‘Ten minutes or so.’
Bobby lowered her voice. ‘Lil, have you been drinking?’
Lil laughed. ‘Well, yes. We’re in the pub.’
‘I mean before. You seem a little… off.’
‘I had some tonic wine after I’d put Annie to bed.’ She shook her head. ‘Oh, don’t give me that look. This is doctor’s orders, Bob. He says I need it to get my strength up.’
‘All right,’ Bobby said, with a curious glance at her sister’s unnaturally sparkling eyes. ‘Just don’t overdo it, eh?’
‘I’m fine. Stop worrying, please.’ Lilian glanced around as if she had a secret to share before pressing something into Bobby’s hand. ‘I brought you a present.’
‘Oh my goodness! Knicker elastic?’ Bobby fixed an awed gaze on the coil in her palm before stowing it away in her handbag. ‘Where on earth did you find it? I haven’t been able to get any since I left the WAAF.’
‘It’s a gift from George Parry. His department store had a fresh delivery yesterday and he bought us all some.’ She smiled. ‘He asked me to be the distributor though. I can just imagine how the poor man would blush if he had to hand it out himself. I’ve some for you and some for Mary.’
‘Thank the Lord,’ Bobby said fervently. ‘This rubber shortage has been the devil. My WAAF friend Dilys wrote that she had an incident in the NAAFI last week. How the lads wolf-whistled! Dilys just laughs it off, but I’d blush fit for anything if it happened to me.’
There was plenty in the press about the impact of war shortages, but the difficulty of getting new knicker elastic was one issue on which the papers remained primly silent. Every woman had at least one friend who’d suffered an ‘incident’ when their worn elastic had given out, if they were lucky enough to have avoided it themselves. There was nothing to be done in such situations except step demurely out of your fallen undergarments, stuff them into your bag and hurry to a public convenience to fix it with a safety pin.
‘Do give the captain my thanks, and tell him I’ll pay whatever it cost,’ Bobby said. ‘It was thoughtful of him to make sure we got our share.’
Lilian shook her head. ‘I already tried to press payment on him, but he insisted it was a gift. He’s going to get us somenylons when they next get any in. Tailors can be useful men to know when there’s a war on.’
‘I do hope he can. I’ve darned my last good pair so many times that they’re nothing but lumps and bumps. Oxo cubes are all right for summer but it’s too cold for bare legs now, and Reg doesn’t approve of me wearing slacks to work.’
Lilian nodded to the slate-blue uniforms that had caught Bobby’s attention earlier. ‘Speaking of slacks, there’s an old friend of yours over there.’
Bobby winced. She couldn’t fail to have noticed Ernie King drinking with his billet mate Sandy, and had quickly looked away before she met his gaze. Luckily the pub was busy, and he hadn’t spotted her in the throng.
‘I know, he’s just come back,’ Bobby said. ‘Charlie said Ernie was very pally when they bumped into each other earlier, so I’m hoping things won’t be too awkward.’ Of course she had told her sister all about her Canadian suitor’s proposal in the spring.
Bobby had her back to the Canadians, but Lil had a good view of them.
‘He’s looking at you,’ she told Bobby.
Bobby grimaced. ‘Oh Lord, is he? I hope he doesn’t come over.’
‘Why? You’ll have to talk to him sometime.’
‘I know. I’d just prefer not to do it tonight.’
‘Just because you’re married, it doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate a handsome admirer.’ Lilian took a sip of her sherry. ‘Enjoy it while you can, love, before you turn into a sack of potatoes.’
‘All right, keep your voice down,’ Bobby murmured. ‘I don’t want any admirers, especially not Ernie. I hurt him, Lil, and I feel dreadful about it.’
‘A supremely Bobby-like answer.’ Lil finished off her drink. ‘I wish a handsome officer or two would fall in love with me. I could do with a few compliments from the opposite sex.’
‘Tony doesn’t pay you compliments?’
Lilian laughed. ‘Only of the “cracking cup of tea, love” variety. But that’s Tony. I’ve learnt not to expect love talk from him.’
‘Was Dad all right being left with Annie?’
‘He’ll be fine. Mary said that if he needs a woman’s help, he can take the baby to sit with them. They’ve got the girls over too, so it’ll be a jolly party.’
‘Is the captain there?’
