When Holly arrived at the workhouse she removed her cloak and was shown up the stairs to the children’s nursery. It was a large room with small beds and cots down either side of it. Most of the children were fretful and crying as some of the workhouse staff moved amongst them offering cold drinks and words of comfort. Dr Phillips was leaning across one bed containing a little girl who looked to be about one and a half to two years old. At a glance Holly could see that she was burning up with fever and her feelings towards the young doctor softened a little as she saw the genuine concern on his face.
‘Ah, thank goodness, reinforcements.’ He smiled with relief as he saw her striding purposefully towards him and rose to rub his aching back. ‘Thank you for coming, nurse, I’ve been here since one this afternoon and if you wouldn’t mind holding the fort for a while I could really do with a cup of tea.’
‘Haven’t you had a break?’ she asked.
He smiled ruefully. ‘Chance would be a fine thing. Some of these poor little mites are in a really bad way and I haven’t felt able to leave them, but if I could just have half an hour …’
‘Take as long as you like,’ she told him, lifting a cloth to sponge the child’s forehead. ‘I’ll do what I can for them while you’re gone.’
‘Thank you.’ He looked at her for what seemed like a long moment then turning abruptly he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
As promised he returned half an hour later looking slightly better for his short rest and for the remainder of the night they moved amongst the children doing whatever they could to make them as comfortable as possible. Sadly it was very little and as the night wore on and dawn kissed the sky, Holly was afraid that some of the weaker children would not survive.
‘You look tired,’ Dr Phillips remarked.
Holly smiled. ‘I could say the same about you. You’ve been here much longer than me.’
They worked on in a companionable silence and she couldn’t help but be impressed as she watched the compassion he showed to the young patients. At one point he even lifted a small baby from his cot and tenderly rocked him in his arms.
Eventually another of the nurses arrived from the hospital to take over and they made their way to the staff room for a well-earned cup of tea before heading for home.
Dr Phillips collapsed into a chair and stretched his long legs out while Holly poured boiling water into the teapot and left the tea to mash while she prepared the cups.
‘I reckon I could sleep on a washing line,’ he groaned. ‘Thank you for all your help. Oh, and my name is Henry, by the way, but everyone calls me Harry. I hope you will too. It’s so much less formal than Dr Phillips.’
Holly felt embarrassed as she spooned sugar into two mugs. ‘I don’t think Matron would appreciate that,’ she answered primly. ‘She’s very strict about the nurses always addressing the doctors by their surnames.’
‘Well, she wouldn’t have to know if you only used my Christian name when we were away from the hospital, would she? Which brings me round to asking … would you like to go out with me one evening, for a meal or to the theatre perhaps?’
Holly’s heart skipped a beat as she slopped milk all over the table and hastily mopped it up.
‘That’s very nice of you,’ she answered as calmly as she could. ‘But I, er … don’t think so.’
‘Oh.’ Disappointment washed across his face. ‘You already have a young man then, do you?’
She shook her head feeling decidedly uncomfortable now. ‘No, I don’t.’ That much at least was true, she thought, not any more, and the pain of losing Richard sliced through her again. Was he missing her as much as she was missing him? ‘It’s just that I’m very dedicated to my job and I don’t have time for that sort of thing.’ She carried his tea across to him and he stared at her thoughtfully.
‘That’s very commendable but you should make time for a private life too.’
‘I’m quite happy as I am, thank you,’ she responded sharply.
He shrugged. ‘Perhaps another time then?’ Silence filled the air so Harry went on to a safer subject and they spoke of the various children they had nursed throughout the night and eventually they left to make their way to their separate homes.
Emma was waiting for her when she arrived and she clucked with dismay. ‘Oh, darling, you look worn out,’ she told her worriedly. ‘Go and get yourself tucked into bed and I’ll bring you up a nice hot drink.’ She smiled as she heard Alice wailing loudly in the kitchen.
‘You’re not the only one who’s been up all night, poor Ivy has barely had a wink. Alice is teething and Ivy’s spent half the night rubbing oil of cloves on her poor little gums.’ She took Holly’s cloak and shooed her away upstairs. When Emma carried the tea up to her some minutes later she found Holly wide awake.
‘Matron sent me to the workhouse to nurse the children there all night,’ Holly told her as she climbed into bed and took the tea. She frowned. ‘The staff there do their best for the children, but I’m sure more could be done for the poor little mites.’
‘Such as?’
‘Well, they rarely if ever get a day out for a start-off and most of them have never even seen the seaside.’
‘But that’s awful.’ Emma had always ensured that Holly had a week at the coast at least once a year, usually in Skegness or Southend in a boarding house.
‘I was thinking that we might be able to form some sort of committee to raise funds for that sort of thing,’ Holly said.
Emma thought it was a wonderful idea and nodded. ‘I agree, but we can talk about it later when you’ve had a rest. Now get some sleep.’
Holly yawned, drank her tea and minutes later she was fast asleep.
It was mid-afternoon when she woke and after washing and dressing she went downstairs to find Verity Lockett, Sunday Branning and her mother all having a tête-à-tête in the drawing room.
‘Ah, here you are, darling, we were just having a chat about you.’ Emma rose to greet her and after drawing her into their little circle she passed her a plate of Cook’s home-made scones. Holly suddenly realised she was hungry and bit into one.
‘So what’s this?’ she teased. ‘A mother’s meeting?’
‘Actually I was just telling them about what you told me this morning – that most of the children at the workhouse have never seen the sea.’
‘Yes, and it’s made me feel ashamed,’ Sunday admitted, helping herself to another scone. ‘My mother and I have worked really hard to ensure that the little ones are treated with kindness and are adequately clothed and fed but we never gave a thought to day trips or holidays.’
‘And so,’ Verity Lockett piped in excitedly, ‘we’ve come up with a few ideas to raise funds. For a start, we thought that we could visit the better-off members of the community to beg anything they have that they don’t use any more. It could be clothes, knick-knacks, furniture, anything at all really, then we could put the items up for sale in the parish hall. I’m sure Edgar wouldn’t mind.’
‘Yes, and I thought that if I craftily put the word out that certain people have made healthy donations to a worthy cause I’m sure others would follow suit. Some of these ladies of leisure don’t like to be outdone,’ Sunday added with a wicked little smile.
Holly chuckled. ‘You really have had your heads together, haven’t you? And I think they’re marvellous ideas.’
‘In that case, we’ll start just as soon as we’re able to,’ Sunday said and Holly had no doubt whatsoever that she would follow the ideas through.
Eventually the women drifted away back to their families and in no time at all Holly had to prepare for work again.
‘So when are yer goin’ to have a day off?’ Ivy enquired as she jiggled a fractious Alice on her hip. The poor baby’s cheeks were rosy red and she was grizzling, which was quite unlike her, she was usually such a happy little soul. ‘You seem to have been workin’ flat out for days on end.’
‘It’s because of the flu outbreak,’ Holly explained as she fastened her cap in the mirror above the fireplace. ‘We’ve been inundated with patients and now two of the other nurses have come down with it too. Matron has had to request temporary help from the Nuneaton and Hartshill Red Cross nurses.’
She kissed Alice soundly and set off to the hospital. It was six o’clock in the evening, pitch-dark and extremely cold and she pulled her cape closer about her as she hurried along. She had just reached the end of Manor Court Road when a motorcar pulled up beside her and, glancing towards it, she saw Harry Phillips grinning at her as he reached over to open the passenger door.
‘Hop in, I’ll give you a lift.’
Holly hesitated but realising that it would appear churlish if she refused she reluctantly climbed in beside him.
‘So how are you feeling now?’ she asked for want of something to say.
He grinned. ‘Raring to go again now that I’ve had a rest.’
Holly searched her mind for something to start a conversation before asking, ‘Didn’t I hear you say you’d completed your training at Guy’s Hospital in London?’
‘I certainly did.’
Then before she could stop herself she blurted out, ‘I don’t suppose you knew a doctor called Richard Parkin? He’d be about your age, I should imagine.’
‘Oh, I know Rick Parkin all right. We went through medical school together as it happens. But why do you ask?’
Holly was suddenly glad of the darkness as different emotions flitted across her face. ‘Oh, no reason really. I just got to know him while I worked in London. He often visited the wards I worked on. Do you, er … still keep in touch?’ She knew she shouldn’t be asking such things but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
As Harry glanced at her from the corner of his eye it came to him in a blinding flash. Holly had feelings for the chap, which was probably why she’d refused to go out with him. He could hear it in her voice and he felt a surge of jealousy.
‘I saw him shortly before I came here, as it happens,’ he said nonchalantly as he steered the car into the entrance to the hospital. ‘He was out and about with a rather pretty young lady on his arm so we didn’t get chance to say much.’ He hated himself for lying the second the words had left his lips but realised that anything he said now could only make things worse.
‘Oh!’ Holly felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. Richard clearly couldn’t have thought as much of her as he’d said he did otherwise surely he wouldn’t have replaced her so quickly. But then common sense told her that it was a good thing he had. He deserved to be happy and by making him think that she didn’t love him at least she had spared him the shame of knowing that he had been courting his own sister.
‘Here we are then.’ Harry drew the car to a halt and switched off the engine. ‘Let’s go and see what Matron has in store for us tonight, shall we?’
She nodded numbly as he hurried round the car to open the door for her and went to report for duty. Thankfully their paths didn’t cross again that night, which was a relief because she was busy torturing herself with visions of another girl on Richard’s arm.
Her mother was grinning like a Cheshire cat when Holly got home the next morning. ‘Walter and I have decided that we’re going to get married this summer,’ she told Holly joyously. ‘To be honest, we had intended to wait until next year but then, we thought, we’re not getting any younger so why not just go ahead and do it? We thought July would be a nice month for a wedding and we’d like you to be our matron of honour. And Florence and Katie will be bridesmaids, of course. What do you think, sweetheart?’
‘I think it’s a marvellous idea.’ Holly was genuinely pleased for her. It was time her mother had a little happiness.
‘Oh good, we were hoping you’d approve,’ Emma trilled. ‘We’re going to go and try to book a date at Chilvers Coton Church this afternoon and then Walter thought it would be nice if we had a little reception in the Bull Hotel in the marketplace afterwards. We don’t want a big wedding though,’ she rushed on. ‘Just very close friends and family. Walter is talking about a honeymoon in Venice afterwards.’
Holly felt a lump form in her throat as she saw how happy her mother was. She looked ten years younger suddenly but she knew that she would miss her. She had been the most constant person in her life up to now.
‘I hope you’ll both be very, very happy,’ she told her as she held her tightly and she meant every word.