As she looked up at him, his mouth crushed down on to hers. Then he was half-carrying her across the cabin and on to the bunk. His hands were on her body and she felt herself responding, not knowing what was happening but wanting it to go on. She felt the weight of his body on hers, his lips pressing hungrily at her mouth. She was only vaguely aware that he was lifting her skirts.

Afterwards, they lay together, holding each other tightly as if they each were the last safe object in a world turned crazy. Robbie was the first to speak. “I’m sorry,” he said, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her. “I’m so sorry, Emmy. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let this go too far.”

“It’s not your fault, Robbie,” she said shakily. “I didn’t exactly stop you, did I? I must have wanted it as much as you.”

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Apart from being in a dangerously tilted boat, stuck in the mud in the middle of the thunderstorm, I’m just fine, thank you,” she said.

He burst out laughing. “You’re such a great girl, Emily. And I’ve just realized something. I can’t live without you. I know that now. I’ve tried to make myself think that I could walk away and leave you to a good life here, but I can’t. I’ll stay here in England after the war if you tell me to. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“You could ask me to marry you first,” she said, smiling at him now.

He looked around. “I’m not exactly in a position to kneel,” he said, “and I don’t have a ring to give you, but will you marry me?”

“Of course I will. And you don’t have to worry about staying in England. I’ll come with you to Australia. I’ll follow you wherever you want to go.”

“You will? What about your parents, your family?”

“My father just made it clear to me that if I stayed on as a land girl, I was no longer welcome at their house. So that makes me think I’m free to go where I want, and as long as I’m with you, I don’t care where it is. It will be a great big adventure.”

“Too right,” he said, beaming at her. “A blooming great adventure.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her, tenderly this time. “Mrs Robbie Kerr, eh?”

She nodded.

“First thing I have to do is find you a ring. I don’t know how I’m going to do that when I have to ship out first thing tomorrow morning, but I’ll do it somehow. We’ll get married, and when I’m finally demobbed, I’ll go back to Australia first and make everything nice before I send for you.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll come with you.”

“No, you won’t. I’ll be going home on a troop ship with a thousand other blokes. You’ll come out on a proper P&O liner. And I’ll be waiting for you at Sydney Harbour. And we’ll have a honeymoon by the ocean.”

“How wonderful,” she said. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Me neither.” He looked out past her. “Oh look, the storm seems to have passed over. It’s no longer raining so hard. Now all we have to do is wait for that tide to come back in.”

It wasn’t until after seven o’clock that the water had risen enough to float the boat off the mudbank. By then, the rain had stopped, and the setting sun flooded the scene with glowing light. Emily propped open the mirror in her compact and tried to make her hair look respectable again. She smoothed down the creases in her dress before joining Robbie at the controls.

“Let’s hope it will start or we really are up the creek,” he said. They exchanged a grin when the motor started nicely. They hauled in the anchor and eased forwards.

“Can you make it go faster?” Emily said.

“I think this is it, I’m afraid.” He tried moving the throttle, but it responded only with a measured chug-chugging. And as they approached the mouth of the river, there were boats on moorings, making navigating around them a challenge. It wasn’t until nine that they pulled up at their original dock. It was almost dark. There was no sign of Dr Dawson, nor of anyone else.

Emily helped Robbie tie up the boat securely, then they climbed the slippery steps. At the top, Emily stood, biting her bottom lip. “I’m not sure what to do now,” she said. “Even if I can still get a train back to Tavistock, I won’t be able to hitch a ride back to the farm tonight. And I certainly don’t want to spend the night on Tavistock Station.”

“We’d better see if that guest house has room to put you up again,” he said.

Emily hesitated. “Robbie, what about the expense?”

“Don’t worry about that. I have plenty of back pay coming to me. Three months in a hospital and I’ve hardly touched a penny. Besides, money is one thing you won’t have to worry about in the future. My family is quite well heeled, you know. Wool is a prosperous commodity. You won’t lack for anything. And if I buy that aeroplane I’ve been talking about, then I’ll fly you to the nearest ocean whenever you want.”

Emily laughed. “Oh Robbie. It all sounds like a lovely dream, doesn’t it?” Then her smile faded. “But for the present, I think I’m going to be in big trouble. You, too.”

“Nonsense. They’ll understand I had trouble with the boat. I’ve been a good boy the rest of the time. Haven’t tried to sneak out like some of them.” He slipped his hand around her waist. “And your old battleaxe will understand, I’m sure. It wasn’t our fault. We didn’t know about tides and mudbanks.”