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They’d been steadily shedding evacuees since Christmas. If many more departed, she’d have no one left to observe. Which was another reason she needed to go to Oxford today, to see if she could persuade Mr. Dunworthy into sending her somewhere else. Or cutting this assignment short and letting her go do the assignment she truly wanted: VE-Day. Eileen hurriedly tied on a fresh apron and started out of the kitchen.
    “Wait,” Mrs. Bascombe said. “Take her ladyship’s nerve tablets with you. Dr. Stuart brought them round.”
    The tablets were aspirin, which Eileen doubted would do much for Lady Caroline’s “nerves,” which in any case seemed to be mostly an excuse for insisting the evacuees be kept quiet. Eileen took the box from Mrs. Bascombe and hurried to the drawing room, wondering whose parents were here. She hoped not the Magruders: Barbara, Peggy, and Ewan were the only three well-behaved children left. All the other children had been hopelessly corrupted by Alf and Binnie.
    Perhaps it’s
their
mother
, she thought, brightening, but it wasn’t, nor was it the Magruders. It was the vicar, and she would have been glad to see him except that he’d probably come because the Hodbins had committed some new crime. “You asked for me, ma’am?” Eileen said.
    “Yes, Ellen,” Lady Caroline said. “Have you ever driven an automobile?”
    Oh, no, they stole the vicar’s car and wrecked it
, Eileen thought. “Driven, ma’am?” she said cautiously.
    “Yes. Mr. Goode and I have been discussing Civil Defence preparations, particularly the need for ambulance drivers.”
    The vicar nodded. “In the event of a bombing incident or invasion—”
    “We will need trained drivers,” Lady Caroline finished. “Do you know how to drive, Ellen?”
    Except for chauffeurs, servants in 1940 hadn’t had occasion to drive, so it hadn’t been part of her prep. “No, ma’am, I’m afraid I never learned.”
    “Then you shall. I’ve offered Mr. Goode the use of my Bentley to aid the war effort. Mr. Goode, you may give Ellen her first lesson this afternoon.”
    “This afternoon?” Eileen blurted out, unable to keep the dismay out of her voice, and then bit her lip. Nineteen-forties maids didn’t talk back.
    “Is that inconvenient for you?” the vicar asked her. “I could just as easily begin the lessons tomorrow, Lady Caroline.”
    “Absolutely not, Mr. Goode. Backbury may come under attack at any time.” She turned to Eileen. “When it comes to the war, we must all be prepared to make sacrifices. The vicar will give you your lesson as soon as we’ve finished here. And then you’ll stay to tea, won’t you, Vicar? Ellen, tell Mrs. Bascombe that Mr. Goode is staying to tea. And tell her she and Mr. Samuels will have their lessons after tea. You may go.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Eileen curtseyed and ran back down to the kitchen. Now she really needed to go to the drop. It was one thing to not know how to drive, and another thing to be completely unfamiliar with 1940s automobiles. She needed to get some advance prep. She wondered if she should try to make it to the drop and back before the lesson. If she knew Lady Caroline, they’d be at least an hour. But if they weren’t
… Perhaps I can get Mrs. Bascombe to have her lesson first
, she thought.
    She found her putting cakes into the oven. “The children just came in,” Mrs. Bascombe said. “I’ve sent them up to the nursery to take off their coats. What did her ladyship want?”
    “The vicar’s going to teach us all to drive. And Lady Caroline said to tell you he’s staying to tea.”
    “Drive?
” Mrs. Bascombe said.
    “Yes. So that we can drive an ambulance in case of a bombing incident.”
    “Or in case James is called up and she hasn’t anyone to drive her to all her meetings.”
    Eileen hadn’t thought of that. She might very well be worried thather chauffeur would be called up. The butler and both footmen had been last month, and Samuels, the