The Nightingale Girls - By Donna Douglas Page 0,134

he told her with a grin. ‘You’ve set an example to every lazy, over-privileged chap, encouraging us all to get off our backsides and make something of ourselves.’

‘Heavens, what a responsibility!’

‘I mean it,’ he said softly. ‘You are an inspiration, Millie. A real breath of fresh air.’ He surveyed the dancing couples for a moment. ‘So what’s the story with your Dr Tremayne?’ he asked suddenly.

She frowned at him. She’d almost forgotten he and William had met. ‘There is no story. I told you, William’s just a friend. Why do you ask?’

‘I thought he might be rather keen on you.’

‘I doubt it,’ Millie laughed. ‘And even if he is, I’m not keen on him.’

‘Aren’t you?’ Seb’s eyes were fixed on her.

‘Dr Tremayne has something of a reputation at the Nightingale,’ she said, evading the question.

‘Ah.’ Seb nodded wisely. ‘I suppose it’s for the best,’ he said. ‘Can you imagine what your grandmother would say if she found out you were stepping out with an impoverished junior doctor?’

‘I think by this stage she would be grateful I was stepping out with anyone,’ Millie sighed.

‘Perhaps we should get married?’ Seb said suddenly.

Millie laughed. ‘What?’

‘Why not? We’ve got a lot going for us,’ he said, still with his gaze fixed on the dance floor. ‘We get along all right together, don’t we?’

‘Most of the time,’ Millie agreed, trying to straighten her features.

‘And it would make our respective families very happy, I’m sure.’ He glanced her way. ‘What do you say?’

‘I say that if that’s the best marriage proposal you can come up with, then you really should work on your approach before you seriously pop the question to a girl!’

He pulled a face. ‘Who says I wasn’t serious? Think about it, Mil.’

She looked into his eyes. He looked so earnest that for a moment she almost believed him. But after knowing him for so many years, she knew how believable Seb’s practical jokes could be.

‘I really don’t think I need to,’ she replied.

Seb sighed dramatically, the very picture of a scorned lover. ‘Oh, well, I suppose it was worth a try. Tell you what, I’ll make a deal with you. If neither of us has found someone to marry us by the time we’re twenty-five, we’ll marry each other. How about that?’

This time Millie had to laugh. ‘I’m sure you’ll be snapped up by then, Sebastian.’

Right on cue, Georgina Farsley swanned up behind them. She looked radiant in eau-de-nil georgette that perfectly complemented her dramatic dark colouring.

‘There you are!’ she cried, as if she hadn’t been watching Seb’s every move for the past half hour. ‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Some of the gang are heading off for supper. We’re desperate for you to join us. Please say you’ll come?’ She was already tugging on his arm.

Seb turned to Millie. ‘Will you come too?’

Millie saw the sour look that flashed across Georgina’s face. ‘I’d love to, but I can’t. I have a late pass, but I still have to be ready for duty at seven tomorrow morning.’

‘Maybe I shouldn’t go either. After all, it’s bad form to leave your own sister’s wedding . . .’

‘You should,’ Millie encouraged him. ‘The bride and groom will be leaving soon anyway. Besides,’ she added in a low voice, ‘you need to practise being a playboy, remember?’

Later, up in Sophia’s old bedroom, Millie helped the bride take off her heavy wedding dress and change into her going away outfit, a fitted costume in brilliant emerald green.

‘I’m so nervous,’ she blurted out, as she sat at her dressing table while Millie unpinned her hair.

‘Why? The wedding’s over, everything went beautifully. What have you got to be nervous about now?’

‘You know. The wedding night.’ Sophia met her gaze meaningfully in the mirror. ‘I just wish I knew what to expect,’ she said. ‘I tried to talk to Mummy about it, but she wasn’t very helpful. She told me I shouldn’t refuse my husband, no matter how much I might want to. But refuse him what?’

Millie hid her smile. While she had still never even kissed a man herself, she had learned a lot from listening to Sister Parker and the women on Wren ward. She now considered herself quite worldly wise, in theory at least.

‘Do you really want to know?’ she said.

Sophia twisted round to look at her. ‘What have you heard?’ she said. ‘Tell me, please. I need to know what to expect.’

Millie looked at her friend’s desperate face. ‘Well . . .’ she began, putting down