Page 119 of Summer in Greece

He shook his head again. ‘You’re telling me that it’s I who is ultimately responsible for all that maiming and the loss of so many lives?’

‘No, not you alone, it was also your friends, and of course I did go against orders. I told you it was against orders, but you said that you’d heard Staff tell me to use my initiative, and that meant opening the portholes for ten minutes when the ward was stinking from fouled bedpans. In the end, I couldn’t take any more, so gave in to you all and opened them.’

He stared at me, clearly horrified. ‘Who else knows?’

‘That I opened the portholes?’

‘No, that we bullied you?’

‘Nobody.’

He stood and paced two steps to the wall, and two back again. ‘You and I, we must make a plan, Gertie.’ He stopped and stared at me.

*

Perkins returned the next day, all suited up this time, and wearing his artificial leg. He used a walking cane, which gave him an ostentatious swagger that made me smile. As he approached, I felt my heart leap with pleasure to see him again.

‘Dearest Gertie, I can’t stand to see you in this place.’ He took a deep breath and delved into his pocket. After a moment’s hesitation, he struggled onto his one knee and thrust a small ring box into my hands. ‘Tell me, may I ask your father for your hand, dear Gertie? Will you become my wife?’

‘Oh, this is too fast. You must let me think, Johnathan. It’s all . . .’ Just at that moment, I heard footsteps scuttling down the stairs.

‘What’s going on?’ Mrs Cooper demanded, clearly not recognising Perkins as the one-legged soldier she had seen the day before. She stared at Corporal Perkins who was trying to get up from his one good knee.

‘If you must know, Mrs Cooper, I’m asking Miss Smith to become my wife. Now if you would kindly give us a few moments of privacy, I’d appreciate it.’

‘I most certainly will not! Get yourself out of that cell, right at this instant!’ She turned back towards the stairs. ‘Inspector!’

Glassman came down to the cellar. ‘Yes, madam?’

Mrs Cooper folded her arms beneath her ample chest and shuffled her breasts up into a more dynamic position. A clever ploy, as Glassman was clearly struggling not to glance at her bosom. He resorted to fixing safely on the explosion of ginger frizz that was attempting to escape the yellow satin ribbon securing her topknot. ‘I’ll thank you not to leave these two young people alone together down here!’ she yelled. ‘Dr Smith would not be best pleased!’

‘Of course, madam. Except that the young man has a letter from Dr Smith permitting him to visit the young lady while she is in here.’

‘Then make sure you keep that door between them locked!’

*

The next day my father came to see me. He sat next to me on the cell’s cot. I was acutely aware of – and embarrassed by – the smell of urine from the chamber pot beneath my bed. I found it hard to meet his eyes when I said, ‘I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Father.’

‘Let’s not regret what can’t be changed. I have every confidence in you, Gertie. Hopefully, after the hearing on Tuesday, you’ll be released and we can put this behind us.’

Yet I felt his disappointment. ‘Thank you for allowing Corporal Perkins to visit me. He was my very first patient, you know.’

‘Yes, he told me. He came to visit me in the hospital to ask if he may visit you here.’

‘May I speak frankly, Father?’ He nodded. ‘Corporal Perkins claims to love me, as he did on the ship, but I don’t quite know what to make of him.’

‘Sometimes, love is instantaneous, as it was between your mother and I.’ He stared at the floor, for a moment lost in his thoughts, then he drew in a deep shaky breath. ‘For many other people, love grows over time. If you enjoy his company, perhaps you should give him a chance to prove himself. Other than that, I can’t advise you.’ He glanced at my hand. ‘He asked me about the ring you are wearing on your wedding finger, and to be perfectly frank, I had not noticed it. Is there someone else, Gertie?’

My mouth dried as my darling Manno came to mind. Why had he never replied to my letters when I had made it clear how much I loved him?

‘The ring simply reminds me of the miracle dolphin that rescued me, Father. If that creature had not lifted me from the depths, I would not have saved Corporal Perkins. However, the enormity of these things still shakes me. Do you think God really orchestrated all this?’

His head tilted to one side as he smiled. ‘Such an enormous experience? You think God had a hand in it all?’

I nodded, feeling a little foolish for even considering such a thing.

‘How can we know?’ Father concluded. ‘Us, mere warring mortals who can set the world on fire with our bombs, and cause excruciating agony with our evil gasses. We who build great ships, Zeppelins and aeroplanes, and squabble murderously about borderlines and areas of the great seas. Do we not think we are gods ourselves?’