‘I got called to a sudden meeting.’‘Is everything all right?’‘I’m under orders, so I can’t tell you where I’m going or what I’ll be doing, I’m afraid. But you can write to me care of this address.’ He held out a piece of paper. ‘You will write, won’t you?’She saw him watching with a near smile as she put it in her handbag, a large practical affair made of leather, not the fashionable smaller ones used by most young ladies of his acquaintance.‘I like your handbags,’ he said unexpectedly. ‘They’re as practical as you are. Most of the young ladies I know carry silly little velvet pouches, pretty but useless – like them.’She was surprised at the bitterness in his voice, but when he didn’t continue or explain anything else, she didn’t push for an explanation, just said quietly, ‘Yes, of course I’ll write, Corin. I promised I would, didn’t I?’ ‘Not everyone keeps a promise.’He sounded sad as he said that, then he looked at his wristwatch as if time was pressing.
