Winds of Eden Read Free Page B

and went to her weekend bag. She unbuckled the clasp and pulled out a midnight blue lace evening gown.
    â€˜Scratchy lace.’
    â€˜Uncrushable lace.’
    â€˜Bath, woman. I need a drink before Mike, Georgie, and Helen get here and there’s no champagne left.’
    â€˜Ten minutes.’
    â€˜Make it five.’ He caught the end of the sheet and pulled it from her grasp.
    â€˜Tom …’
    â€˜Can’t blame a man for wanting to admire the view.’
    Swallowing her irritation she drew closer to him. He pushed her away. ‘I’m clean and about to get dressed. Get a move on.’
    It took all her powers of forbearance to remember she’d promised herself to do whatever it took to send him off with a smile on his face.

    Dining Room, the Ritz, London, evening, Tuesday 30th November 1915
    Tom rose from his chair, kissed Georgiana and shook Michael’s hand when they joined him, Clarissa, and Helen Stroud at their table. ‘Did you get the posting you wanted, Michael?’ Mindful of the ‘careless talk’ directives, he didn’t mention the destination.
    â€˜He did,’ Georgiana confirmed.
    â€˜Well done you.’ Dr Helen Stroud, who was Georgiana’s closest friend and knew Michael well, rose from the table and kissed Michael’s cheek. ‘Every time I see you I think you look more like Harry’s twin than Georgie.’ She indicated the empty chair next to hers.
    Michael took it. ‘I keep forgetting you knew Harry?’
    â€˜All the female medical students exiled to the Royal Free Hospital lest they contaminate male students with their girl bacteria knew Harry. He made quite an impact on the medical parts of the city the year he pretended to study medicine.’
    â€˜My brother John had a stock of Harry stories about that year,’ Tom signalled to the wine waiter.
    â€˜If they were scurrilous they were probably true,’ Helen qualified.
    â€˜Dressing corpses and wheeling them into lectures, hiding body parts in professors’ studies, painting spots on himself when he wanted to get out of doing anything he didn’t want to …’
    â€˜Which was often,’ Helen interrupted. ‘Considering they were cousins you couldn’t meet two more different men than John and Harry. I felt sorry for John having to share rooms with Harry. John was so serious and dedicated. When he finished training everyone agreed he was a brilliant doctor.’
    â€˜Whereas Harry is still making an impact. From what I heard today, this time it’s for the right reasons. He’s been mentioned in dispatches.’
    â€˜Perhaps he’s found his niche in war and mayhem,’ Helen observed.
    â€˜More like they’re allowing him to run wild with the natives.’ Tom glanced down the wine list. ‘Champagne all round to drink with the meal and moonlight fizz cocktails to put us in the mood for the evening?’
    â€˜Sounds good,’ Georgiana agreed.
    Michael took the menu the waitress handed him. ‘Palestine soup and roast goose, please.’ He looked enquiringly at the others.
    â€˜We’ve all ordered,’ Tom informed him.
    â€˜In that case please double the order,’ Georgiana said to the waitress.
    â€˜No dessert?’ Tom raised his eyebrows.
    â€˜After what Michael and I ate for lunch, we won’t have room.’
    â€˜Lunch was hours ago. I’ll have the chestnut cream and cheese fingers, please.’ Michael returned the menu to the waitress.
    â€˜Lunch might have been hours ago but we’ve done nothing since except sit in a theatre box.’
    â€˜What did you see, Georgie?’ Clarissa asked.
    â€˜ Hi Jinks .’
    â€˜I’m green with envy. Do tell what it was like?’ Clarissa begged.
    â€˜Brilliant!’ Michael couldn’t say more because he’d spent the whole show thinking about what lay ahead in Mesopotamia.
    â€˜Was it really