‘I don’t care about that,’ he interrupted her.
She put a hand to his cheek. ‘Oh Elijah, whatever am I going to do with you?’
He turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand. At the touch of his lips, she trembled. ‘I wish you hadn’t suggested I bring Stanley with me.’
He smiled. ‘I did it because I didn’t trust myself to be alone with you.’
‘What if I came back later tonight? Alone.’
‘Are you sure you want to?’
She was about to say yes when Stanley reappeared behind Elijah. ‘Look, mister!’ he cried excitedly. ‘Look what I found!’ In his arms was a small black-and-white dog, its face upturned towards Stanley’s and looking adoringly at him. ‘Is he yours, mister?’
‘He’s only been with me a couple of days,’ Elijah said. ‘His owner … well, Mr Russell isn’t around any more to look after him, so I said I’d find a new home for him.’
‘Why can’t you ’ave ’im, mister?’
‘Because I’ll be leaving very soon.’
Allegra’s heart clenched. ‘How soon?’ she asked.
‘Tomorrow,’ Elijah said, turning to look at her. ‘Me, Billy and Tommy, we’ve had our call-up papers and have been told to report to barracks by six p.m. sharp to begin our training. Which means Bobby here,’ he went over and stroked the little dog’s head, ‘needs a new home. What do you think, Stanley? Do you think you’d like to take care of him while I’m away?’
The boy’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. ‘Me?’
‘He needs a good friend and I thought you might fit the bill. If you’re worried about Mrs Devereux-Temple and what she might say, I’ve already spoken with her and she said it would be fine, that it would be good for you to have your very own new friend here.’
Her heart filled with a tender love, Allegra smiled to herself, seeing just how thoughtful Elijah had been, and how effortlessly he had befriended Stanley, just as he had her when they’d been children.
Chapter Thirty-Six
That evening at Island House, after dinner was over, Kit took Evelyn out to the garden. Knowing that it would offer them a degree of privacy, he led the way down to the boathouse. Dusk had yet to fall and the evening air was still warm. Clouds of gnats hovered over the end of the wooden jetty and a dragonfly skimmed the surface of the lily pond.
It was Kit’s last night here at Island House; he would be leaving with Hope in the morning to go back to London. He ought to have returned on Sunday evening, but he’d been unable to face the prospect of being cooped up in his dingy little office at the bank and pretending he gave a damn. To delay his return, if only for another two days, he’d telephoned them yesterday morning to say he’d gone down with a terrible cold. He’d pinched his nose and adopted a croaky voice, the verisimilitude of which he hoped would convince his colleagues he was practically at death’s door. He’d told them hoarsely that he planned to be back at his desk by the middle of the week, but secretly he was hoping that in the meantime he’d receive his call-up papers, and would be summoned to start his RAF training without having to set foot over the threshold of the Imperial Bank ever again.
It could still happen, he thought, stranger things and all that, because let’s face it, who would have thought he’d come back to Island House and be here in the garden with of all people Evelyn Flowerday?
He’d asked Romily if she would mind an extra guest for dinner this evening, and in her usual generous manner she had said Evelyn would be more than welcome, adding, ‘While she’s here, she can meet young Stanley and see if she can make him feel more positive about starting school in the village.’
Kit was aware that there were plenty of families in the village who had been pressured by Old Ma Fogg into accepting an evacuee – more than one in some cases – but he was impressed by Romily’s fortitude, that so recently widowed she had not only coped with Jack’s family, but now a nine-year-old boy, and not forgetting Annelise. When she’d first arrived at Island House, she could not have imagined this would be the situation in which she would find herself.
As for his own situation, Kit had not foreseen how strongly his feelings for Evelyn would develop in so short a time. He was hoping she might agree to stay in touch and write to him when he embarked on his training. Other than his sister, there wasn’t anyone else who would bother to put pen to paper. He pictured himself composing long, interesting letters describing scenes that would make him appear wonderfully brave and persuade Evelyn to fall madly in love with him. Somehow he couldn’t quite imagine her doing anything madly, let alone falling in love with him. But he could hope.
‘It was very kind of Romily to invite me to dinner,’ Evelyn said once they were settled in the boathouse. ‘You know, she’s a remarkable woman; you’re lucky to have her as a stepmother.’
Kit laughed. ‘When I recall some of the absolute horrors the old man brought home over the years, I’m inclined to agree with you. Although I still find it hard to think of Romily as my stepmother. I don’t think she approves of the title very much. But never mind Romily, it’s you I want to talk about.’
‘Oh yes?’
‘Don’t sound so alarmed.’
‘You’re not going to do something rash like propose to me, are you?’
‘God, no!’
‘That’s a relief, because for an awful moment I feared the worst when you suggested we go for a walk in the garden.’
‘I’m crestfallen that you think so poorly of me that you would regard the idea of a proposal as so repellent.’ He put a hand to his heart for dramatic effect.
