“I’ll give you a call, Nurse.”
That would be something for Nurse Hodgson to repeat, she thought dryly.
Simon came early and gave her a rather strange look when she greeted him in the usual way and informed him that the patients were all comfortable and needed no fresh treatment.
“Has ... Matron said anything to you, Angela?” he asked.
“Yes, she has, and I’d be obliged, Doctor, if you would cease to call me by my Christian name.”
To her surprise, a slight smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
“But surely, under the circumstances—” he began.
She interrupted him. “If I hadn’t got into the habit of calling you ‘Simon,’ this so-called scandal would not have started.”
“Who says there’s a scandal?”
“Matron seems to think so.”
“What happened? How did she find out about ... Paris? I didn’t ask her.”
“I happened to mention your name in connection with Paris when I was on the phone in the nurses residence this morning. I was talking to Roger. Someone was evidently hiding around a corner or something and overheard me. Whoever it was told Matron.”
“Very smart!” observed Simon. “What did she hope to gain?”
Angela shrugged. “My resignation perhaps.”
He looked at her sharply. “Has your resignation been asked for? If so, I shall have something to say about that.”
“According to Matron, I would have definitely been asked for it, had you not told her that I was engaged to be married.”
“You don’t seem to mind very much about my telling Matron that,” he said, eyeing her quizzically.
“Well, you just precipitated the inevitable.”
He gave a violent start, “Precipitated it?”
“Yes. Roger has asked me to marry him, and naturally I am going to say ‘yes’ to him.”
He stared at her, all the color draining from his face.
She looked at him puzzled. He seemed to be making a great effort to pull himself together.
“Angela ...” he said at last. “There’s something you don’t quite understand. I’m sorry, but I ... I told Matron you were engaged to me.”
Her eyes widened and she drew in a sharp breath. The room seemed to be spinning around her.
“You did what?” she breathed incredulously. She put a trembling hand to her cheek and sat down abruptly, her knees weak and shaking. She struggled to get a grip on herself. Surely she had not heard properly.
“You ... oh, but you ... you couldn’t have. It ... it’s not possible.”
“I’m afraid I did. It—”
“But, whatever made you say such a thing? This is unforgivable. Quite unforgivable.” Tears stung her eyes.
He fingered some papers on the desk uncomfortably. He knew he had taken a risk, but he hadn’t anticipated her being this upset.
“I thought it was the best thing to do, for your sake. Anything to still the chattering tongues. For myself, gossip goes right over my head. I don’t come into contact off duty with these people as you do.”
“Yes, but ... but to say that you and I are engaged! Oh, it’s preposterous.”
He thrust his hands miserably into his pockets.
“I ... I’m sorry if the idea is so repugnant to you, Angela, but I really did think I was doing the right thing. After all, engagements can easily be broken. We’ll just have to pretend for a while, then quietly break it off.”
“But what am I going to say to Roger?”
“He’ll understand, I’m sure. I’ll explain it to him if you like.” Angela stared at him, still unable to take in what had happened. A mock engagement to Simon. It was cruel. How could he have done such a thing? Anger welled up inside her. How dare he play such a trick on her! Was she never going to be free of this man? She felt she hated him. Yes, hated him!
“Dr. LeFeure,” she said angrily. “You have taken a very great liberty. This must not be allowed to go on. In the morning, you must tell Matron that it is not true. You can tell her that you made a mistake, that I’ve changed my mind, or anything you like, but I will not go on with this.”
“But, Angela, that will only make matters worse.”
“I don’t care, I—”
The telephone rang. She fervently hoped it would not be Roger. That would be too much at the moment.
“Hello—”
“Hello, Lindsay. This is Roberts here. I say, congratulations. I’ve just heard about your engagement. I must say you’ve given us all a surprise.”
“And something to talk about too, I suppose,” Angela returned tartly.
Nancy laughed. “But of course. You’ve set the whole hospital on its ear. But at least, it’s pleasant talk. You should have heard Hughes and some of the other cats this morning. Of course, Hughes is more jealous than ever. Are you coming over to lock up soon? If so—”
Angela made a desperate effort to stem the tide of chatter. “Look, Nancy, I don’t want to go into the sitting room. Go up to your room and I’ll look in there. I want to talk to you.”
“Righto. Don’t have your tea over there. I’ll make some and take it up to my room.”
“Very well, I’ll be right over.” She put down the receiver. “That was the first congratulation on my so-called engagement,” she told Simon icily.
“Why didn’t you say it isn’t true?”
“I didn’t get the chance, but I’m going over there now, and—”
“Angela,” he said urgently. “Please, don’t contradict it yet. I can understand how you feel, but I honestly did it for the best. Please forgive me, I beg of you, and don’t act impulsively.”
She picked up her cloak and bade him a curt good night. She would never forgive him. Never.
In Nancy Roberts’s room, Angela took the cup of tea that was offered to her. After what had transpired during the past few hours, she felt she needed it.
“I can’t think what you’re looking so angry about.” Nancy was saying. “I think it’s wonderful news! And certainly one in the eye for Hughes. Did you get engaged in Paris? How awfully romantic.” Nancy was the youngest sister in the hospital and the children on her ward loved her. At the sight of her small, eager face alight with the romantic vision of herself and Simon, Angela’s anger subsided.
“We ... we naturally wanted to announce it in our own good time,” she found herself saying. Then with an attempt to be as honest about the affair as she possibly could, she said, “To tell you the truth, Nancy, we discovered, quite by accident, that we were both going to Paris at the same time. Dr. LeFeure offered me a lift to Paris in a car. We became friendly and—”
“And then you fell in love,” finished Nancy. “I wish something like that would happen to me.”
“Well, naturally, we kept quiet about Paris. You know how people gossip.”
Nancy raised her eyes heavenward. “I do, Sister,” she said emphatically. “And honestly, Lindsay, Hughes is as bad as anyone. In fact, she’s worse, for she’s really nasty. Most of us aren’t you know, we’re just interested, or curious at the most. After you’d gone last night, Hughes came down to the sitting room and of course, we were still talking about Paris, but she twisted everything we said.”
“I expect you were wondering, among yourselves, who I went out with there,” Angela said ironically.
“Yes, that’s right. But of course, Hughes—”
“I know,” said Angela heavily. “And by the way, Nancy, call me Angela. I’d much prefer it.”
Nancy nodded. “Well, the next thing we knew, Hughes was putting it around that you and Dr. LeFeure had been to Paris together. You can just imagine the stir that caused, Angela. Then, before we’d properly recovered from that, we heard you and he were engaged. So some people had to eat a lot of words.”
Good heavens. Just because they thought we were engaged, it was suddenly all quite respectable.”
Nancy looked at her oddly. “Well, I suppose it does m
ake a difference as far as some people are concerned.”
Angela sighed, and rose to go, realizing that far from denying her engagement to Simon, she had practically confirmed it. And after all, in view of what Nancy had told her, perhaps Simon had done the right thing and it Would be as well to let the matter lie for a while.
“Well, Nancy, don’t go telling anyone what I’ve just told you, will you?” she said as she went to the door. “I mean about Dr. LeFeure giving me a lift. The less people talk about us, the better pleased I ... we’ll both be.”
Nancy was bursting to ask what Roger felt about it all, but Angela had gone before she could speak again.
Angela did not see Simon until the following evening when he came as usual to her office.
He gave her a searching look. “I didn’t tell Matron you know, Angela,” he said. “How do you feel now about things?”
“I still feel upset, naturally,” she answered coolly. “But on having a talk with Sister Roberts, I felt it would be best, after all, to let the matter rest for a while.”
He nodded. “You’re very wise. I felt sure you would see that after you had had time to think. Have you seen Roger yet?” he added.
“No. He’s away for a few days. I’ll be seeing him next Monday. My supposed engagement to you will not prevent my becoming engaged to Roger. Then perhaps, in a short while, I shall be leaving here. And that will be the end of that.”
Simon colored, then paled, and his lips tightened. “It’s all very unfortunate and I can understand your annoyance. But don’t imagine for one moment that I’m enjoying this situation, because I can assure you that I’m not. Definitely not.”
He left without another word and for the next day or two, their conversation was strictly professional. Angela told herself it was better this way.
On Saturday morning, Angela received a letter from her mother, saying that Suzette would be arriving in England on that day and could Angela possibly come home on Sunday. “I have also written to Simon and invited him,” the letter continued. “I thought it would be such a good idea if you two could come over together.”
Angela’s first impulse was to send her mother a wire saying that she could not possibly come. Yet her mother would be terribly hurt if she didn’t go, she argued with herself. And it would be very discourteous to Suzette, who had been so kind to her while she was in Paris.
So she reasoned, alternately wishing that her mother had not put her into such an embarrassing position and hoping that Simon would want to go and would ask her to go with him.
When she went on duty that night, however, to her great disappointment, Simon was not there. Tony Wilson came from the General and the first thing he said to her was, “What’s this I hear about you and Simon getting engaged? Is it true? If so, I must congratulate you both and put in my application for ‘best man.’ I tried to get hold of Simon once or twice, but haven’t been able to manage it. I must go along and see if he’s in. I only heard today, by the way.”
“It’s been slow reaching you,” she said ironically. “It happened some days ago.”
“It’s true then? I doubted it when I first heard it, because I thought Simon would have told me himself.”
Angela bit her lip. “No, it’s not true,” she said crossly.
He raised his eyebrows. “You sound annoyed. What started the rumor?”
She sighed. “Somehow it got around that we’d both been to Paris and Matron buttonholed Simon about it, so he told her that we were engaged.”
“Oh, I see. To save your honor, I presume,” Tony said, a twinkle in his eye.
Angela winced. “You can put it that way if you like.”
“I take it you don’t like the situation?”
“Would you?”
He laughed. “If I were in Simon’s shoes, I wouldn’t mind a bit.”
She blushed faintly. “Well, I can assure you that Simon doesn’t like it any more than I do.”
Tony gave her a long look. “You’re sure about that?”
“Quite sure. In any case, I am practically engaged—really engaged—to someone else.”
“Hm. A ticklish situation. I shall be interested to see how it works out.”
“There’s only one way it can work out,” she retorted. “That is, to break off the pseudo engagement as soon as possible.”
Greatly to Angela’s surprise, Simon came to see her in his off-duty clothes just as she was on the point of going to the nurses’ residence.
“I thought I’d better come and see you about tomorrow,” he said without preliminary. “Your mother wants us to go over. I’m taking the morning off. If you’d like to be ready about nine, I could run you to Wendover. My mother has arrived.”
“Yes, I know. I had a letter this morning.”
He looked at her and her heart gave a painful leap as she noticed how strained he looked.
“I’d like you to come,” he said. “But if you’d rather not, I could go alone and give your excuses.”
“I’ll be ready at nine, and thank you. I ... I wouldn’t like to disappoint mother, or ... or Suzette.”
“No.”
At about midnight Roger phoned. “How are you, darling? Hope I’m not too early for you.”
“No. that’s all right. Did you enjoy the ballet?”
“Yes, rather. It was very good. Milly enjoyed it too. I was wondering if you’d like a drive tomorrow morning?”
Her heart contracted sharply. “I ... as a matter of fact, Roger, Madame LeFeure has arrived from Paris. Mother has written and asked Simon to run me over to Wendover. So, you see, Simon is taking me home in the morning. Of course, if you’d like to come with us...”
There was a short silence. “No. No thanks, darling. In any case, come to think of it, I’d much rather not see you until Monday. Remember? I really only called to see how you were.”
“Yes, of course, I remember. Until Monday then.”
It seemed a long night. Angela did her routine rounds, checked drugs and injections and wrote her reports. When she walked over to the residence to call the day nurses, a cool misty dawn was breaking and the dew lay heavy on the grass. How peaceful the mornings were—how fresh and unspoiled. She thought of a verse, a favorite of someone she once knew. “And every morning seems to say, there’s something happy on the way...” and a curious mixture of pain and joy filled her heart.
By the time she joined Simon, most of the mist had cleared. Simon opened the car door for her just as the day staff were coming over to the residence for coffee. Angela got in the car, acutely conscious of the significant glances that came her way.
Simon glanced at her flushed face. “I’m sorry, Angela. I didn’t think to say I’d wait outside the gates,” he muttered.
Angela shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Simon’s lips curved with some of their old bitterness as he started the car. Barely half a dozen words passed between them by the time they’d reached Helen Lindsay’s bungalow. When Angela opened the door of the sitting room there, as well as Suzette, was Paulette—looking utterly and completely ravishing.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Paulette!”
Behind her Angela heard Simon’s exclamation of delight and surprise, and before she had time to greet Paulette herself, he had advanced into the room and Paulette’s arms were about his neck.
“But how did this happen, you unpredictable woman!”
Paulette emitted a gay laugh. “It happen ... so quick, chéri.”
“She only telephoned me half an hour ago,” laughed Suzette.
Then, as Angela went forward to greet Suzette, Paulette and Simon began chattering away in French.
Suzette was overjoyed to see Angela again and already seemed quite at ease in Helen Lindsay’s home. It was still warm enough, by day, to have the French windows open and later, they sat by the open window and had coffee and homemade scones.
What did this sudden visit mean? Angela asked herself this question as the flow of conversat
ion passed over her. Did it mean that Paulette was ready to marry Simon sooner than he thought? They conversed rapidly in French most of the time and Angela watched Simon’s animated expression through eyes desperately fighting back tears.
As soon as possible she made an excuse and went into her room to try to compose herself. She must get Simon out of her system. She must! When she went back into the sitting room again Simon and Paulette were out in the garden, still talking, heads together.
Suzette breathed a deep sigh of contentment. “This is wonderful,” she breathed. “Living in Paris for so long I had almost forgotten how lovely an English garden can be.”
“Would you like to come back to England to live?” asked Helen.
“I’m not quite sure, Helen,” she said slowly. Then her bright smile flashed in Angela’s direction. “Don’t you ever long for your own place, Angela?”
Angela’s head turned sharply. “I ... not really. Why should I? I’m happy enough in my job, otherwise I probably would hanker after a place of my own. But at present, I’m perfectly satisfied as long as I can come home fairly often.”
“Don’t attach too much importance to your work, my dear,” Helen Lindsay put in. “There may come a time when, quite suddenly, nursing no longer satisfies you.”
Angela turned imploring eyes to her mother. “Perhaps that time will come one day, Mother, but in the meantime, my work means everything to me.”
The tension in her voice fell heavily in the room and a brief silence ensued. Time enough, Angela thought dully, to tell them of her engagement to Roger when it was an established fact.
Presently, Paulette and Simon came indoors, Paulette looking radiantly happy. Abruptly, Angela rose to her feet.
“I think I should be getting back, Mother. I’m really ready for some sleep.” She glanced briefly at Simon.
“I’m ready,” he said. “Paulette is coming into town too.”
“When are you coming for your nights off, Angela?” Helen asked. “Perhaps we could all go out somewhere for a day.” Angela wondered if her mother was including Simon and Paulette in the “all.”
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