‘No one must know about us, Florence. You do understand that, don’t you?’ ‘Of course,’ she said swiftly. ‘Sister Blackstock would send me packing immediately. And I don’t want to go – especially now.’ He chuckled. ‘I don’t think they would do that to me, but my reputation would not be so – how do you say – wholesome?’ She laughed softly. ‘Oh, I don’t know. You’d be forgiven. You’re a man.’ There was a tinge of irony in her tone. In Florrie’s mind, it was another example of the inequality that existed between men and women. Whilst she would be sent home in disgrace, he would merely cause a nudge and a wink and be thought a bit of a ‘jack the lad’. Even so, she didn’t want to be parted from him. ‘But how are we going to meet? Have some time alone together?’ ‘I’ll think of something,’ he murmured. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before releasing his hold. They walked back into the camp with a demure three feet between them.
