Some quiet time alone for Grace and Roland as they look forward to their weekend away. I've just checked the website and it seems very slow again. I really hope you are able to read this because I know how patient you have all been over the summer and I do appreciate it. X

CHAPTER 25

Sometime later there was a gentle knock at the office door and Roland smiled, recognising Grace's touch.

"Enter," he said. The door opened.

"Is it convenient, Colonel?"

"Of course," he said standing up and ushering her in. He took her cloak from her, feeling how cold her hands were, as she passed it to him. He guided her to their armchairs and placed some extra wood in the pot-bellied stove. He was aware that he had not checked for eavesdroppers outside and was careful to observe the usual protocols.

"Come and warm up. Sit with me a while, Matron."

Taking her cue from him, Grace replied, "I was hoping I might do so, Sir."

He wandered back to the door and peered outside; there was no one in sight and all was quiet. Closing it quietly, he returned to the back of the office, bent down, kissed the top of her head and went to pour them both a cup of tea. If he had looked at her, instead of their refreshments, he would have seen that her eyes conveyed an intensity of feeling for him, which would have stopped him from performing any task on which he was engaged. All she could think, whilst watching him, was "I love you so much, my darling."

He brought the tea cups over to them and then went to his gramophone. "I have a new recording for us; Chopin Impromptus."

Grace leant forward, "I adore Chopin; it reminds me of my mother. She loved the romanticism of his music, his lyricism and the beautiful sadness he could convey through his writing. She passed that love on to me and now I have someone with whom I can share it."

Taking her hands in his and rubbing them gently, he replied, "I know you love it, sweetheart, that is why I ordered it, but I didn't appreciate the memories it awakens for you."

"They are wonderful memories, Roland, and I associate Chopin with the happiest of times. The very first classical pieces I was taught to play were Chopin and I loved it even then."

"I'm glad I chose well."

"You did, my love."

"My best choice has been you, Grace. I adore you." The intensity of her smile was a reward in itself, but the longing in her kiss was all he could have hoped for.

They sat in contemplative silence as the music washed over them, the delicate runs and bittersweet harmonies strengthening the emotional connection between them, as they responded to the music together. His thumb stroked the back of her hand, tracing patterns on her skin before he raised it to his lips and, turning it, kissed the sensitive skin on the inside of her wrist.

"I love you, Roland."

"Will you stay tonight?"

"I want to, but it will be best if I don't, particularly after my altercation with Sister Quayle. She may be on the prowl and I don't want to give her any opportunity to cast further aspersions on us; besides which, I shall have to tell her I shall be away, but I am leaving that till nearer the time. I shall draw up the rotas before I leave. I'm minded to split the responsibility between her and Sister Johnson. One can take the day and the other the night shift. Sister Johnson will be pleased to be recognised and it would be good to have her support. She will keep an eye on Margaret."

"I'll make a strategist of you yet, my love," he teased.

She brushed his knuckles with her lips and said, "You know I don't want to leave you tonight, don't you? I can't bear being away from you."

"I know, sweetheart, and I agree with you, but it doesn't mean I shall be happy without you here beside me. I miss you, that's all."

"I'll stay as long as I can, darling, and we have a whole weekend to look forward to."

"I am counting the minutes," he replied and stroked her thigh through the thick linen of her skirt. She felt a thrill of expectation run through her and pressed his hand against her.

"And then you shall have whatever you want of me," she softly breathed into his mouth, as her lips sensuously brushed his, returning to their target for a deeper exploration, leaving them both breathless.

His voice was low, as he said, "I want it now," thrilling her as his mouth trailed down the skin at the side of her neck, "but you are right; it is too dangerous."

"I promise, as I go to sleep tonight, if sleep proves possible, I shall reach out to you in my thoughts."

They sat for a while longer, until Grace knew it was time to leave; hands held, eyes meeting, lips touching, as the music ended and silence enveloped them. Feeling driven to share her need for him, Grace rose and stood over him, as he sat in his armchair. She bent forward slightly and gently pressed his head into her hips, stroking his hair all the while. He kissed her through her skirt, his hands rising to pull her forward, so that his face was completely buried in her. He pressed her hips hard against his face, kissing her and then placing his hand where his mouth had been, gently caressing, telling her he desired her above all else. She wanted to drown in the feelings he was stirring within her, but it was impossible. This was as much as they could hope for, but she knew that when the weekend finally arrived, their union would be volcanic in its intensity. Until then, they must wait. She placed her hand over his and tightly held it, pressing it against her, her resolve crumbling with every second which passed. The throbbing deep inside her would only get worse if she stayed with him and looking at his hand cupping her through her uniform, and gently stroking her, was pushing her to the limit.

"I promise you everything this weekend. Forgive me, please."

"There is nothing to forgive. Reach out to me tonight in your thoughts. I'll be waiting, I promise." He smiled up at her and she bent down to kiss him. As her lips touched his, he pulled her forward and she pitched onto his lap, landing squarely on top of him. He clamped his hand over her mouth, stifling her cry of surprise, and when he removed it, she was quietly laughing in mock annoyance.

"Now look what you have done, Colonel. You've delayed my departure, yet again."

"I don't think you really want to go, Matron Carter. Am I right?"

"No, you're not. Colonel. I do want to go to my cold, damp tent to lie for hours till dawn without you."

"Do you?" He moved beneath her and she felt the full force of his arousal press against her. "Do you really want to leave?"

"No, Colonel," she gasped, "I want to stay, but I can't and you're making it harder for me."

He pulled her to him and huskily whispered in her ear, "On the contrary, Matron, the evidence suggests that lies more within your gift than mine." They looked deep into each other's eyes and smiled at his meaning. "Go then, if you must, but know that you leave me a man bereft of the woman he loves."

She cupped his cheek and playfully kissed him, "But at the weekend you will have me all to yourself and I shall make it up to you in whatever way you want."

He eased her back onto her feet and smiling at her said, "And I shall hold you to your promise, my love. Now go, before I lock the door and keep you here against your will."

"Never against my will, sweetheart." With that, he helped her on with her cloak and, kissing her once more, he checked the door and watched her slight form retreat into the darkness.

He shut the door and locked it for the night. His office, which had been so warm, seemed empty and cold without her presence. He went to the gramophone and removed the recording from it, placing it back in its card cover. Even music, which he loved, was diminished when she was not there with him.

"Dear God, I love her. Keep her safe," he said, as he went into his quarters and sat on the edge of the bed, which was so small when they were both in it, but seemed too big for just him now. He missed her, he needed her, he loved her; it was as simple as that.

He was acutely aware that he was still very aroused, but he wanted her touch, not his. This weekend could not come fast enough, but even as he thought that, he knew it would soon be over and life would return to the standard rhythms of hospital life, broken only by the incoming convoys of wounded. Roland had to do something to resolve this and he determined that soon he would take a home leave and ask Hetty for the divorce, which would free them both from the miserable existence of their marriage. He could not imagine his life without Grace and he would do everything in his power to make her his wife, in law, as well as in love. She deserved no less.

As he lay in the darkness his thoughts started to drift and, as they did, he felt he was with Grace, looking down at her as she told him she wanted him to touch her. His response was instantaneous and he pushed the thought from his mind. He had to wait, to be patient. If only his body was so easily swayed.

Grace, too, was lonely as she came back to the nurses' area and stepped through the flap of her tent. It was so cold inside. The damp air bred a chill, which seemed to gnaw at her bones. She put on several layers of clothing to keep as warm as possible and pulled up the thick cotton sheet and scratchy woollen blankets on her bed until they covered her head. Her breath rose like a fog. Her body still craved Roland's touch; the pervasive damp did nothing to dispel that. She placed her hands between her legs to keep them warm and imagined they were his. It was all she could do not to say his name out loud and, as she had promised, she whispered it into the impenetrable dark of the tent, reaching to him with her heart and mind, telling him she craved his touch above all things. The sensation of his presence with her was so intense, it almost caused her to roll over towards him, but she knew he was not there. "Soon," she thought, "soon."

Sleep evaded her, as she had known it would, and she became aware of movement outside her tent and heard Margaret Quayle's voice speaking to someone in hushed tones.

"We must be more careful, Reginald; we were lucky this time. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Margaret. They'll find nothing, her and her fancy man. You should've had that job, no doubts at all."

"Well, life would certainly have been easier if I had, but who knows what's ahead. I have not given up hope and there are other hospitals, you know, where a nurse of my experience would not be kept on the wards. The world doesn't begin and end with 25A."

Grace lay as still as she could, but nothing else was said. Her suspicions were confirmed, but she could at present prove nothing. She wanted to tell Roland and determined to rise earlier than usual to share what she had heard.