Poppy by Mary Hooper Read Free Book Online Page A

shoulder.
    Startled, she wheeled round to come face to face with Freddie de Vere.
    ‘Ah, I alarmed you,’ he said. ‘Do excuse me.’
    ‘That’s . . . that’s quite all right,’ Poppy managed to say, heart thudding and surprised almost out of her wits.
    ‘Have you been lunching?’
    Poppy hid a smile. She had only ‘lunched’ once in her life – when she’d met Miss Luttrell over a meat pie in the Corner House. ‘No, I’ve been for an interview,’ she said. ‘I’m hoping to become a VAD.’
    ‘Jolly commendable,’ he said, nodding. ‘In fact, I’ve been doing much the same.’
    ‘You’ve applied to be a VAD?’ she asked in surprise, although she knew that many men had signed on as orderlies and stretcher bearers.
    He smiled and shook his head. ‘No, I’ve been undergoing interviews for a commission in the army. They’re pretty desperate for recruits and so they’ve agreed to take me in the Officer Cadet Unit. I begin my training at Sandhurst on Monday.’
    ‘Really? That’s marvellous,’ Poppy said, and she thought of the white feather and felt herself blush at the thought of what she’d done. As they crossed the concourse, she tried not to dwell on it.
    ‘Kitchener has said that they need thirty-five thousand men to join up per week,’ Freddie said. ‘And of course we chaps don’t like to be called cowards, and everyone thought that I really ought. Even Mother is happy that I’m going to fight the good fight.’
    There was a slight catch to his voice and, with the new and strange chemistry between them, Poppy understood that he was frightened of what he might have to face. There was no shame in being scared, she wanted to say, and not everyone could feel brave all the time. But while she was trying to articulate the right words, he spoke again.
    ‘You’re catching the 3.12 back to Mayfield?’ he said when they reached platform ten.
    She nodded.
    ‘Then perhaps we can travel together.’
    Poppy’s heart gave a skip – and then sank. She would be in his company for a little while longer, but what good would that do her? This whole flirtation business (for surely that was all it was) was silly and she was heading for a tremendous fall. Then she realised she was quite safe.
    ‘No, I don’t think we can,’ she said, ‘because I only have a thir d- class ticket.’
    He pulled a small green oblong from his top pocket. ‘And mine is . . . first class.’
    Poppy nodded. That summed up all the differences between them in a nutshell.
    He looked at her, smiled and continued walking along the platform. ‘But I dare say the rail people would have no objection to my travelling in third!’
    Poppy turned to him, unable to prevent a smile spreading across her face. ‘I’m sure they wouldn’t.’
    ‘And we can talk about Zeppelins and maidens from the lake and all sorts of interesting things.’
    ‘That would be . . .’ Wonderful, delightful, unbelievable – but Poppy never finished the sentence, for there came a rapping on the window of one of the firs t- class carriages they were passing.
    ‘Freddie! I say! Freddie de Vere!’ A fur-hatted, middl e -aged lady stared out, waved at Freddie and lowered her window. ‘Freddie, dear, could you help me? I’ve som e how stuck my trunk in the door and I can’t get in or out.’
    ‘Oh. My Aunt Maud,’ Freddie murmured to Poppy. ‘I’m so sorry.’
    Poppy, heart sinking, tried not to look crestfallen. ‘That’s quite all right. Of course you must go and help her.’
    ‘I’ll try and get away. But look,’ he said urgently, ‘if we don’t get the opportunity to speak before I go, then I’ll write to you from Sandhurst.’
    ‘But I might not be at Airey House much longer.’
    ‘Then leave a forwarding address!’
    ‘I will,’ Poppy said. ‘And thank you for the bluebells . . .’
    Freddie’s Aunt Maud was looking rather troubled at the sight of him deep in conversation with a person of the lower classes. There was another sharp