Highland Interlude
Page 20
‘Never fear, lassie. I’ll whisper a wee word of introduction in your uncle’s ear.’ Dr MacAlistair patted his portly waist. ‘Here am I looking so fine in my morning coat, but not once has anyone happened to remark that I resemble a fab, trendy dolly! It’s a hard life for a poor man.’
Mrs MacAlistair was in a stone-coloured outfit and matching straw sombrero. She swept Judy back into the waiting car, then returned to fiddle with my veil. ‘That’s perfect, dearie! Where’s your posy ‒ ah ‒ you’ve it there! Are you sure you’ve remembered your grandfather’s signet ring on that chain round your neck? That takes care of the old ‒ your dress is new ‒ but where’s the blue? Mercy me! You must have something blue!’
‘I have! my petticoat frills ‒ look.’
‘Of course! But borrowed? You’ll have to borrow ‒ Hamish ‒ lend her something!’
I said, ‘Mrs MacAlistair, you’ve lent me that lace handkerchief ‒ see? You gave it to me upstairs.’
‘So I did! I’d forgotten!’
‘My dear,’ said her husband, ‘will you away to the kirk before you forget your head? We’re late as it is. If we delay more the anxious bridegroom will be convinced I’ve absconded with his bride. Away, now!’
Mrs MacAlistair kissed me. ‘Don’t be nervous, dearie ‒ you look so pretty ‒ there’s nothing to be nervous about ‒’ She dropped her handbag and gloves. ‘Just keep calm and enjoy your own wedding.’ She looked round wildly. ‘Where’s Isobel? She should be down ‒’
‘She’s waiting in the car with Judy and the laddies, my dear.’ Dr MacAlistair pushed her handbag under one arm, her gloves into her hands, and propelled her through the front door and down the path. He returned mopping his brow. ‘Wives at weddings! May the good Lord have mercy on the poor husbands who’ve to deal with them! Now, let’s have a look at you, lassie.’ Carefully he lifted my veil. ‘Ach, but you’re a lovely picture this day. I’m as proud to walk with you up the aisle as your own father would’ve been, could he have been spared for this happiness. Come, come, no greeting! Well, perhaps the one tear or two. All brides are allowed that. That’s better. Ready?’
Craig’s boy-friend Ian had arrived to drive us to the church in the hotel car that should have taken me to Glasgow. He was a large red-haired young man, wearing a spruce dark suit, wide smile, and huge floral buttonhole. The car shone with polish and was festooned with white nylon ribbons.
The caterers gathered behind us in the porch to see us off. The cluster of nurses, up-patients, lay staff, and porters waiting in the hospital gates surged forward, smiling. Gordon rushed up to the car with his camera. Mr Cameron was standing just outside the main entrance. He smiled his sad, sad smile and bowed from the waist.
‘It is to be devoutly hoped,’ murmured Dr MacAlistair, ‘that no urgent caller is attempting to contact the hospital at this moment.’
In the car he told me every member of the hospital staff who could get off duty was now waiting at the church. ‘And there’s not one who doesn’t take personal credit for this match, myself included.’
I was too moved for speech.
‘So you are nervous? Again, a bride’s prerogative, but I much doubt you’ve cause to be. You’ve got a good man, and he’s got a good lass. I think you’ll do well together.’
I couldn’t think of the future. I couldn’t even accept the present. The girl in the white lace dress couldn’t be me. Those bells ringing couldn’t be ringing for me.
The taxi had stopped. Craig’s Ian rushed round to open the door with a flourish. Dr MacAlistair helped me out and settled the fall of my veil at the back. A man’s voice called ‘Will you please hold it there just one minute, Doctor!’ A woman’s voice exclaimed, ‘Och! Now there’s a bonnie bride!’ And I actually looked round to see who was getting married.
Through a haze that had nothing to do with my veil I saw the little posse of women in headscarves and carrying shopping-baskets waiting by the lych-gate; the photographer backing with his camera poised; then Joe looking unrecognizable in a morning suit and flanked by Robin and Johnnie, and all three with buttonholes to rival Ian’s. I saw Dougal turn and the way his whole face lit up as he saw me. I didn’t really see anything else until we were back in the MacAlistairs’ emptied and transformed sitting-room, with the caterers hovering tactfully in the hall as we waited for the others to join us. Then I properly registered Dougal’s ceremonial kilt, superbly cut black jacket, and glorious lace jabot.
‘Dougal, you look out of this world!’
His bow surpassed Mr Cameron’s, but there was no sadness in his smile. ‘Having just married you, my darling, that doesn’t surprise me at all, as that’s precisely how I feel. I told you how incredibly lovely you look in the car. Or didn’t you hear a word I said?’
‘Not really. I’m only just beginning to surface, and seeing you now in that wonderful get-up ‒ I’m going under again. This can’t be for real!’
He kissed my ring finger, then brushed the back of my left hand against his chin. ‘Just give it a little time, sweetheart, just give it a little time.’ His eyes caressed me. ‘It’ll sort itself out.’
‘Yes. Thanks, love.’
‘Not at all,’ said Dougal politely, as Mrs MacAlistair rushed back up the front path. ‘My pleasure.’
Also by Lucilla Andrews
If you enjoyed Highland Interlude, you will also want to read these other stories by Lucilla Andrews.
The Print Petticoat
A moving story of heartache and hope in the Maternity Unit of a busy 1950s teaching hospital.
Joanna Anthony is a dedicated Nursery staff nurse at St Gregory’s Hospital. The nurses and doctors share laughter and tears as they tend to the mothers and babies in their care.
There is time for romance, too. After five years together, is ambitious Dr Richard Everley finally ready to settle down with Joanna? And what of the two other young doctors who have more than a professional interest in her?
It takes a serious illness for Joanna to understand where, and with whom, her future really lies.
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The Secret Armour
There’s romance for Nurse Maggie on the wards of a 1950s teaching hospital. But is she in love with the wrong man?
Nineteen-year-old nurse Maggie Howard is completing her training at St Benedict’s Hospital. Life on the ward is hard and the Sisters are strict, but Maggie and her set mates, Alice and Rose, love their work. That’s not all that Maggie loves, when against all advice she falls for a dashing patient, David Corford.
Maggie will experience happiness, heartache and misunderstandings. And throughout the emotional ups and downs, young houseman George Hartigan is always there to provide a shoulder to cry on.
Will Maggie risk her career and future happiness over her love for a handsome patient?
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The Quiet Wards
Young nurse Gillian Snow is blamed when a dangerous drug goes missing during her shift on the ward of a 1950s teaching hospital. But who took it?
Twenty-one-year-old Nurse Gillian Snow finds her career in jeopardy when a dangerous drug disappears from the drug cupboard under her care. The situation also affects her romance with dashing house-surgeon Peter Kier.
Moved from her ward to do other duties, Gillian experiences the happiness and heartache that comes from nursing both children and accident victims.
As she struggles to understand who took the drug, and why, Gillian finds support and truth from some unexpected quarters.
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The First Year
Rose Standing has a lot to learn about
hospital life, patients ‒ and romance, during her first year as a probationer nurse at St Martin’s Hospital in 1950s London.
Twenty-year-old Rose has a reputation for being accident-prone and absent-minded. Does she really have what it takes to make a good nurse?
The biggest question on Rose’s mind is whether the Senior Surgical Officer, Jake Waring, will even notice her existence. Are her daydreams about a romance between them destined to remain a fantasy?
Rose discovers that each department has its own heartaches and joys as she gains experience on the men’s surgical, women’s medical, and Casualty wards.
Meanwhile, handsome student doctor Bill Martin shows a keen interest in Rose. But she has her suspicions about his motives.
A moving and heart-warming story of a young nurse, and the challenges she faces on the hospital wards and in her personal life.
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A Hospital Summer
In the summer of 1940, Clare Dillon is a V.A.D. in an English military hospital, nursing the wounded as the bombs fall.
Twenty-year-old Clare must rise to the challenge of nursing in wartime. Whether giving comfort to a dying soldier, or assisting in a birth during an air raid, she has to remain clear-headed and professional.
Clare is not only dealing with problems at the hospital. She is also worried for the safety of her brothers, who are both in the forces. Then the Dunkirk evacuation changes her world forever.
With the medical emergencies and bombings, it’s no wonder Clare doesn’t have time to think about the attention she’s getting from young medical officer Joe Slaney. But she surprises herself when news about Joe makes her face up to what she really wants for the future.
A gripping, bittersweet story about the courage and determination of young V.A.D. nurses in the Second World War.
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My Friend the Professor
Young probationer nurse, Frances Dorland, is dealing with the ups and downs of 1960s hospital life when she meets an understanding older man ‒ the Professor.
Frances’s nursing friends joke about the identity of the Professor, but the truth is that none of them know anything about him, except that he proves to be a loyal and kind friend to Frances.
As Frances starts to realise she feels more than friendship for the Professor, she is also trying to help the course of true love run smoothly for her best friend Estelle Dexter. And handsome student doctor Bart More is sending mixed signals to both young women.
It is only when one of the hospital staff becomes dangerously ill that Frances and her friends come to realise home truths that will change their lives forever.
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Discover all of the available novels by Lucilla Andrews, and be the first to know when the next ebook is released, by going to www.lucillaandrews.com
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A Nurse’s Life by Jane Grant
Heart-warming and humorous tales from a 1950s student nurse
In this warm and witty book, Jane Grant recounts her life as a trainee nurse in a busy 1950s London teaching hospital.
Jane, and her friends Mary and Phyllis, discover that both happiness and heartache can be found on the wards of St. Bernard’s Hospital. Before long they realise it takes determination and a sense of humour to deal with the colourful characters of hospital life – and that goes for the staff as well as the patients.
The young nurses gain their medical training under the watchful eyes of strict, but generally fair, sisters and matrons. They meet patients who are facing the biggest challenges of their lives, and share with them moments of bravery and fear. There are times of laughter, but also of tears.
There is romance too, as Jane and her fellow student nurses enjoy the attentions of the hospital’s handsome young doctors, falling in and out of love for the first time.
A Nurse’s Life is a moving and amusing account of a bygone era, brought vividly to life. Also available in this series, there is more from Jane and her friends and family in More From a Nurse’s Life, A Sister’s Life and A Country Life.
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Doctors and Nurses: 3-in-1 box set by Sheila Burns
Three medical romances from the 1960s in one box set. Romance and drama in medical settings.
Doctor Called David ‒ Can Valerie escape her past, or is history destined to repeat itself?
1966. After nurse Valerie Scott is found innocent of a terrible crime and released from jail, she turns to prison doctor David Graves for support. The offer of a new position as a private nurse to a kind and elderly couple seems the ideal chance to rebuild her life. But are the Goddards and their adopted son Gregory all that they seem? And can a doctor called David protect Valerie from a cruel twist of fate?
Dr Irresistible M.D. ‒ Sharon wins a beauty competition but can she win a handsome stranger’s heart?
1962. Sharon’s life takes an unexpected turn when she wins a beauty competition. Then she crashes the prize car of her dreams, and is rescued by a mysterious, good-looking man. He is Glynn Rodwell ‒ Dr Irresistible. The chance of a Mediterranean cruise offers Sharon excitement and opportunity ‒ but if she takes it, will she ever see Dr Irresistible again?
The Eyes of Doctor Karl ‒ Will Cherrie discover the truth behind the hypnotic eyes of a handsome doctor?
1962. While sitting in a traffic jam, Cherrie locks eyes with a dark and handsome man. That evening she reads about the strange case of Dr Karl Heineman whose patients have died in mysterious circumstances. Cherrie accompanies a newspaper reporter friend who is investigating the story. When they call on the doctor, she is surprised to find he is the man whose eyes she hasn’t been able to forget. As Cherrie is drawn closer into his world, will she discover the truth, and love, behind the eyes of Dr Karl?
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The Country Doctor by Jean McConnell
Captivating tales from a young GP’s case notes
Young doctor Linda Ford swaps a busy London teaching hospital for a six month post at a small West Country General Practice. She soon discovers that countryside life is far from uneventful.
John Cooper, the senior doctor, warns Linda not to get emotionally involved in her cases. But Linda can’t help taking a personal interest in her patients, particularly when their problems seem to be more than medical. And as this is the late 1970s, Linda also faces some misgivings about a female doctor. Especially a young and pretty one.
Linda clashes over medical matters with Dr Peter Cooper, the older doctor’s son. But there is an undeniable attraction too. Where will it lead? And as Linda is keeping Peter’s place until he joins the practice as his father’s partner, what will her future hold?
This slice of rural life uncovers the dramas, family secrets and dilemmas which confront patients young and old. Their stories are in turn intriguing, poignant, and heart-warming.
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A Doctor’s Life by Dr Robert Clifford
A heart-warming, nostalgic look at life for a doctor in the 1940s and 1950s, perfect for fans of Call The Midwife and classics such as Dr Finlay’s Casebook and the Richard Gordon Doctor series.
This charming and amusing story follows young doctor Bob Ramsden from his training at a busy 1940s London teaching hospital to life in general practice as a Somerset GP in the 1950s. It is also the tale of his love for the beautiful, clever Priscilla, the medical colleague he falls for at first sight, despite feeling sure that she is out of his league.
Once at medical school, he soon discovers that both laughter and tears are to be found on a hospital ward.
During his medical career, Dr Bob meets patients who can be brave, funny or a challenge. His fellow doctors provide moments of entertainment, as well as support. There are many tales of happiness and heartache in this nostalgic look at a doctor’s life in post-war Britain.
Bonus Short Story: The Bevin Boy. Bob spends time as a Bevin Boy, working in a Yorkshire coal mine. There he enjoys the camaraderie of his fellow miners, but also experiences great tragedy.
A Doctor’s Life is a poignant, feel-good account of a doctor’s love for his profession and his patients, as well as his devotion to the woman who is the love of his life.
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Wyndham Books: Timeless bestsellers for today’s readers
Wyndham Books publishes the first ebook editions of bestselling works by some of the most popular authors of the twentieth century. Enjoy our Historical, Family Saga, Regency, Romance and Medical fiction and non-fiction.