“I’ll go and see what she wants,” I said. Marcus raised his eyebrows into an expression of resignation.

“Good-bye for now,” I added.

When I reached the house, I looked back. Annabelinda was sitting close to him on the seat and they were laughing together.

I found my mother.

“Did you want me?” I asked.

“Well, not especially, but now you’re here, you might take these towels along to Sister Burroughs.”

A few days later, after we had closed our books for the morning, Miss Carruthers said, “Lucinda, I have something to tell you. You will be the first to know.”

I waited expectantly.

“You are aware that your seventeenth birthday is coming up soon.”

“The first of September.”

“Exactly. You will then not really be in need of a governess.”

“Has my mother said anything about that?”

“No. But it is the case, is it not?”

“I suppose so. But I hope…well, my mother always said how useful you are in the hospital. She says she does not know what she would do without all her helpers.”

“The fact is I am going to be married.”

“Miss Carruthers!”

She glanced down, smiling. It was hard to imagine Miss Carruthers coy, but that was how she seemed at that moment.

“Dr. Egerton has asked me to marry him.”

“Congratulations! I am so pleased. He is such a nice man.”

“I think so,” said Miss Carruthers. “We got on well from the first, and now…he has asked me.”

I thought of what I had heard of Dr. Egerton. His wife had died six years before. He must be about forty. He had a son and daughter, both married and not living at home. I thought it sounded ideal. My first thought was, now she will never have to go to that cousin. How wonderful for her!

She clearly thought so, too.

“I have told David…Dr. Egerton…that I shall not leave my post until you are seventeen.”

“Oh, you must not think of me. I am as near seventeen as is necessary, and in any case, it will soon be the school holidays.”

“Dr. Egerton understands. We are going to make the announcement on your seventeenth birthday. We shall be married in October. If your mother will allow me to stay here until then.”

“But of course! I’m so surprised. I think it is wonderful. I am so pleased about it.”

I threw my arms around her and hugged her.

“Oh, Lucinda.” She laughed indulgently. “You are so exuberant. We have been through a great deal together, and I wanted you to be the first one to know. Now I shall tell your mother.”

“She will be so happy for you. And you can continue to help in the hospital. Won’t that be marvelous! Mrs. Egerton!” I added slowly, savoring it.

“You are quite ridiculous,” said Miss Carruthers happily. “But it does seem to have worked out very well.”

She looked different. There was a radiance about her. Was it due to the fact that she was in love, or was it the happiness which came from the knowledge that her future was secure? A governess’s life was so precarious.

I sat with her for a while and we talked about how she and Dr. Egerton had become good friends right from the beginning.

“Of course, we met now and then in the hospital,” she said. “And often we would walk in the garden. It grew from that.”

“I think it is wonderful,” I told her.

“And when you realize that if this terrible war had not come upon us…if we had not had to leave the school in such a hurry…if I had left with some of the other teachers…”

“But you did not. I remember you said you would not leave until all the English girls had got away.”

“And your mother was so good. It was a chain of events with chance playing a big part.”

“Doesn’t it show that things are not all bad? Something good can come out of the worst. Perhaps we should always remember that.”

“I think it is something I shall remember all my life,” said Miss Carruthers.

My mother was delighted to hear the news.

“I have thought a lot about Miss Carruthers,” she said. “I knew she would be wondering how much longer you would need her. I was going to ask her to stay on and help in the hospital. I suppose she will do that now, Dr. Egerton being so closely involved. This is the best thing that could have happened for them both. I’ve always thought Dr. Egerton is one of those men who needs a wife. He has been a little lost since Mary went. So I am very pleased about this, and Miss Carruthers is like a different person. She always had that concern about the future. So many governesses do. And we don’t have to worry about you, now that you are just on seventeen. And Charles is all right going to the rectory for lessons every day. Of course, we shall have to think about his going away to school one day, but we can shelve that for a while. I don’t want him to go away while we’re at war. I want you all at hand. I don’t like it when your father is in London, but at least he is here most weekends.”

About this time there was a subtle change in Marcus’s attitude toward me. At first I thought I had imagined it, but later it seemed more marked.

Annabelinda was constantly in his company, and I hardly ever saw him alone. I could not blame her for this entirely, although she contributed to it considerably.

If he went to sit on the seat under the sycamore tree, Annabelinda was always with him. At first I used to join them, until I had a distinct feeling that I was in the way. I must say that feeling was engendered by Annabelinda, never by him. He was as gracious and courtly as ever, except that I sensed a certain superficiality in his manner.

During that August, my mother said, “It will be your birthday soon. I can’t believe it is seventeen years since you came into the world. What a wonderful day that was! I am determined to do something to celebrate. We’ll have a party. It will cheer everyone up. We need cheering up in these gloomy days. The news doesn’t get any better, does it?”

She was right. Everyone was excited by the prospect of a party.

At first we thought that if it were a fine day we would have it on the lawn. We would have a buffet for all those who were mobile, but we must not forget those who were not.

This idea was abandoned, for so many would be too ill to be moved and we did not want to accentuate their disability by having two parties. Instead we would have them brought down to the main hall and there we would have a concert. We could use the dais at one end for a stage. It would be all local talent. Anyone of the staff and patients who were well enough should perform.

“You are going to a good deal of trouble,” I told my mother.

“My dear Lucinda, it is your birthday, and seventeen is like a milestone. It should be celebrated in style. Your father will have to be here for it. Everyone must know what a special occasion it is.”

They were all talking about the birthday, the highlight of which was the concert. There were serious discussions about what the performers would do.

“Anyone would think this was Drury Lane,” said Mrs. Grey, who, I was sure, had no idea what it was like at Drury Lane. But we all understood what she meant.

The day arrived. There were well-wishers with gifts, and everyone behaved as though I had done something very clever in having lived for seventeen years.

The concert was to start at two-thirty that afternoon.

In the morning I escaped to the garden. I kept thinking of my conversation with Marcus and how he had continually referred to my seventeenth birthday. The fact was I had begun to believe he was in love with me and that thought had excited me tremendously. I had hardly admitted it to myself, but I had the idea firmly fixed in my mind that my seventeenth birthday would be some landmark in our relationship)—which after all was what he had implied.

Lately I had begun to doubt this, but the thought would not go away.

I blamed Annabelinda. She was so determined to be with him and exclude me. I told myself he did not wish it, but was too polite to tell her to go away. I clung to this belief and tried to stifle my doubts.