‘What about brothers and sisters?’
‘I really couldn’t say. We only met last autumn, when we started rehearsing the pantomime. We haven’t talked much about anything personal.’
‘Oh.’ Carol sounded disappointed. ‘Well, you must at least know if he’s got a sweetheart at home. Or a wife, God forbid.’
Bobby frowned. ‘I don’t know actually. I presume not.’
‘Why?’
‘I’d have expected him to mention it. Besides, he was courting a mutual friend of ours before she married – the one we were just talking about, Topsy Nowak. Well, not courting exactly, but he definitely had his cap set at her.’
They had reached the cookhouse now, and joined the back of the queue.
‘If she’s just got wed then it’s the perfect time for me to sweep in and fill her place,’ Carol said, cheering up again. ‘You’ll help, won’t you? Put in a good word and all that?’
‘I doubt my good words will carry much weight, but I’ll do what I can,’ Bobby said, smiling. ‘Don’t be disappointed if he’s not interested though, Car. Ernie’s sort of… old-fashioned. A bit stuffy about certain things.’
‘What’s he old-fashioned about? He can’t be more than twenty-six.’
‘He’s got very definite ideas about men and women, and the roles they ought to play in life,’ Bobby told her. ‘He says the war’s making women less feminine. Encouraging them into immoral behaviour, like drinking too much and picking up men. We used to clash about it all the time – in a friendly sort of way, I mean.’
‘Oh, he sounds just whizzo,’ Carol said dreamily.
Bobby glanced at her. ‘Really? I thought you joined the WAAF especially to have some of that sort of fun.’
‘Even so, I don’t want a husband who approves of all that, do I? All it means is that he’ll be out drinking and picking up women while I’m stuck at home with a bunch of screaming brats. Some lads are all right to have fun with, but when it comes to husbands, I want an old-fashioned gent who’ll look after me.’ Her brow lowered. ‘Someone who’s the exact opposite of my dad.’
‘I thought you wanted to enjoy yourself before settling.’
‘That was before I saw Ernie King,’ Carol said with another smitten sigh. ‘You won’t tell him, will you? What I said aboutwanting lots of boyfriends and all that? You can’t now we’re best friends.’
Bobby smiled. ‘I won’t breathe a word.’
Chapter 34
‘There’s something for you on your desk, Bancroft,’ Squadron Officer Mulligan told Bobby when she reported for duty the next day.
‘What is it, ma’am?’
Bobby was finding it hard to get used to being called by her surname, which felt sort of manly, and to addressing the WAAF officers as ‘ma’am’. It sounded so formal and old-fashioned, as if she were a servant in a country house.
Mulligan didn’t look up from what she was writing. If possible, she looked even sterner than usual.
‘Take a look,’ she said.
Bobby approached her desk. On it she found a letter of just a few short sentences. It was addressed to her and signed ‘Sqn Ldr Wm. Gardiner’. That was the RAF commanding officer – the big boss of the camp.
‘It’s your official permission to marry,’ Mulligan said, looking up. ‘And your marriage leave’s been approved as well. You’ll find a signed pass chit underneath.’
Bobby blinked at the letter. ‘Oh.’
‘I’m happy for you to send wires to your family and fiancé, in spite of the ban, so you can inform them. I imagine you’ll have a lot to arrange.’
‘Thank you.’
Bobby felt a little dazed. She had spent so much time thinking about Charlie, worrying about him, both longing for and fearing the day she would discover whether or not any letter had come from him, that she had entirely forgotten seeking permission to wed.
It was decided, then. A firm date could be set – Saturday the 2nd of May. The church could be confirmed, friends could be invited, a small reception arranged, and in a mere fortnight she would find herself a married woman.
