The high point of all the nurses’ lives was getting mail from home. But by late 1917 supplies had become even more sporadic and that included the post. Daisy had long since given up expecting to hear from Jack although Georgina had received two more letters from Tom. Either he hadn’t received her letter, or he wasn’t going to reply.
It was no good fretting about it – easy to say during the busy hours of ward duty, not so easy when she was lying sleepless through the long nights. And there was the added worry of her family. The sharp grief for her father had given way to a dull ache, but her mother would be feeling the loss far more now that she was alone in the little cottage. Her brothers were still at the front and Billy had given up fishing to join the merchant navy – one more person to worry about, Daisy thought.
She smiled though, thinking of young Billy’s pride in contributing to the family income. She always thought of her brothers as she did her rounds of the ward, seeing in the soldiers she nursed an echo of their fresh young faces.
She was trying to coax one of her patients to take a drink of water when one of the newer VADs came into the ward. ‘Mail’s come,’ she announced with a wide smile.
Daisy nodded and felt a flicker of anticipation. Would there be one from Jack this time? She steeled herself against disappointment but she couldn’t stop herself from hurrying to the main hall to check her pigeonhole the minute her shift ended.
But there was only a package from Effie with a note from Billy and a long letter in her mother’s neat round handwriting. Daisy quickly skimmed the first page, knowing that any bad news would be there. With a sigh of relief she folded the pages, putting them in her pocket to be read and digested later.
As she walked away, Georgina came towards her. ‘Anything for me?’ she called.
Daisy looked in the box and pulled out an envelope. ‘Here you are.’
Georgina grabbed it, grimacing as she saw it wasn’t what she’d hoped for. ‘It’s from home,’ she said.
‘I’ll leave you to read in peace,’ Daisy said and turned away, stopping abruptly as she heard a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan. She looked back to see Georgina leaning against the wall, a sheet of paper drifting from her hand to the floor.
Jack, she thought immediately, taking in the white shocked face. ‘What is it? Tell me.’
‘It’s my father,’ Georgina said, a tear creeping down her cheek. ‘He’s dead.’
Thank God it wasn’t Jack. Daisy knew it was callous of her, but she couldn’t feel any sorrow for Sir John. She made soothing noises and led Georgina into a storeroom down the hall. She pushed her down onto a wooden crate and held her in her arms.
‘Oh, Daisy, I feel as if it’s all my fault,’ Georgina sobbed.
‘What nonsense. Of course it’s not.’
‘I was so horrid to him. I wish I hadn’t said all those beastly things.’
‘But that didn’t cause his death. You must understand that,’ Daisy said. ‘What happened?’
‘He’s had a heart attack. Died instantly, my mother says.’
‘And why should you be blamed for that?’
‘When I heard what he’d done I was so angry, I wrote and told him how ashamed and disgusted I was. I said that as far as I was concerned he wasn’t my father any more.’
Georgina burst into fresh sobs and Daisy murmured sympathetically, ‘But that was months ago.’
‘There’s nothing left except the London house – Philip and Jane are living there. And my mother’s staying with my uncle in Kent,’ Georgina told her.
Daisy already knew that Ryfe Hall had been sold and the servants dismissed without their pay. That had been the source of Ernest’s vindictiveness towards the family. But Georgina’s tears were for her father and the fact that now she would be unable to make amends. Daisy tried to comfort her, but she was still grieving for her own father. At least she had no regrets about their relationship, and she’d been with him at the end.
The sobs diminished and Daisy handed her friend a clean handkerchief. ‘Would you like me to speak to Matron – arrange for compassionate leave?’ she asked.
‘There’s not much point really. The funeral’s already been held and besides – I haven’t got a home now,’ Georgina said bitterly.
‘You could stay with Philip in London, couldn’t you?’
‘No, thanks. We’ve never been close and although Jane’s not bad, I think we’d get on each other’s nerves after a bit. Philip will be all right though. He’s got Jane’s money,’ Georgina said with a twisted smile. ‘And Mama’s decided to stay down in Kent so she’ll be fine. If only I could see Jack but God knows where he is at the moment.’ She almost started to cry again but she choked back the sob and tried to smile. ‘I should have married Henry, then none of this would have happened,’ she said.
‘Marrying him might have been the answer for your family but it would have been wrong for you. Besides, you’re not responsible for them and certainly not for your father’s heart attack. I expect it was brought on by all the worry.’
Daisy, who had so often had to comfort the relatives of the bereaved, felt she should be able to offer more than platitudes to comfort her friend. But Georgina nodded.
‘You’re probably right.’ she said, standing up and pacing the small cupboard-like room. ‘I wish I knew where Jack was.’
So did Daisy. But this was no time to think of her own feelings.
‘He knows about the family troubles – Tom mentioned it in his letter,’ Georgina continued.
Daisy nodded sympathetically. ‘Jack’s sure to get in touch soon,’ she said reassuringly. But who knew what might have happened since Tom had last written?
‘Thanks for being so kind to me. I don’t deserve it after the way I behaved.’
‘Nonsense. It was just a misunderstanding.’
‘We are friends again – aren’t we?’ Georgina asked, sniffing back a stray tear.
Daisy answered with a hug. ‘Now, we should be getting back to work,’ she said.
‘You haven’t heard from Jack either, have you?’ Georgina asked, as they hurried back to their wards.
‘I don’t think he’s forgiven me for being so nasty to him last time we met,’ Daisy replied.
‘I think you’re wrong.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Well, you do realize he’s in love with you don’t you?’
Daisy sighed. ‘Love doesn’t always mean marriage, Georgie. And I’m not the sort of girl who would settle for less.’ But would she, if she had another chance?
‘He was very hurt about what happened when he saw you at home that time.’ They had reached the entrance to Daisy’s ward and she was about to go in when Georgina said, ‘I know Jack wouldn’t hurt you. Give him a chance, Daisy.’
Daisy smiled and nodded. But she couldn’t help wondering why, if what Georgina said was true, Jack hadn’t answered her letter. Georgina had heard from Tom, so letters from his ship couldn’t have gone astray. Surely he’d have written if he really loved her?
But she wouldn’t give up hope, she thought, as she plunged into the round of bedpans and medicines. She was glad that she and Georgina had made up their differences. She’d missed her friend’s sunny smile. Not that the poor girl had much to smile about now.
‘Christmas Eve! Doesn’t seem much like it, does it?’ Georgina said with a sigh.
‘The third one of the war, let’s hope it’s the last,’ Daisy said. They were in Sister’s office, filling stockings to hang at the foot of each patient’s bed. Sweets, nuts and cigarettes had been supplied by the Red Cross Comforts Fund and there were small gifts donated by the hospital staff.
‘We must do our best to make it special – for the patients’ sake,’ Georgina said, picking up and sniffing a tablet of soap. ‘Who’d have thought this would ever be considered a luxury, especially in a hospital.’
‘And razor blades too,’ Daisy agreed.
They carried on selecting from the pencils, notebooks and other gifts. Earlier in the day they’d laughed together over their efforts to decorate the ward with makeshift paper chains and greenery. Instead of a Christmas tree, a nativity scene carved by one of the convalescent men stood on a small table surrounded by candles in odd containers. Daisy thought it summed up the spirit of Christmas far better than a gaudy tree.
After supper they turned down the lamps, leaving the ward bathed in soft candlelight, and the nurses gathered to sing carols. Despite the sheen of tears in the eyes of staff and patients, the whole wing of the hospital soon resounded to ‘Noel’ and ‘Adeste Fideles’. As they finished, one young soldier started to sing ‘Silent Night’, the German carol which transcended all national barriers with its poignant message.
Daisy wasn’t the only one crying as the last notes died away. She even noticed a suspicious glint in Doctor Holloway’s eye. She turned away when he glanced in her direction and hastily wiped her own eyes as Sister turned up the lamps and the nurses settled the men for the night. The stockings were placed at the foot of the beds and Daisy and Georgina were able to go off duty.
Christmas Day could have been an anticlimax but the nurses outdid themselves in keeping the men’s spirits up and the ward often rang with laughter. The cooks surpassed themselves in creating a meal from their limited supplies. There was even plum pudding sent out by the Red Cross.
A few days later the festivities seemed just a dream. The new year brought bright cold weather. Not as cold as it would be in England though, Daisy thought. Back in England it was the coldest winter for years with coal in short supply and very expensive. She wondered how her mother was managing and worried about her brothers. The last she’d heard, Dick and Jimmy were still together in the trenches and Billy was now sailing regularly across the Atlantic where the danger from German U-boats was as great as it was here in the Mediterranean.
Apart from the constant worry, Daisy’s life was a little easier at the moment. Most of the men she’d been nursing when she first arrived were now convalescent, so her duties were lighter and there was more time for training the VADs so they were becoming more useful, lightening the load of the regular nursing staff. Georgina had been attending lectures in her free time and was proud of her progress although she no longer spoke of doing professional training after the war. Daisy was sure that if Tom came through unscathed, Georgina would defy convention and marry the penniless lieutenant.
Daisy wondered how she herself would adapt to life back home after the war. The shabby little harbour cottage and life as a maid at Ryfe Hall now seemed like a dream. It was all so different out here, she thought, as she walked across the compound in the cool sunshine. Later in the year it would become unbearably hot, the land parched and dry. Then she knew she would long for the cool green Sussex hills.
She and Georgina often talked of home, but never about what they’d do when they returned. It would be tempting fate, Georgina had said with an attempt at a lighthearted laugh. So Jack and Tom were seldom spoken of, although Georgina’s brother was never far from Daisy’s thoughts. He had never answered the impassioned letter she’d written several months ago and she’d tried hard to put him out of her mind.
It was easier said than done though, she thought, trying to convince herself it was for the best, when yet again there was no mail for her. Georgina always seemed to have plenty of letters. She was reading one from her mother now.
‘I’m pleased she’s making a new life for herself,’ Georgina said after reading the latest. ‘I know I was a disappointment to her. But she seems to have accepted that the war has changed things. I wonder if Ryfe has been sold yet.’
‘Maybe it’s been requisitioned by the army or something,’ Daisy said. ‘They wouldn’t just let it stand empty. I wonder what happened to Mrs Harris and Mr Fenton and all the other servants.’
‘Don’t remind me,’ Georgina said. ‘I feel dreadful thinking of them laid off without their wages, with nowhere to go.’
‘Well, we know what happened to Ernest.’ Daisy shuddered at the recollection of how he’d almost wrecked her friendship with Georgina.
‘I can understand his bitterness though,’ Georgina said. ‘Still, I’m glad he’s been shipped home. He can’t cause any more trouble now.’
Daisy wasn’t convinced she’d heard the last of him; she suspected he would always bear a grudge. Returning to the subject of Ryfe Hall, she said, ‘Perhaps whoever buys it will re-employ the servants.’
Georgina sighed. ‘There’s nothing I can do about it anyway.’ She put her mother’s letter aside and picked up another envelope, turning it over in her hands with a little smile, savouring the moment before opening it.
‘I can guess who that’s from,’ Daisy said with a laugh. Georgina blushed and turned away, hunching her shoulder to give herself the illusion of privacy. She could have taken the letter to her room but Daisy guessed she couldn’t wait to see what Tom had written.
Through their correspondence, their relationship had grown warmer, especially since John Davenport’s death. Tom had apparently taken heart from the family’s change of circumstances. Now, Daisy thought, there was nothing to stand in the way of their romance – apart from Lady Davenport’s certain disapproval. But Georgina could cope with that, Daisy thought.
She smiled as she watched her friend devouring the closely written pages, but there was a pang of envy too. Why hadn’t Jack written to her? He knew where she was, and if he was as sincere about his feelings as Georgina had implied, why hadn’t he written? Her pride wouldn’t allow her to write to him again. She’d poured her heart out once. Now it was up to him.
Despite her own heartache, Daisy was pleased that her friend was happy. In fact, everyone seemed in a more carefree frame of mind these days. Despite Sister’s vigilance, all the nurses seemed to be falling in love, including Sarah. Already badly wounded in the assault on Suvla Bay, Sergeant Chris Robbins had suffered severe frostbite as he waited in the freezing wind to be evacuated to a hospital ship. After months hovering between life and death he’d begun to recover. Now convalescent, he was the life and soul of the ward. Everyone knew where Sergeant Robbins was by the sound of his hearty laughter. Sarah’s romance had started innocently enough when he’d produced some gramophone records.
‘Some music would cheer us up, if only there was something to play them on,’ he said.
Sarah spent her off-duty time scouting around for a gramophone. She’d even raided the barracks on the outskirts of Valletta. When Doctor Holloway heard of her quest, he offered to lend them his.
When she walked into the ward with it, Sergeant Robbins had grabbed her in an impromptu dance to the amusement of the other patients and Sister Drummond’s outrage.
Despite the fact that relationships between staff and patients were forbidden, Sarah managed to wangle quite a bit of time with Chris, thanks to Daisy and Georgina, who often covered for her.
Even the doctor seemed to be on their side.
‘Maybe it’s because he’s in love too,’ Sarah teased.
Daisy blushed. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Anyone can see he’s smitten,’ Sarah said with a laugh. ‘You could do worse.’
Daisy liked Peter Holloway and respected his skills as a doctor, but anything else was unthinkable. She couldn’t blame the nurses for talking. He’d made his interest obvious, undeterred by Sister Hatton’s frowns of disapproval. Their friendship had started on night duty when she’d called him out to a dying patient. Although he could do nothing for the man, Peter had stayed with him to the end, helping Daisy with the little rituals that inevitably accompanied a death.
Afterwards she’d gone into the kitchen to make him a cup of tea. ‘How did you take up nursing?’ he asked, perching himself on the edge of the table.
‘You mean because I’m uneducated, lower class?’ Daisy asked indignantly. She was still sensitive about her past.
‘I didn’t mean that at all,’ Peter protested. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re beautiful, intelligent, a very good nurse. You’ve lots of common sense too, that’s worth more than education. So why nursing in particular?’
‘I needed a job. And I knew what to expect after helping to nurse my father.’ Daisy’s voice faltered. She still found it hard to believe that Dad would no longer be there when she returned home.
Peter was sympathetic and easy to talk to and she enjoyed their midnight chats, when he would often stop by for a cup of tea. But Daisy knew Sarah was right. He would like to take the friendship further.
If he knew I was in love with someone else, maybe he’d back off, she thought. But she had never talked about Jack to anyone except Georgina. Even Sarah didn’t know the whole story.