‘Hush,’ Dee murmured. ‘Let your family take pride in you.’

‘My family know nothing about it,’ he insisted.

‘How can they? They weren’t born then. Don’t blame them for that.’

Out of sight, they squeezed each other’s hands.

Now Stacey turned her attention on them. To her questions about the war Mark gave polite but uninformative replies, claiming to have forgotten the details. Finally she said, ‘But I understand that yours is also a great romance. Mr Sellon, is it true that you courted your wife for years before you persuaded her to marry you?’

‘Oh, yes,’ Mark said. ‘She wasn’t won easily. I really had to work hard to impress her.’

Everyone smiled at this. Only the most perceptive noticed the look of surprise on Dee’s face.

‘But how romantic!’ Stacey exclaimed. ‘The lover who yearns hopelessly from afar. Mrs Sellon, why did you make him wait so long?’

‘I’m not sure now. We weren’t the same people back then.’

‘Would you do it any differently now?’

Dee’s lips twitched. ‘Oh, yes,’ she said. ‘I’d make him wait much longer.’

The newspaper journalist followed, with similar questions, but he had his eye on the photograph of Flight Lieutenant Sellon that the family had studied earlier.

‘This is a fantastic picture,’ he said. ‘I’d like to use it in the paper. I’ll need to borrow it-’

‘No,’ Dee said at once. ‘I’m sorry; you can’t take it away.’

‘Just for a few hours. I’ll take care-’

‘I’m sure you will, but I can’t take the risk. I’m sorry.’ Her manner was polite but very firm as she removed the picture from his hand. ‘This is mine.’

The young man looked round for help, but none of the family would yield. They knew Gran when she spoke like that.

The evening moved gently on to its conclusion, everyone feeling that it had been a triumphant success. In the spotlight, Mark and Dee seemed to be enjoying themselves but, as he slipped his arm about her waist, he murmured, ‘When will they go?’