‘Just drinks, thank you,’ Fliss replied. ‘We have made other arrangements for dinner.’
The maître d’ called a waiter over to show them to their table and Tilly whispered in Fliss’s ear, ‘I don’t have a clue what toorder. My sister, Dot, talked about drinking a Tom Collins once, but I don’t know what that is.’
Fliss whispered back, ‘Don’t worry. I shall place the order for both of us.’
‘What can I get you?’ the waiter asked.
‘We’ll have two champagne cocktails, please,’ Fliss replied without flinching.
‘Would that be French style or Cafe Royal style, Miss?’ the waiter asked.
‘Oh, French style, of course,’ Fliss replied. ‘I never drink anything else.’
‘French style, of course,’ Tilly mimicked as the waiter walked away. ‘And how do you know so much about cocktails, Felicity Marcheson?’
‘When one is intent on finding a rich man,’ Fliss replied. ‘One must make a study of rich men’s ways, my dear Tilly. Stick close to me and I’ll teach you how.’
‘Silly me,’ Tilly said. ‘And there I was thinking that completing our training to become nurses was our main aim.’
‘For you, maybe,’ Fliss said, flicking her head back and scanning the room. ‘But for me that’s Plan B.’
Tilly felt a bit squiffy as they made their way back to the nurses’ home two hours later. They had managed to make one champagne cocktail last all evening, but she wasn’t used to drinking. Fliss, on the other hand, kept saying how one wasn’t enough and they would just have to save some more money for the next time.
The light from the hotel buildings soon faded as they turned down a side street. Fliss led the way and at the end of the street, the road ended and they walked onto the rough ground.
‘I can’t see a thing,’ Tilly said.
‘Your eyes will soon get adjusted,’ Fliss replied. ‘Just stick close to me.’
Dark shapes came into view and Tilly stopped.
‘Come on, it’s not far now,’ Fliss said. ‘We have to go through these trees, but it’s quite a short stretch and the path is clear.’
Tilly followed and had taken no more than a few steps when her shoes sank into a patch of soft mud.
‘Oh, no,’ Tilly shouted. ‘When did you last come this way, Fliss? You said a bit muddy. This is more than a bit.’
‘I thought you were a country girl and used to the mud.’ Fliss scoffed.
‘I am, but not when I’m wearing my only pair of smart shoes,’ Tilly complained.
‘They’ll spruce up. Get a move on,’ Fliss said. ‘That moon is going behind a cloud any minute, then we won’t be able to see a thing.’
Tilly moved as fast as she could, but, in her hurry, she didn’t see the tree root that lay in wait to capture her. She fell headlong onto the muddy path.
Fliss heard her cry out and turned to help her.
‘Now look what a mess I’m in,’ Tilly said.
‘It will dry,’ Fliss replied. ‘Look, there’s the hospital building. The sooner we get inside, the sooner we can clean you up.’
They came out of the trees, much to Tilly’s relief, but that relief didn’t last for long. Tilly stood at the top of a steep bank and looked down on the lights of the hospital.
‘Down that way?’ she gasped.
‘This is the only way,’ Fliss said. ‘If you don’t want to take the fast route to the bottom.’
Fliss began walking crabwise down the slope. ‘Sideways is best,’ she called.
