Still Waters — Ruby M. Ayres

When attractive Merion Bennett left London for a job as a governess in a small coastal town in the north of England, she was embarking on more than one adventure. She was running away from personal tragedy, seeking forgetfulness in work; and she was heading into an unknown life where war would come closer to her than it ever had in London. On the long train trip north she made her first acquaintance with two men whose destination was the same as her own. One was George Northcote, an officer in the Royal Navy; the other an unpleasant, lonely-looking man who chose to remain a mysterious stranger and who filled Merion with an apprehension she couldn't explain. Both of these men were to play significant parts in her life in the months to come, and both were to be importantly concerned with her happiness.
This is not a war novel; but a backround of war heightens its suspense and makes it one of Ruby Ayres' most poignant romances.