The Mersey Daughter (Empire Street #3)(83)
‘I bet he’ll be very reassuring,’ Marjorie said with a glint in her eye, and laughed.
‘Oh, he will.’ Kitty twirled around and the wide skirt of the beautiful frock whirled around her shapely legs. ‘He’s taking me out tonight and is picking me up here first. Even the dragons on the door love him; he could charm anyone. I hope his train doesn’t take too long. They can be awfully crowded these days and he’ll have done a shift at the hospital earlier – that’s how he could manage so many days off together.’ She knew there would be members of all the armed services trying to get from one end of the country to the other, many prepared to sit on their kitbags or stand for the entire journey, and she knew that if Elliott had a seat but saw anyone struggling, he would immediately have given it up. She could just imagine him standing the whole way, gazing out of the corridor window of the train, squashed against young men in uniform, tired but refusing to show it. Her heart went out to him, for going through the uncomfortable journey just to see her. Yet she knew he would think it was worth it. This was the first time, Kitty realised, that she and Elliott had planned to see each other and she hadn’t felt real nerves or trepidation about fitting in. Maybe she was finally starting to enjoy herself.
‘Shall we go to the common room and wait for him there?’ Marjorie asked.
Kitty hesitated. She’d been thinking about checking her hair one more time. She wanted to look as good as possible so that Elliott would be proud of her on his arm.
‘You look lovely, Kitty,’ Marjorie said, guessing what was on her friend’s mind. ‘Come away from that mirror and have a cup of tea downstairs. You’re making me feel tired just watching you. Anyway, if you’re downstairs you won’t have so far to go when the message comes that he’s here.’
Kitty could see the sense of that. ‘All right. Just let me clip back this curl.’ She adjusted her hair one more time and then picked up her coat. By a miracle she had managed to get a new one, a lovely warm tweed, from a shop that was shutting down because the family who ran it had decided to leave London for somewhere safer. It had taken a chunk of her savings and coupons, but she knew it was a sound investment.
‘I expect Laura’s down there,’ Marjorie said. ‘She was going to visit Captain Cavendish when she came off duty, but visiting hours will be over by now.’
‘She’s certainly changed her view about him since the fire,’ Kitty observed as they made their way along the corridor and down the wide stairs. ‘Funny how she’s gone from hating the very mention of his name to following every detail of his recovery. But if you’ve gone through an experience like that, I suppose it brings you together no matter how you started out.’ She didn’t want to betray Laura’s confidence about her real feelings for the captain; it wasn’t her secret to tell.
‘Well, I dare say she’ll fill us in with all the latest news,’ Marjorie predicted.
An hour and a half later and the common room was becoming crowded, as more and more Wrens and trainees finished their different shifts. Kitty, Marjorie and Laura had commandeered a group of worn but comfortable chairs in the corner, from where they could see the door, so that they would know as soon as Elliott arrived. Meanwhile Laura was describing every inch of progress in Captain Cavendish’s road to recovery, to the extent that Kitty thought even Rita, with all her years of nursing experience, couldn’t have done it better. Maybe Laura had missed her calling. But she couldn’t blame her friend. Whatever had gone on between her and the captain, it must have been heartbreaking to think he might die, and so soon after his act of selfless bravery.
Anxiously she stole a glance at her watch. Even though she knew the train was unlikely to be on time, it was getting late now. She smoothed the beautiful fabric of the frock against her knees so that it wouldn’t be too creased before Elliott saw her in it. She was growing more jumpy by the minute. It was probably last-minute nerves about meeting his parents. Even though deep down she was sure that Elliott would make certain it all went well, she couldn’t help the old habit of doubt. He was a doctor, so far above her in station. His late fiancée had been his professor’s daughter. They came from utterly different backgrounds. And yet she knew the world was changing around them, and she herself was now a trained Wren, with acknowledged skills, and far more social ability and polish than when she had left home just months before. She could hold her own, she just had to steel herself not to crumble. Above all she was lucky to have Elliott. He believed in her. Where was he?
‘So they think he might be allowed out of bed some time next week,’ Laura was saying. ‘He can sit up straight now without so much pain, and that’s a very good sign.’ She glanced across at Kitty. ‘I say, are you all right? You’re miles away, I can tell.’
‘No, no, really,’ Kitty said quickly. ‘Just wondering when Elliott will get here. Honestly I’m very pleased the captain’s on the mend.’
Laura nodded, understanding Kitty’s anxiety. ‘He’ll be here soon, you know as well as I do what it’s like on those trains at the moment. It’s annoying, isn’t it, when you’re all dressed up and ready to go and then there’s a delay. But don’t worry, it doesn’t mean he’s any less keen to see you.’
‘Oh, I know that, I’m not worried like that,’ Kitty reassured her hastily. Her concerns for a curtailed evening were as nothing compared to what Laura had gone through when she thought Peter was going to die. She must make more of an effort. After all, Elliott hadn’t been injured and would be whirling her round the dance floor tomorrow. That was a long way off for Laura and the captain – if they even decided to go that far.