Chapter 36

Despite all the excitement of the previous evening they had not been late. Mark had been in bed by one and he was awake at seven aware of his two large brandies but by no means hung over. He had a bath, dressed and packed a suitcase. He was ready for the day by eight.

He let himself into the main house and wandered through to the kitchen where he found Sergeant Roberts and the cook. He greeted them both.

"Any sign of life yet?" he asked.

"No, Sir, not yet" said Sergeant Roberts, "but I have heard movement upstairs."

"Any chance of a quick breakfast for me before the rush?"

"Yes, Sir. No trouble. What would you like?"

"The works, please, but no baked beans. Not a good thing for a long car journey."

"Especially with two beautiful young ladies in the car as well," flashed back Sergeant Roberts with a grin.

Mark returned it. "By the way, you know I'm bringing Miss Victoria back on Monday."

"Yes, Sir. Will you be staying the night?"

"I'm not planning to but I've got one or two things to sort out on Monday afternoon following last night's little drama. If they take longer than I expect I may."

"I'll bet you have, Sir. By the way, don't worry about any chat in the Sergeants' Mess. Nothing will go outside these four walls. Will it Corporal Harris?"

"No idea what your talking about, Sarge," replied the cook innocently.

Mark chuckled at his response. "Thank you both," he said warmly.

"By the way," he said to Sergeant Roberts, "your time here must almost be up."

"Next May, Sir."

"Looking forward to being a soldier again?"

"Yes and no. I'm pretty sure I've been passed over for promotion and I'll only have two and a bit years left to the end of my engagement which probably means counting socks in the Quartermaster's store. On the other hand regimental life would be fun again. But, if I had the choice it would be to see General Collins out. I like this family very much."

"I'm sure they'd like that. They've become fond of you too. Would you like me to try and fix it?"

"Yes, Sir, I would, very much."

"I'll have a go but no promises."

"'Course not, Sir, Thank you very much. Now, your breakfast's almost ready. Shall I bring it through to you?"

"Oh don't bother, I'll have it in here if that's all right."

"No trouble, Sir."

At that moment Frances stuck her head round the door. "Good morning, everyone. Oh hello, Mark. Are you going to have breakfast with us?"

"I won't if you don't mind, Mrs Collins. I'm literally about to eat and then pay a quick visit but if I could pop in for a cup of coffee after that that would be super."

"Of course, Mark. Sergeant Roberts, my husband I are down and I don't think the Braithwaites are far behind so could we start?"

"Of course, Ma'am. What would you like?"

"What Captain Bowers is about to have smells pretty good and some toast and coffee, please."

"Right away, Ma'am."

"Thanks. See you shortly, Mark." She disappeared again.

Corporal Harris put a plateful of eggs and fried bread, a sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms on the kitchen table and Sergeant Roberts produced a knife and fork.

"Gosh! That should keep the wolf from the door. Thanks Corporal Harris."

"Pleasure, Sir. Nice to watch someone enjoy what you've cooked for a change."

Mark chuckled. "I'll have to take care not to dribble," he replied.

Corporal Harris laughed and busied himself again.

Mark discovered he was hungrier than he thought and wolfed the delicious breakfast.

"Many thanks," he said as he stood up. "That was great."

"Pleasure, Sir," said Corporal Harris.

Mark left the kitchen the way he had gone in and then walked briskly into the hall and up the stairs. He met Serena coming down.

He kissed her. "Good morning, Serena darling. Sleep well?"

"Like a log thanks, Mark darling. Off to see your love?"

"Yup! I'll see you in the dining room for a cup of coffee shortly."

"Good. See you soon, Sweetie."

Mark knocked on Victoria's door.

"Who's there?"

"Me."

"Come in, darling."

Victoria was up and wandering round her room in a dressing gown. She flung herself into Mark's outstretched arms and clung to him. The floodgates opened.

Her body clock had clicked in and she had woken at half past seven with a splitting headache and a raging thirst. On her bedside was a glass of water and two tablets with a note beside them saying 'Aspirin. Love S'. She swallowed them and emptied the glass of water before falling back in a semi-sleep. Her mind was whirling though and through it was the irrepressible feeling that she had let everyone down. She remembered dancing with Mark and him taking her back to her table. She remembered taking another long drink of her orange squash and then really nothing except knocking over someone's wineglass and being helped to bed by Serena. Whatever had happened she knew she had got drunk and disgraced herself, her family and worst of all Mark. She wept. She managed to shuffle to the bathroom and collect another glass of water which she downed immediately, poured another and staggered back to her room. She lay down in bed again. The headache began to lift but not her misery. She was so ashamed of herself. At half past eight she hauled herself out of bed determined to face the disappointment of those she loved. She pulled on her dressing gown and meandered round her room unable to concentrate on getting herself ready to face her family. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Oh God!" she thought. "It'll be Mummy. I'm going to hate this."

"Who's there?" she called and the one voice she felt she could cope with said, "Me."

Finally her tears ceased but the hiccups went on and still Mark held her silently. The fact that he said nothing, no words of endearment or comfort, but just held her encouraged her. Finally she found the courage to look up at him to see his eyes full of compassion and love. She burst into tears again.