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After a superb meal they relaxed in the coffee-lounge of the restaurant, which belonged to the George Hotel, a venue of quietly understated elegance—and costliness, she found, having been shocked by the price of the food.

When she had dined with Rick she had chosen all the cheapest dishes, expecting to pay half, but as her partner this time was a consultant Anna had no hesitation in choosing what she wanted. The main course had been chicken in an exotic sauce and it had left her too full to enjoy a large pudding so she'd chosen a simple mousse to finish.

Now replete, she relaxed in a cosy easy chair, her coffee on the table in front of her, a dish of
petits-fours
within easy reach. The consultant sat by her side, but not near enough to make her feel uncomfortable. The smoke from his cigar drifted past her nostrils, and she felt she could sit there for hours, warm and content, with the man she cared for by her side.

She frowned. The wine must be making her light-headed, together with the pre-lunch red Martini. He wasn't the man she loved. Dr Tester was a stranger really. She could not claim to know him at all. He was an enigma and she found she wanted to know more about him, to find out what made him tick.

That was wrong. She loved Rick Alexandre, so could not possibly be interested in another man. Then there was Mike Forster. She seemed to be collecting men just lately!

A smile crossed her lips, curving the corners of her wide mouth, and Dr Tester's sharp eyes could not fail to notice. Gently, he ran a finger along her hand up to the wrist, and she shivered, involuntarily.

'Contented, Anna?' he enquired gently, and she nodded.

'Mm. It was a superb meal, thank you. But I expect I'd better be moving,' she added.

'Why? What's your hurry? I haven't anything on this afternoon, barring emergencies. We could take a drive along the coast. Or even stroll for a while,' he offered.

'I can't. I have to be on duty at five,' she explained, and his heavy brows drew together in what appeared to be anger.

'I imagined you to be off duty, Anna. You didn't tell me you were doing a split duty.'

'I didn't think you would be interested,' she said candidly, and he chuckled, good humour restored.

'I wouldn't have plied you with wine had I known,' he commented as they prepared to leave. 'Heaven help my patients if you have to stick needles in them this evening!' he chuckled, but Anna didn't find it at all funny.

The first person she met when she returned to duty was Rick Alexandre. She had a headache. It wasn't exactly a hangover but the drink had made her feel rather woozy and, combined with her headache, she wasn't feeling at all sweetness and light. The sight of the man she loved smiling at her did nothing to help. What did
he
have to smile at anyway, she thought crossly, believing that Beth Sinclair must have put Rick in a good mood. Well, Beth Sinclair was more than welcome to him.

She was so angry that she snapped at him when he cornered her, edging her into the ward kitchen when she would have hurried to the office.

He looked astonished at her outburst and she was immediately sorry. 'Please, Dr Alexandre, I'm rather out of sorts. Leave me alone, I've got work to do,' she called as she scurried to the office to hear the report, uncaring that he did not follow or make more effort to stop her.

Somehow the time passed, that evening and the days following flashing by as the ward became busier. Sister Noakes returned from sick leave looking pale and groggy. Her illness had sapped her strength and she no longer took pains to show Anna up, or snap at her in front of others, so that was a blessing.

Dr Tester, or Paul as she now called him, took Anna out once a week on average, and she was slowly beginning to trust him, to accept his undemanding company. She wasn't sure of her feelings for him. Certainly he caused no heart-fluttering but he was pleasant and very attentive. He always kissed her at the end of a date and she wished he wouldn't. The kisses only served to remind her of Rick, a man for whose kisses she would give a fortune.

Anna was due to finish on Park Ward in early March, and about a week before, Paul Tester became more demanding, his kisses hungrier. To her own surprise she at first responded, thinking to forget Rick Alexandre.

Snuggled up against Paul's shoulder one wintry evening she almost forgot that he wasn't the man she loved. Since Rick no longer cared, Anna tried to assuage the hunger she felt for the registrar by responding passionately to the caresses of his boss. It wasn't fair on Paul Tester, of course, and as soon as his strong hands moved sensuously over her body, Anna cried halt.

Paul moved a little away from her as they sat in his car. 'Sorry. I must have misread the signals,' he said mildly, and she turned anguished eyes on him.

Nervously she traced the pattern on his tie, what little she could see of it in the dusk, and began a halting apology. 'I'm so sorry, Paul. I... I didn't mean to lead you on,' she began, but he captured her hands and squeezed them understandingly.

'You aren't leading me on, my dear. You're enchanting me!' he said lightly. 'You call the tune, my love. I won't rush you,' he promised, moving back to his own seat and starting the engine.

Anna felt cheap as well as ashamed. He was so kind and she had used him, trying to forget the man she loved in the arms of another. She could not forget Rick nor cease loving him, no matter how hard she tried, and she knew it was wrong to encourage Paul. But, having ensnared him, she didn't know how to release him without hurting his feelings.

Having to lie to her mother made her feel cheap as well, but there seemed no alternative. After baring her soul about Mike Forster, Anna hoped she and her mother might reach a closer understanding, that Mother would realise it was natural for a young woman to want the company of men, want to go out with a group too, dancing or rambling or party-going. But Jennifer was withdrawing into herself again, her demands becoming impossible to meet.

After much heart-searching Anna decided it was best to lead her own life as much as possible, leaving her Mother to draw her own conclusions about where her daughter went, and with whom. She didn't neglect her mother. She was as attentive as ever, but she tried harder to encourage her independence, though it was a losing battle.

She saw Mike Forster once more before he left for Northern Ireland. She kissed him for old times' sake and he clung to her, then astonished her by beginning to weep. Mike, the hard-bitten worldly boy from Liverpool, actually crying. Her heart bled for him and, hardly knowing what she was agreeing to, she promised to wait for him.

Of course he attempted to make love to her and in her pity for him Anna almost agreed. Only a picture of chilly, condemning blue-grey eyes prevented her in time. She could almost see the icy sparks flying from Rick Alexandre's eyes, even though he was on leave, presumably miles away in Jersey.

She could never belong to anyone but Rick. That fact was quite clear. Not even the urbane consultant had the power to stir her as Rick had done. All the Paul Testers and Mike Forsters in the world could not hold a candle to her dark Rickie Jerseyman.

As part of her campaign for getting out and about, Anna accepted a totally unexpected invitation to a leaving party. One of the girls in her set, Marion Burns, was discontinuing her training to get married. Her fiancé was an engineer and he was taking her abroad with him.

Anna got on well with Marion, a tall, lively brunette of twenty or so, and she was looking forward to the party—anything to take her mind off the problem of having two men in tow, two men she did not want. She couldn't ask Dr Tester to accompany her to the party of course, that would have set the hospital tongues wagging!

She had finished promptly at five for once, but didn't leave the ward until nearly twenty past for Sister Noakes insisted she tidy the linen cupboard first. Then, when Sister inspected it, she wanted the sheets moved to another shelf and Anna, stifling a sigh, did as she was bid. Only one more day and she would be free of Sister Noakes, so she could put up with the woman's demands for that short while. On the whole Sister had not been too hard on her recently so Anna had good reason for believing that her ward report would be a fair one, showing her to be an average student, which was as much as anyone could hope for. She knew that much as she loved nursing, she wasn't a born nurse. She wasn't brilliant at studying either, despite being a boffin's daughter. But she tried hard and was genuinely fond of the patients and she hoped Sister would take that into account.

After eating a hurried tea then bathing and changing into a pretty white and gold dress, Anna made her way back to the hospital. The party was being held in the Nurses' Home common-room. Snuggling down into her jacket Anna was at first oblivious to the car which drove slowly past her. When it stopped, she quickened her pace, believing it was someone from the hospital waiting to offer her a lift.

It was. The driver got out and peered into the darkness at Anna. In the light from the car headlights it wasn't difficult to see who it was, and she checked her stride as Rick Alexandre opened the car door for her. Unwillingly, she got in. She'd wanted to refuse the lift but that would have been stupid and childish.

'Still strolling in the dark, then,' he commented as he put the car into gear.

'Yes.' Her voice was quiet, muffled because she was snuggled down into the warmth of her sheepskin. She hoped he would take the hint and not press her to talk.

She heard his soft chuckle and her face burned with indignation. He was making fun of her again. But he respected her wish for silence, thank goodness. She turned puzzled eyes on him as they walked side by side to the common-room. 'I didn't think senior registrars went to student nurses' parties,' she commented, and his wide shoulders lifted in a shrug.

'A party is a party. Lots of birds and booze,' he said mildly. Anna immediately thought of Beth Sinclair.

'What about your girlfriend? Couldn't she come?' She managed to keep her voice neutral, but the registrar shot her a quick glance.

'Which one? I haven't a regular girlfriend.'

'Oh? What about Beth—from the Path Lab,' she probed and he smiled, enigmatically.

'I can't take her to a party. What Beth and I do is best done in private!' he chuckled, and Anna drew in her breath sharply.

Well, she had asked so couldn't grumble. He had laid it on the line for her. He and Beth were lovers and she was most likely waiting for him at his bungalow.

Anna bit her lip savagely, all thoughts of the party gone from her. In fact, she didn't want to go to the party any more. Beth might be preparing Rick's supper at this very moment. The table would be set for two, the glasses and the cutlery sparkling, the cloth of crisp white linen. They would dine by candlelight, she decided. Then Rick would reach out and take Beth's hand, those long, sensitive fingers reaching for her . . .

'Hey! You've passed it!' Rick's amused voice brought Anna back to earth and she found that she had walked straight past the common-room, hadn't even heard the noise emanating from the party.

She heard it now, a blend of raucous music and loud voices. She couldn't face them. She really could not, but now Rick's hand was in hers, urging her into the room, where they were immediately brought into a circle of nurses including Marion, the party-giver.

After the eats and the talking, there was dancing to some old slow music records and Anna was half-glad, half-sorry. If Rick asked her to dance it would be sheer heaven and sheer hell at the same time.

But to her annoyance he did not ask her. He danced once with Marion, then duty having been done, he spent the rest of the evening talking to a couple of housemen who came late. Anna was left to her own devices and, after chatting briefly to the few people she knew, she made her way to the door.

She was nearly there when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She turned, sharp retort at the ready, but it was one of the male nurses, not Rick at all. She smiled warmly at the nurse, whose name was Doug. She didn't know his surname or even what year he was, but she allowed herself to be swung into his arms. He was about her own height, with glossy black hair worn rather long and brown eyes. Quite handsome, too, she was thinking when Doug suddenly swung her to the side of the room, thanked her, then disappeared.

Amazed, Anna had no time to collect her thoughts before she saw Rick. He was holding out her jacket and obediently she slipped her arms into it.

'Stay there,' he ordered, making his way towards the engaged couple, presumably to say goodnight.

A surprised Anna stood where he'd left her, still wondering why Doug had ditched her in the middle of a dance. Then she saw him hovering nearby, and beckoned him over.

With a quick glance towards the registrar, whose back was to them, Doug came over and smiled ruefully. 'Sorry. You ought to have said.'

'Said what?' she asked, becoming more puzzled by the minute. 'You left me in the middle of a dance!' she went on.

'You should have said you belonged to Rickie Jerseyman,' Doug said patiently. 'That's why I brought you back to him. When we were dancing I saw him staring. Then he pointed at you, and at himself, so I gave in gracefully!' he laughed.

'I don't belong to any man!' she said sharply. 'He had no right to butt in!' She clenched her fists, ready for action, then saw Rick making his way determinedly towards them.

Doug saw him at the same time and did a quick disappearing act. It would have struck Anna as amusing if two other men and another girl had been involved, but as she was the girl in question it was far from funny.

She was determined to give the registrar a piece of her mind but he gave her no chance. Quickly they were out in the car-park and he was bending to unlock his car door. On the walk through the corridors he had strode ahead and she had had difficulty in keeping up with him.

Not that she wanted to keep up with him, of course. She had no intention of letting him drive her home, but she
was
going to tell Mr Rickie Jerseyman exactly what she thought of him.