We'll meet again

It was so easy to talk to him that I found myself telling him the story of Edward's being brought out of Belgium by my mother when he was a baby. He listened intently. Then I went on to the incident in the Bavarian forest when we had all been brought face to face with the Nazi menace.

"That was like an introductory chapter," he said. "It set the scene for the drama to come.”

"Yes, it was exactly like that. Though we didn't see how important it was at the time.”

"Few saw the significance of it and those who did were not able to do anything about it.”

He turned to me, dispelling the gloom.

"Well, this is a great pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Tregarland.”

"I do not find it at all unpleasant meeting you, Captain Brent," I replied.

We laughed a great deal during that morning and when we were about to part he said: "Do you often go out for these walks?”

"Not often. There is usually too much to do. I have a little boy and I like to spend some time with him. He has the best nanny in the world. She was mine and Violetta's at one time and my mother thought so highly of her that she acquired her for Tristan.”

"Tristan?" he repeated.

"You will like this! My mother was a devotee of the opera. So my sister is Violetta and I am Dorabella, and I thought we should keep the tradition, hence Tristan. If he had been a girl, he would have been Isolde.”

He laughed at that. It was a very happy interlude.

I said to him: "By the way, what do you think of Jowan Jermyn's chances of getting home? My sister is engaged to him, you know.”

He was silent for a moment. Then he said: "Well, it is not impossible.”

"But ... remote?”

"I suppose I should say that.”

"It's better to face the truth.”

"Always.”

"I must go," I said.

"It has been such a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Tregarland.”

"That is what you said when we met.”

"It bears repetition and I repeat it with emphasis.”

We said goodbye-and that was the first time. After that our meetings were frequent. They were not exactly arranged, but we somehow contrived to meet in the same place at the same time.

Violetta would have said I should have seen the way things were going.

But that was how I am. I had married Dermot in haste and it had not taken me long to discover what a mistake that was. Then there was the affair with Jacques, from which I had but recently emerged. Violetta had been there to help me out of that, so I should have been wary; but when people like myself embark on an adventure, they are carried along by their belief in what the outcome will be-and that is, of course, the way they want it to go-and they sometimes find themselves in awkward predicaments.

However, my meetings with Captain Brent were the highlights of those dark days. At first, there were those seemingly accidental meetings.

Later, of course, it was different.

There was so much to talk about. He was interested in everyone and everything. Nothing seemed too trivial. All the people who lived thereabouts, even the maids. Nothing was too insignificant to interest him.

We laughed a great deal. That was one of the reasons why we enjoyed each other's company so much. It was a lighthearted relationship and even things which would not ordinarily be amusing seemed so with him.

He even asked about Nanny Crabtree and Tristan and Hildegarde. Then Charley and Bert. I had never known anyone so interested in people. It was all a lot of fun and irresistible to me.

He was living in a small furnished cottage on the edge of East Poldown.

He told me the army had taken it for a year and it was for the use of personnel who had to be in the neighborhood for any length of time. He was not sure how long he would be there, and indeed there were times when he was called away.

I suppose uncertainty does give a touch of urgency to a relationship, and it develops more quickly than it might otherwise.

He was looked after by his batman, Joe Gummer, who did housework and cooking and looked after the captain with a rare efficiency. He was a Cockney with a perpetual grin and a habit of winking exaggeratedly to let one know when he was making a joke, which was frequently. There was no doubt in my mind that he was devoted to James Brent. I found it all very amusing.

The cottage was small-two bedrooms and a bathroom on the top floor, and two rooms and a kitchen below. It was rather sparsely furnished and had obviously been prepared for letting to holiday makers in peacetime.

It had an impersonal look.

The garden was pleasant. It ran down to the river. One could look southwards and see the ancient bridge which separated the two Poldowns and yet feel isolated. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and buddleia grew prolifically. I became fond of the place.

Those days were full of excitement for me. I took every opportunity to go into Poldown. I would take the car round by the road which meant I had to pass Riverside Cottage. I would look in and Joe would give me the information, "Sir's off out, Miss. I'll tell him you called.