The three boys were then at school, Egbert and Athelstane at Winchester, and Hereward at a preparatory school; so, storing the furniture, Mrs.Saxon moved into rooms with Quenrede and Ingred, who were attending the girls' college in Grovebury as day boarders.

For the whole period of the war this arrangement had continued; Rotherwood was given over to the wounded soldiers, and Mrs.Saxon herself worked as one of their most devoted nurses.
In course of time Egbert and Athelstane had also joined the army, and with three of her menkind at the front, their mother had been more than ever glad to fill up at the hospital the hours when her girls were absent from her at school.

Then came the Armistice, and the blessed knowledge that, though not yet home again, the dear ones were no longer in danger.

By April the Red Cross had finished its work in Grovebury; the remaining patients regretfully departed, the wards were dismantled of their beds, and Rotherwood was handed back to its rightful owners.
Naturally it needed much renovation and decorating before it was again fit for a private residence, and paperers and painters had been busy there for many weeks.

They had only just removed the ladders by the middle of July.
It was nearly August before Mr.Saxon, Egbert, and Athelstane were finally demobilized, and they had gone straight to Lynstones to join the rest of the family at the farmhouse rooms.