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line, the ambulance just ahead of ours slid into a shallow gully. Teddy was the driver, one of the best we had, but the vehicles ahead of him had turned the ground to treacle, and even his skill couldn’t save him.
    Half a dozen men were pulled from the column by a Sergeant and they put their shoulders into pushing the ambulance back to solid ground. I watched them struggle for a footing, one of them nearly disappearing under the spinning rear wheel.
    Another two or three men came to the aid of the first half dozen, and as the ambulance slowly crept back in line, the Sergeant’s torch flicked over it, checking the rear axle.
    It flicked as well across the faces of the men still braced against the side of the ambulance. And as it did, for an instant before it moved on, I saw a face I recognized.
    The torch was shut off, leaving us in the rain-swept darkness, and one by one the men who had helped push rejoined their column. It was nearly impossible to tell which one was which as they hurried forward, and then they were marching on, disappearing from view. The Sister in charge of the ambulance that had slid into the ditch signaled that all was well with her charges, and we were continuing toward the south. There was no way I could go after the column. No way I could find that Sergeant and ask him if he knew the names of the men he’d sent to our rescue.
    But I’d have sworn it was Thomas Wade I’d seen. Under oath, if need be.

Chapter Three
    S oon thereafter I was sent back to England with a convoy of wounded, and after they had been settled in various clinics, I was given leave.
    I sent a message to Simon that I was in London, at the flat I shared with other Sisters, and waited to hear from him.
    Instead of writing, he came to Mrs. Hennessey’s house-turned-lodgings, and was standing in her foyer when I returned from ordering fresh uniforms to replace those too stained to be used again.
    Surprised, I said, “Hullo. Fancy finding you here.”
    He grinned. “I’ve been kicking my heels for over an hour. And neither Mary nor Diana is present in London or I’d have taken her to lunch instead.”
    We went out to his motorcar, and as he helped me into my seat, I told him what I had seen the night the ambulance had slid off the road.
    “Did you indeed?” Simon demanded, turning briefly to look at me. “And he held the rank of a private soldier?”
    “Yes, I’m sure of that,” I said. “But I have no idea what company or regiment he was with. There was no time to see anything, really. Except his face and the fact that he wasn’t wearing an officer’s uniform.”
    “Damn!” Simon swore with great feeling under his breath. “But there’s a logic to this, isn’t there? What better place to hide than in the ranks?”
    “What are we to do?” I asked. “Should we take this information any further? There’s so little to go on.”
    “We can’t. If we’re wrong, then we’ve stirred up the past for no reason. It will do the regiment no good.”
    “Did you discover anything more about the Subedar?”
    “Nothing we can use. He did live in Agra, and it was a cousin’s wedding procession that covered the sound of the shots that killed Wade’s parents. He was interviewed along with everyone else in the wedding party, but of course they’d seen or heard nothing. What’s more, there’s no proof that he knew Lieutenant Wade by sight. Only the house belonging to his parents. Wade’s father, on the other hand, was a familiar figure. The railway employed thousands of people.”
    “Then we’re back to being wrong, aren’t we? I wish I could discuss this with my mother, if not my father. But there you are. It’s too painful a subject to bring up, even casually.”
    The impasse cast a pall over our luncheon.
    Afterward I asked, “Is Mary Standish still in the Cotswolds, do you think?”
    “Mary Standish?”
    “Yes, I’d like to ask her how Lieutenant Wade appeared to her while they were traveling together. And