The House by Princes Park Read Free Page B

lot about him. He came from Boston. His parents – he called them ‘folks’ – were Irish. He was twenty-three, worked in a bookshop owned by his father, and had volunteered to fight when America joined the war in 1917. His full name was Thomas Gerald O’Hagan and he had two sisters and five brothers of which he was the youngest. She also knew she wasn’t the only nurse attracted to the tall, thin Irish–American with the laughing face, black curly hair, and peat-brown eyes. She was, however, the only one in love. He occupied her mind every waking minute of every day.
    He had come into the hospital three weeks ago with a badly gashed leg and a dose of double pneumonia. Tomorrow, he was being sent to convalesce in a hospital in Calais. As soon as he was fit, he would return to an American Army unit to fight again. As a reminder of his imminent departure, there was a clanking sound as the ambulance train was shunted into place on the railway sidings behind them, ready for morning.
    By comparison, he knew little about her, just that her name was Olivia Jones and she was the same age as himself. She had been born and bred in Wales and had never left its borders until she’d come to France two yearsago as a nurse. He also knew, because he could see, that she wasn’t even faintly pretty, almost insipid with her pale face and pale blue eyes.
    ‘What will you do when the war is over?’ Tom asked casually.
    ‘Finish my training. I hadn’t taken my final exams when I left Cardiff.’
    ‘Would it be possible to finish training in the States?’
    She caught her breath. ‘Why should I do that?’
    ‘Because it’s where I’ll be.’ His voice was very low, intense. ‘It’s where my job is. And it’s where I’d like
you
to be. Will you marry me, Olivia?’
    ‘But we hardly know each other,’ she gasped, though it was silly to sound so surprised when it was a question she’d hoped and prayed he’d ask.
    He gestured impatiently. ‘My darling girl, there’s a war on, a hideous war, the worst the world has ever known. There isn’t time for people to get to know each other as they would in normal times. I fell in love the first time I set eyes on you.’ Pressing her hand to his lips, he said huskily, ‘You are the loveliest woman I’ve ever known.’
    He must be in love if he thought that! It was time she answered, said something positive, told him how she felt. He was kissing her now, her neck, her cheeks. He took her face in both hands and kissed her lips.
    She was a timid person, withdrawn, and this was the first time she had been properly kissed. She pressed herself against him and felt her body come alive. ‘I love you,’ she whispered.
    He held her so tightly she could hardly breathe. ‘The minute this damn war is over we’ll get married,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I’ll write you every day and let you know where I’m posted so you can write me. Have you a photograph I can have?’
    ‘I’ve one taken with the other nurses a few months ago,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I’ll let you have it before you go.’
    ‘I’ll let you have something of mine.’ He held out his hand. A circle of gold glinted dully on the third finger – she had noticed the ring before, and had thought he was married until she realised it was on his right hand. ‘It’s my grandpop’s wedding ring,’ he explained as he removed it, dark eyes shining. ‘He gave us all something before he died. I got his ring. It’ll be too big, but might fit your middle finger. Or you can wear it around your neck on a chain.’
    The ring was too big for any of her fingers. She put it in the breast pocket of her long white apron. As soon as she could, she’d buy a chain.
    ‘I feel as if we’re already married.’ Her voice was thick in her throat. It was almost too much to bear. She wanted Tom to kiss her again, do the things that, until now, she’d thought wrong. She slid her arms around his neck and began to pull him along the side of the