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did not hide his disappointment when she decided instead to train as a nurse and managed to secure a trainee position at a teaching hospital in Tooting.
    â€˜What do you want to be doing changing bedpans and catching diseases from all those poofs and bloody foreigners?’ Jim had grumbled, finally starting to wonder if his wife didn’t have a point about too much education.
    Charlotte was halfway through her final year at St Luke’s when she met and fell in love with Olu, a handsome Nigerian doctor who had joined the hospital on a six-month contract. Soon the romance was public knowledge and when Olu proposed four months to the day after their first date, the other student nurses in her hostel clubbed together to throw a party for them.
    Olu insisted that they had to visit Lagos for Charlotte to meet his parents and to see his country before they got married.
    â€˜You will love Nigeria, Charlotte,’ he would say constantly, his dark brown eyes gazing deep into hers.‘And my family will love you very much.’
    Deliriously happy, Charlotte swallowed her apprehension about Jim’s likely reaction and finally found the courage to tell her father her good news.
    â€™You want to marry an African ? Are you off your head, girl?’ he had asked in incredulous disbelief, too shocked to tell anyone except his wife.
    â€˜She should have stuck with working in the local factory like her sisters, Jim. I told you so!’ was the furious response he got from her. Even though she had finally been proved right, her mother was too upset to tell any of Charlotte’s sisters. After all, there was no sense in putting any ideas in their heads either.
    Charlotte, however, was determined not to let anything destroy her happiness. Ignoring her father’s pleas to come to her senses and see things from his point of view, she refused to feel any guilt for what he now saw as his complete lack of credibility down the pub if any of this ever came out. She was even more determined to put aside Jim’s pleas because, as she made the travel arrangements for their trip to Nigeria, she hid a secret but very strong feeling that she was pregnant.
    The afternoon before they were due to leave for the airport, Olu failed to show up for his final shift. No one at the hospital had any idea where he was and after yet another phone call from the hospital administrator, Charlotte was starting to panic when he rang the bell at the flat in the hostel that she still shared with two other student nurses. Her initial relief on seeing he was safe faded quickly as she took in his haggard appearance,rumpled clothes and a strong smell of stale beer, so completely at odds with his usual impeccable appearance. Filled with dread, as he pushed past her and made for her room, she remained standing.
    Olu, who clearly couldn’t, sat down heavily on the small bed, waiting until she finally walked into the room. Keeping his red-rimmed eyes fixed to a spot on the floor between his feet, he remained silent while she stared at him, too afraid to even ask what was wrong.
    â€˜Charlotte, please forgive me,’ he said eventually. His voice was muffled and his speech slightly slurred but the shame in his voice was unmistakable.
    â€˜We cannot go to Nigeria,’ he said slowly. ‘I already have a wife, Charlotte. She lives with my parents in Lagos.’
    Charlotte looked down at him, numb with shock and unable to say a word. After a brief glance up at her, he lowered his head again and continued haltingly.
    â€˜You know, I have wanted to tell you so many times and, God forgive me, I couldn’t do so. But you must believe me… I had planned to leave her and to marry you – I swear to you!’ His voice became more animated as he went on. ‘I phoned my parents today to tell them about you but they told me that my wife is pregnant with our first child. Apparently, she’s been waiting for my return to surprise me