Read The Uncertain Years for Free Online

sure it is.’ She smoothed her hand over the skirt of her simple dark red frock. ‘Is he in there?’
    ‘Yes, and waiting for you.’
    Becky gave him an imploring look. ‘Would you go and tell him I haven’t got the right clothes for a place like this.’
    ‘You don’t have to worry about that. You look just fine.’
    ‘Oh, come on,’ she snorted. ‘I’m a tomboy, and have never been near a posh place like this in my life. I’ll embarrass him.’
    ‘No, you won’t,’ a quiet voice told her. ‘Stop putting yourself down, Rebecca. You are an attractive and intelligent young woman. I shall be proud to have you join me for dinner.’
    She gave a resigned sigh and clasped the proffered hand, allowing him to help her out of the car. ‘I can see you’ve been trained well in the art of being a gentleman. What school did you go to?’
    ‘Eton.’ He tucked her hand through his arm.
    ‘I might have guessed,’ she muttered, and wiggled her fingers over the fine material of his sleeve. This certainly wasn’t a ready-made suit.
    ‘Thank you, Corporal,’ the colonel said to his driver. ‘Come back for us in three hours.’
    ‘Begging your pardon, sir, but isn’t that leaving it a bit tight? We’ve got a way to go and you mustn’t be late.’
    ‘Of course you’re right,’ he said on a regretful sigh. ‘Collect us in two hours.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘Come on, Rebecca, let’s eat, I’m hungry.’
    The head waiter greeted them as they entered, all smiles,and led them over to a secluded table in the corner of the most sumptuous room Becky had ever seen. It was all gold and royal blue with subdued lighting. She felt completely out of her depth, and wondered if he’d done this to intimidate her. Another glance at his superb suit was enough to wipe that idea from her mind. No, they were here because this is what he’s used to.
    A menu was placed in her hands and she found herself looking at a lot of meaningless words.
    ‘What do you fancy, Rebecca?’
    Not prepared to show her ignorance, she closed the menu and placed it on the table. ‘I’ll eat anything. You choose for me, please.’
    While he was ordering their meal she studied her dinner companion. He was a very attractive man of around thirty, she guessed, and this was the first time she’d seen him in civilian clothes. He looked marvellous.
    ‘I’ve ordered a dry white wine to go with our meal. Will that be all right for you, Rebecca, or would you prefer something else?’
    ‘I’ve never had wine with a meal before, but I’m sure it will be all right.’ She smiled, for there was no point pretending she was something she wasn’t. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here. It’s ridiculous. I don’t even know your name.’
    ‘David Hammond.’
    ‘Everyone calls me Becky.’ Why hadn’t she noticed before that he had the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen?
    ‘I prefer Rebecca.’ He sat back. ‘Now is your chance to tell me what you think about that little stunt I pulled on you.’
    ‘I can’t do that in here. Anyway, I’m not angry now, but I would like to know why you did it.’
    ‘I’ve been away, and when I arrived home on leave I enquired about you. Your basic training is almost over, so I decided to see if I could help you get the posting you told me you wanted. But before I put in the recommendation for you, I wanted to find out if you really did know anything about engines. I was intrigued when you came to the recruitment office. You were the only one who showed an interest in anything mechanical.’ He lifted his hands in apology. ‘It was a poor test, but I wanted to see how long it would take you to see through the deception. It was only a matter of seconds, and I was impressed.’
    ‘Did you think I’d lied to you about my interest in engines?’
    ‘I thought you might have exaggerated. Many do to get what they want. I needed to be sure of my facts before putting my recommendation in writing. I wrote the letter before