinder-hearted than me.’ She looked up to me. ‘If they are, you’ll have a glorious time. They won’t be able to resist you.’

‘I’ll try to keep things within bounds.’

Hilda laughed. ‘That won’t be easy.’ She said, becoming serious: ‘I’m sorry. I’m hard, David – that’s the trouble. You should forget me and find some nice, generous girl to marry.