I supposeshe was out of my league and it took a fe w days for me to work up thenerve but I finally managed to ask her." Mark stopped unable to finish....She turned you down. That sucks, I'm sorry Mark," Aunt Tracy saidfilling the uncomfortable silence."I wish," Mark continued. "She..." His voice cracked with a suppressedsob as the muscles of his throat tightened. "She laughed at me. Justlaughed, said nothing else. She walked away laughing." Mark lookeddown toward his feet but only saw the. .." Joking, darling, but yes, I hope I'm going to be allowed to sleep on the big bed" she interjected, before giving her daughter a cuddle."Don't know how much sleeping you'll be doing" Stephen said facetiously."Stephen! That's not a very nice thing to suggest in front of my teenage daughter" she blushed, but pretended to be annoyed."I merely meant that if you snore like Chloe suggested, I'll be waking you up all the time so I'm able to get some sleep" he responded, laughingly."As if" Chloe. Whatever the equation, the resulting answer was that John was a fine shot and a brave man.The Caravan master continued his account, submitting how he had one of his largest men, who knew wrestling, enter the ring against John, and how John had beaten him soundly twice, using only a minimum of effort. There was another pause as a ring was built, and two wrestlers were choreographed in their parts while the matches were re-enacted. A few small corrections by the Caravan master, and The Emperor. The officers knew that the successful surgery boosted the morale of the men. Sir Pierce made it a point to invite the doctor and his wife to lunch whilst the Asia was already ploughing through the choppy waves south of Ireland. Lucy beamed with pride at the praise that was heaped upon her husband, and Tony relayed the fact that Wilkes had already served the Navy as a volunteer in the Portsmouth infirmary.Lady Fallon was feeling much better already, thanks in part to Lucy’s teas, and she was.