A Regimental Affair Read Online Free

view of the nature of your daughter’s latest misdemeanour I have gated her until the end of term. I thought you should know.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I look forward to seeing you for the end of term service a week on Friday.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Goodbye.’
    Alice was left saying goodbye to a dead line. Black? How could she! How could she show her daughter off to the other wives at her coffee morning if she looked like some sort of freak? She’d just have to tell Megan to stay in her room. Alice knew that under normal circumstances only a heavy bribe would induce Megan to put in an appearance but, knowing her daughter as she did, there was no guarantee that the little minx would stay out of sight. In fact Alice knew that, just to be contrary, Megan would make sure she was highly visible.
    Making a quick decision, she phoned regimental headquarters. She’d have to have the coffee morning in the mess. Megan wouldn’t make an appearance there. She had her fingers crossed that the invitations were still in Bob’s briefcase so she could retrieve them and rewrite them. After a couple of rings the adjutant answered.
    ‘Captain Greenwood speaking.’
    ‘This is Mrs Davies. Is my husband still there?’ She hoped that Bob hadn’t already left for his visit to brigade headquarters that was going to take him away for most of the day.
    ‘He’s with the RSM, Mrs Davies. He told me he didn’t want to be disturbed.’
    ‘It’s urgent.’
    Richard Greenwood sighed. The previous evening, Debbie had told him about the rumours she’d heard and, together with intelligence gleaned from other officers who had served before with the Davieses, he reckoned she wasn’t a woman to be argued with.
    ‘I’ll put you through.’ Anyway, if Colonel Bob didn’t want to talk to her he could tell her himself. It was too early in his relationship with the new CO to end up playing piggy in the middle between him and his wife.
    A minute later the CO put his head round their interconnecting door. ‘Richard, those invitations I asked you to send out.’
    ‘Sir.’
    ‘Have they gone?’
    ‘They were delivered to the company offices straight away, as you requested.’
    ‘Damn. The memsahib seems to have changed her mind about the venue, but I’ll tell her it’s too late now.’
    Colonel Bob withdrew to his office and, after a brief word with his wife, resumed his discussion with his most senior warrant officer. Richard glanced at the invitation to his own wife, which was sitting in his in-tray, and wondered for a fleeting instant what the problem was, but the phone rang again and Debbie’s social calendar ceased to concern him.
    Debbie was putting her daughter, Danielle, to bed when Richard came home.
    ‘Hi darling. Hello sweetheart,’ he said quietly as he entered the bedroom.
    ‘Dada,’ cooed Danielle sleepily.
    Debbie tucked the quilt over the toddler and wound up the mobile so a tiny flock of fluffy sheep danced round in a circle above her daughter’s blonde curls. Richard leaned over the cot rail and dropped a kiss on her forehead. ‘Night night, gorgeous. Sleep tight.’ He gazed at his daughter and tried to imprint the image on his mind. He’d had word of some important news that was going to affect the entire regiment. He hoped that he would be able to hide the secret from Debbie until the news became official. He loved Debbie to bits but she wasn’t the soul of discretion, and if she got a hint of what was going on it would be round the married patch before you could say, ‘What secret?’
    Danielle turned on her side, stuck a fat thumb in her rosebud mouth and shut her eyes. Her parents tiptoed out of the room and shut the door.
    ‘I’ve got a letter for you,’ said Richard, as they descended the stairs.
    ‘Me?’ Debbie was curious. Overseas, their post was delivered to the unit and distributed to families via husbands, but on home postings they got their mail through their letter boxes, like everyone else. ‘Who’s it