“How old were you when the war was on?” he asked unexpectedly.

“Nine⁠—no, eight.”

“And Gerry, I suppose, was about twenty. Most lads of twenty fought in the war. Gerry didn’t.”

“No,” said Loraine, after thinking a minute or two. “No, Gerry wasn’t a soldier. I don’t know why.”

“I can tell you why,” said Jimmy. “Or at least I can make a very shrewd guess. He was out of England from 1915 to 1918. I’ve taken the trouble to find that out. And nobody seems to know exactly where he was. I think he was in Germany.”

The colour rose in Loraine’s cheeks. She looked at Jimmy with admiration.

“How clever of you.”

“He spoke German well, didn’t he?”