Secrets of the Frontline Nurses

by Holly Green

  ‘There’s nothing to be sorry for. All I want is to see you get back to your old self. And now I can see you’re on the mend.’

  ‘Thanks to you.’ He kissed her hand. ‘You’re freezing! Let’s go back inside and get warm. I can get on with this later.’

  The following day Leo received a telegram. Arrived Athens safely stop Awaiting arrival of goods stop love V and L.

  Back at the nursing home she found Tom had been hard at work on his painting but it worried her that the cold conservatory was not a good place for a convalescent. He pre-empted her concern, however, by saying, ‘The people here are dropping hints that it’s time I moved out and made room for someone in greater need.’

  ‘But where can you go?’ Leo asked. ‘You can’t possibly live alone. You need help with so many basic things.’

  ‘I know,’ he said ruefully, ‘and before you even think of volunteering, the answer is no. I won’t let you burden yourself with all that. Besides, it’s not a woman’s job.’

  ‘No,’ Leo agreed. ‘What you need is a male nurse, or a manservant who has some experience in that direction.’

  ‘A gentleman’s gentleman,’ he said. ‘That’s what I was thinking.’

  ‘Didn’t you have someone, before the war?’

  ‘Peters, yes. He volunteered to enlist with me, with a view to becoming my orderly, but he had flat feet, apparently, and they wouldn’t take him. But I heard from him later. When conscription came in it seems his feet weren’t as flat as the first MO thought – anyway, they were good enough for cannon fodder. I had a letter from his mother, last summer. He was killed on the Somme.’

  ‘Oh,’ Leo said. One more death out of so many warranted no further comment. ‘Well, we need to find you someone else. I’ll put an advert in the papers. But if you leave here, where will you go?’

  ‘Denham, I suppose. There’s just about room for me and a servant in the Dower House with Mother, and I suppose I ought to spend some time with her.’

  ‘Have you heard from her?’

  ‘She occasionally sends me parcels. I think she believes I am still at the front.’

  ‘Oh dear! That isn’t going to be an ideal arrangement, is it?’

  ‘No, but the house in Cheyne Walk is let for the duration, and anyway it’s hardly suitable, with all those stairs. I think I’ll see if the current tenants want to buy, and then I can get a flat. But until then it will have to be Denham.’

  ‘Well, at least we can find you someone congenial to look after you,’ Leo said. ‘Leave that to me.’

  Glad to have a new project, Leo placed advertisements in the Situations Vacant columns of several newspapers, though without much optimism. With so many dead and others away at the front there were far too few men available to fill the vacancies. However, she was pleasantly surprised by the response and, after a series of interviews, she whittled the applicants down to three and arranged to take them down to Surrey for Tom to make the final choice. It gave her some satisfaction to learn that he had picked the man she herself would have chosen.

  Arnold Simpson, Sim as he begged to be called, was twenty-seven years old, a sturdy, broad-shouldered young man with a ruddy countryman’s complexion marred by a deep scar that ran from the corner of one eye to his jawbone. He had left school at fourteen and gone into service in a country house in the Cotswolds but after several years there had been offered a job as valet and general help to a doctor with a prosperous practice in Cheltenham. When the doctor had volunteered to serve with the army Sim had gone with him as his orderly and had served as his right-hand man when dealing with casualties. The doctor had been killed during the battle of Loos and Sim had gone on to work as a medical orderly, until he in his turn was hit by a sniper’s bullet which had gone into his back below the shoulder blade, come out by his collar bone and carved the scar on his face. That was six months ago, and though he had been discharged on medical grounds because the bullet had clipped his lung, he declared himself fully fit and able to do all that Tom might require. Apart from the obvious relevance of his experience in the field, there were several things that recommended him to both Leo and Tom. First was an indomitable cheerfulness, a quality that they both felt much in need of. Also, in spite of his lack of formal education, it was clear that he was highly intelligent, something the doctor who’d employed him had obviously spotted because, as Sim himself said, he had taught him more during their years together than any amount of schooling. The doctor had been a man of wide interests and much of that had rubbed off on Sim and his country upbringing had given him much in common with Tom. He showed an immediate interest in Tom’s paintings, and having lived through the same horrors, was able to relate to them in a way that was impossible for Leo. As a final bonus, he was not employed and could start work immediately.

  A week before Christmas, Leo hired a brand-new Rolls Royce motorcar, Sparky in her opinion being neither commodious nor reliable enough for the job. She collected Sim from the station and drove him down to the nursing home. There they helped Tom into the car, put his wheelchair in the boot and set off for Denham.

  Chapter 16

  Leo spent Christmas at the Dower House with Tom. It was a less than ideal arrangement. The house was really too small for all of them and a bed had to be moved down to the study, the only room on the ground floor that could accommodate Tom without disrupting the rest of the household. With the three servants plus Leo and Lady Devenish, every room in the house was occupied, but what was more important, in Leo’s mind, was the fact that there was nowhere convenient for Tom to paint.

  Lady Devenish’s hold on reality was becoming noticeably more fragile. She seemed unable to remember why Tom was in a wheelchair. Sometimes she reverted to the time when he was a baby in a pushchair and thought Leo was his nursemaid. Once she chided him petulantly for not standing up when she entered the room. Tom treated her with patience and courtesy but Leo could detect no warmth in their relationship. It seemed that the close bond that should exist between mother and son had broken down – if it had ever existed.

  On Christmas Eve, Tom asked Sim to push him up the drive to the big house and Leo went with them. The house had been bought by a developer who intended to turn it into flats but so far it remained empty, the paint peeling and the windows veiled with cobwebs. After they had walked all round and peered into the empty rooms Tom sighed.

  ‘You know, when I was a boy this place would have been alight with candles and decorations at this time of year. My father always gave a big party on Boxing Day and invited half the county. He was still doing it, right up to last year – on borrowed money, of course. But they were all glad to come and eat and drink at his expense, and now there hasn’t been so much as a Christmas card from any of them. Nothing like a bankruptcy and a suicide to wipe you off the social map!’

  One regular visitor to the Dower House, they learned from Lowndes, had been the local vicar; so out of gratitude to him rather than religious conviction, they all went to Matins on Christmas morning. As they made their way down the aisle towards the family pew at the front of the church Leo was conscious of heads turning in their direction and whispers passing along the rows. Out of habit, Lady Devenish smiled vaguely and bowed to left and right, but her eyes lacked focus. Tom stared straight ahead. At the end of the service the local gentry seemed inclined to make amends for their neglect and clustered round Tom’s wheelchair, mouthing platitudes about ‘heroism’ and ‘duty’ and defence of the country. Tom received their plaudits with chilly courtesy and Leo, standing beside him, felt appraising eyes upon her as she was introduced as his fiancée. After that, the invitations did begin to arrive, and all were politely declined.

  One good thing came out of the occasion. Two days later the vicar called again and took a lively interest in Tom’s painting.

  Lady Devenish presented him with yet another beautifully worked kneeler and he said with a laugh, ‘At this rate, every member of the congregation will soon have an embroidered hassock to kneel on
. But I have another idea. Perhaps, Sir Thomas, you could design a wall-hanging for your mother to embroider, something that would serve as a memorial to the fallen. What do you think?’

  Tom was immediately taken with the idea and it gave Leo some pleasure to see him and his mother with their heads together, examining his preliminary sketches and discussing colours. For the first time, it seemed, they felt a genuine connection.

  Once Christmas and New Year were over it became obvious that they could not all continue to live in the Dower House; so one evening when they were sitting alone in front of the fire Leo drew her chair close to Tom’s.

  ‘We can’t stay here, Tom. It’s too cramped and there is nowhere for you to work. Why don’t you move in with me at Sussex Gardens?’

  He raised his eyebrows. ‘And scandalise the neighbourhood? What about your reputation?’

  Leo laughed dryly. ‘My dear man, you and I both know that after the life I’ve led I have no reputation. Anyway, who cares?’

  He shook his head. ‘It wouldn’t be right. I mean, on what basis would I be there? Would I be a lodger or what?’

  ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘Yes, I think it does.’

  She was silent for a moment. What she was about to say had been germinating in her mind for some time but she had never formulated it in words until that evening.

  ‘And if we were married? Would that make it all right?’

  ‘Married? You’re not serious.’

  ‘Why not? After all, we’ve been engaged long enough.’

  ‘But we both know that was purely a device. We never intended to marry.’

  ‘Not then, I know. But circumstances are different now.’

  ‘Yes, indeed they are. You know it could never have been a real marriage, for reasons we both understand. But at least then I should not have been a burden to you. Now it is doubly impossible.’

  ‘But I know that! You know I’m not expecting anything like that. And you would not be a burden.’

  ‘Yes, I should. And I’m not going to let you throw yourself away looking after me.’ He silenced her protest with a gesture. ‘You’re a beautiful woman, Leo. When this war is over men will be queuing up to pay court to you.’

  She gave another brief ironic laugh. ‘After all the deaths there have been, it’s the poor spinsters who will be queuing up for any available man that’s left. But I shan’t be one of them.’ She took his hand. ‘I’ve had my one great love affair, Tom. I don’t expect to have another. We’ve both lost the one person who mattered more to us than anything else in this life. All I want is a companion. We’re good friends. We’re very fond of each other. Can’t we get what consolation we can from that?’

  He gave a lop-sided smile. ‘There was a time when you couldn’t stand the sight of me.’

  ‘Only because I thought I was going to be forced to marry you! I’m older and wiser now.’

  ‘But what about children? You could still have children with the right man.’

  ‘I have a child, remember. That’s all I want.’

  ‘And you still want to go and look for her?’

  ‘Of course, as soon as the winter is over. I’ll have to leave you for a while then, but you have Sim to take care of you.’

  He was silent in his turn. Then he said, ‘I’ll make a bargain with you. I’ll move into Sussex Gardens as a tenant to take care of the place while you’re away. You go and find your daughter, and when you come back we’ll talk about this again – if you still want to. Will that do?’

  She kissed his cheek. ‘It will have to, for now.’

  In the last days of February Leo stood on the pitching deck of a small fishing boat and watched, for the third time, the outline of the city of Salonika take shape in front of her. Memories crowded her mind: sailing in with Victoria six years ago, thrilling at the start of a great adventure (what a naïve pair they had been then!); returning by land, bitter and resentful, when her brother dragged her back to Belgrade; sailing in again with Mabel Stobart and her team, older and wiser, but still excited by the thought that Sasha was somewhere beyond the mountains, and soon she might meet him again; and then, the summer before last, standing on deck with his arm round her waist, in the first glow of their love affair, convinced that soon they would be marching into Serbia and able to begin the life they had imagined for themselves. How different this return was! And the difference was emphasised by the city itself. Gone were the minarets and domes she remembered and in their places were blackened ruins or empty spaces where land had been cleared but not yet built on. It was a tragic irony, she thought, that this disaster had not been the result of war, but rather of an army kept too long away from the fighting; for she was sure in her own mind that the fire must have been the result of some drunken revelry of a kind she had seen often during her last stay.

  Her reverie was broken by the sight of familiar faces on the dockside. Victoria and Luke were waving excitedly and very soon she was embracing them both.

  ‘How are you? Are you exhausted? The sea’s really rough today. Were you sick?’

  ‘No, I’m fine. You know me. I’m never seasick.’

  ‘How’s Tom?’

  ‘He’s doing really well. He’s started painting again and we’ve found an excellent man to look after him. He’s going to be all right.’

  Her luggage was loaded into a horse-drawn cab and they set off through the city. As they drove Victoria told her how they had distributed half the extra food and clothing to the Serbian soldiers in the garrison on the morning of the orthodox Christmas.

  ‘You should have seen their faces! It was heart-breaking in a way to see how pathetically grateful they were. But they were so thrilled. I saw one officer line up his whole platoon and go along the line giving each man a spoonful of jam. They looked as if they were being given manna from heaven! I made sure they knew it was from you, and how hard you had worked to get the money. General Bojovic wants to thank you personally.’

  Listening to her, Leo thought that it was a long time since she had seen her so animated. This new expedition had been good for her. Perhaps, she reflected, she had needed to get away from London. Luke said little, but his ready, boyish grin had returned.

  ‘And you have kept plenty back for the men in Bitola?’ she said.

  ‘Oh yes. But the road is still closed through the mountains. We shall have to wait until spring to deliver that.’

  They arrived at length at a small hotel on the outskirts of the city.

  ‘It’s not very grand, I’m afraid,’ Luke said, ‘but accommodation is hard to find since the fire.’

  ‘This will do perfectly,’ Leo said, glad that there was nothing here to remind her of the room she had shared with Sasha through those blissful summer days.

  That night at dinner she began to realise that the excitement she had sensed in Victoria and to a lesser extent in Luke was not simply the result of the success of their mission. Nevertheless, she was stunned when Luke said, ‘Leo, there’s something we have to tell you. Victoria and I are going to be married.’

  ‘Married!’ Leo put down the wineglass she had been about to raise to her lips. So many questions crowded into her mind that for a moment she was unable to speak; but the glow on her friends’ faces was irresistible. She got up and went round the table to kiss them both. ‘I’m so pleased for both of you. You’re made for each other. I’m sure you will be very happy.’

  ‘It wasn’t an easy decision, for either of us,’ Luke said. ‘After all, I’m asking Vita to move to a distant country and take on a ready-made family. But Anton and Nadia really need a mother.’

  ‘Yes, I can see the difficulty,’ Leo said. ‘But I presume you’re happy with it, Vita?’

  ‘The distant country, or the ready-made family?’ Victoria asked with a smile.

  ‘Well, both.’

  ‘I know I told you years ago that I wouldn’t consider moving to the other side of the world, but things are different now. I’m different. My wild mot
or-racing days are over and what I really want now is a bit of peace and stability. And Luke has convinced me that life in New Zealand can be wonderful. To hear him talk about it, you would think it was an earthly paradise.’

  ‘So it is,’ Luke chipped in.

  ‘As to the family … well, I’ve never thought of myself as the maternal type – but I’m willing to give it a try. I just hope they take to me.’

  ‘Of course they will,’ Luke said. ‘And there’s still time for another addition.’

  Leo saw a shadow cross Victoria’s face. ‘That’s … well, we’ll have to wait and see.’

  ‘I wish you every happiness,’ Leo said, but a chill was beginning to creep round her heart at the thought of losing her friend. ‘I just wish you weren’t going to be so far away.’

  ‘As to that,’ Luke said, ‘you made me a promise years ago that you would come out and visit. I’m going to hold you to it.’

  ‘Yes, you must come,’ Victoria added. ‘And bring Alexandra with you. You never know, you might decide to settle there too.’

  ‘It’s good horse country,’ Luke put in.

  Leo smiled. ‘I will come, one day. I promise. When do you plan to leave?’

  ‘Not until you’ve found your daughter,’ he said. ‘We won’t leave you to search on your own.’

  Alone in her room that night Leo tried to reconcile herself to the news. She knew she should be glad for Victoria and reminded herself that years ago in Adrianople she had been furious with her for refusing Luke’s proposal. But she could not rid herself of the feeling that yet another one of those dearest to her was being taken away.

  When Victoria came into her room to wake her next morning she found her standing at the window with tears running down her face.

  ‘Oh, my dear, what is it? What’s wrong?’ Victoria put her arm round Leo’s shoulders. ‘It’s not because of me and Luke, is it?’

  ‘No, no,’ Leo assured her, wiping her eyes. ‘I just realised that it is a year ago to the day that Alexandra was born … and that Sasha died.’