In the sleepy East Coast village nicknamed Mud Flats, Elizabeth Rattle and her sisters Evelyn and Nancy chafe under the rule of their formidable Aunt Victoria, who has turned their home into a woman-filled refuge with no men allowed until age twenty-five. Elizabeth, sharp-tongued and restless, delights in imagining romance where she can find it, especially when the war transforms their quiet world into a military training camp and soldiers begin flooding the village. When an officer arrives to arrange billets, the sisters' teasing, card-playing, and comic speculation about fate turn their beloved "Lair" into a stage for flirtation, mischief, and longing. But wartime romance proves more complicated than Elizabeth expects. The officer she first meets, Frank Lascelles, is not the heroic figure of her fantasies, and his presence soon leads to a shocking revelation: Nancy has secretly married Captain Harry Masters that very morning. As Elizabeth and Frank stumble through motor trouble, a freezing road, and a search for the missing bridal party, the novel balances humor, suspense, and tenderness, capturing the upheaval of war as it collides with family rules, youthful desire, and the sudden, secret urgency of love. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.