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feel for this girl, Tom?’ Josi asked later when he’d heard of Nano’s demand. ‘Is she an ordinary nice girl or is she special?’
    ‘I’m not too sure, Father. She made a big impression on me and I certainly haven’t forgotten her.’
    ‘You’ll know when you meet her again,’ Catrin told him. ‘You’re older now and far more mature. I trust your judgement, somehow. Don’t be nervous. You want to see her again and your family is humouring you. That’s all she need think.’
    ‘She’ll think more than that,’ Josi said. ‘But then, what’s the harm.’

    Mari Elen was excited at the prospect of the new lady friend who couldn’t speak Welsh.
    ‘It’s a good thing I’ve learnt some English,’ she said. ‘She’d be very upset if I couldn’t talk to her. Poor Miss Rees doesn’t have much English but I’ll be able to help her. Isn’t it a good thing that I’m here. How long are we staying, Lowri? I miss my little kitten, Ifor, and my pet duck but I know it’s best I stay here for a while if only to practise my English with Miss May Malcolm.’

    It was decided that it was Catrin who should write to Miss Malcolm giving her the news of Tom’s injury – he hadn’t yet told her – and explaining about their old nurse’s stroke and her desire to see Mr Tom’s young lady before she died.

    Tom told her about you when he was on embarkation leave because our mother was then dying and he wanted to leave her and Miss Rees with some comforting news before he left. He has impressed upon me that there is nothing between you except that you promised to write to him, that you kept your promise and that he always looked forward to hearing from you. He is going through a very hard time at the moment as his leg had to be amputated at the knee. Knowing my brother as I do, I know it will not be long before he is on horseback again and my husband is also trying to persuade him to buy a motor car. All the same we all feel that it would do him a great deal of good to see a friend who has been so kind to him for the two and a half dreadful years that he was away.
    I do hope your father will allow you to travel to the depths of Wales to see us. We (my husband and I, Father and his second wife Lowri, and their child, Mari Elen, and particularly Miss Nano Rees, a woman in her late seventies who has been our greatest support for as many years as I can remember) do hope they will.
    We look forward to meeting you. My husband could meet you at our local railway station, Llanfryn Carmarthenshire, at any time.
    We look forward to hearing from you,
    Yours faithfully,
    Catrin Andrews.

    ‘I’m Catrin Andrews,’ she thought as she wrote her signature, ‘how extraordinary. And my child will be either Thomas Joshua Andrews or Rachel Mary Andrews. I hope he or she decides to arrive soon. My body is so ungainly. I’m waddling like an old mother goose already. My thighs are huge and rub together whenever I move. Soon I shall be unable to walk at all.’
    Miss May Malcolm spent no time in getting back in touch.

    Thank you very much for your kind invitation. I’m delighted to hear that Tom is safe. I hadn’t heard from him for several weeks and now, of course, I understand why. Please tell him that I look forward to seeing him and you all very soon. I would like to arrive on Friday evening on the seven fifty train. I trust that this will be convenient.
    Tom became pale and agitated when Catrin read him the letter. ‘What an ordeal for the poor girl,’ he said. ‘I wonder if she realises what a ruin of a man she’s coming to meet.’
    ‘Stop putting yourself down,’ Catrin said. ‘You’re a handsome man in your prime and if she doesn’t snap you up, there are plenty of young girls around here who will.’
    ‘Certainly,’ his father said. ‘I’m sure a wounded soldier is high on the list of every young female of marriageable age. Our maids now, Lottie and Maudie, can’t take their eyes off you and they’re both