Esmeralda. Бетти Нилс

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ once.

      CHAPTER THREE

      ESMERALDA didn’t see Leslie during the whole of Monday; by the evening she was as cross as two sticks and her long-suffering friends were glad when she declared that she had a shocking headache and would go to bed early.

      ‘Clever Boy hasn’t been near her all day,’ explained Pat. ‘He’s playing the poor poppet like a trout; he’s after that money of hers, of course—it’ll come in handy when he sets up in Harley Street, won’t it?’

      There was a general snort of indignation. ‘Can’t we warn her?’ asked someone.

      Pat shook her head. ‘Esmeralda’s a darling,’ she said, ‘still believes in fairies and being happy ever after and strong, silent heroes. She’s also got a very nasty temper once it’s aroused; she’d only throw everything in sight at us and do exactly what she wanted.’ She paused to refill her mug from the teapot. ‘But now I’ll tell you something. You know Paddy, the new radiographer? Well, he told me that that foreign surgeon—old Peters’ friend, isn’t he?—asked for an X-ray of her foot. Now I wonder…’

      Her friends drew a little closer. They were fond of Esmeralda and the more worldly ones had a very shrewd idea of the registrar’s plans—not that they had any objection to him marrying money if he wished to, but they didn’t like the idea of him marrying Esmeralda in order to get it. ‘And for heaven’s sake,’ said Pat, ‘if this man’s going to patch up her foot, let her have some fun with it before she settles down—and not with our Leslie. Now, not a word from anyone. She’ll tell us when she’s ready, bless her, and it’ll be up to us to encourage her to have something done. Who knows, while she’s away Clever Boy will probably find himself another heiress.’

      Esmeralda went on duty the next morning in a decidedly touchy mood, divided between the hope that Leslie would surely pay his usual daily visit to the ward, and the determination to treat him with casual coolness. She didn’t have long to wait before getting the chance to carry out her intentions; he came through the doors a few moments after Sister Richards had gone across to drink coffee with Sister Brown on Women’s Surgical, and made straight for her as she went from cot to cot, charting the TPRs.

      He said at once with an apologetic smile: ‘Hullo—yesterday wasn’t the same, not seeing you, but each time I started off to come here, I got held up.’

      Esmeralda’s green eyes were very bright; she had seen him on two separate occasions during Monday, being held up by two of the prettiest nurses… ‘Oh? I had a busy day too, as a matter of fact. I’m busy now; Sister wants this done before she gets back.’ She smiled nicely at him and hoped that the pleasure of seeing him didn’t show too clearly on her face. It couldn’t have done, because he was taken aback.

      I thought we might have had five minutes together in Sister’s office,’ he frowned. ‘You’re a bit scratchy, aren’t you?’

      No girl, however much in love, likes to be called scratchy by the object of her affections. Esmeralda frowned quite fiercely. ‘I am…’ she began stiffly, and stopped abruptly because the ward doors had been opened and Mr Bamstra was advancing towards them with his leisurely stride. He interrupted them without apology, bidding them good morning in a no-nonsense voice.

      ‘If you could spare me five minutes of your time, Staff Nurse?’ he enquired with the faintest hint of sarcasm. ‘In Sister’s office, I think—I have asked her permission to interrupt your work.’ He bestowed a frosty smile upon the registrar and then turned his back on him, his eyebrows lifted. ‘Now?’ he queried gently. ‘I am rather busy.’

      She went down the ward with him, a little pink in the face, the built-up sole of her shoe sounding like thunder in her ears, but for once she didn’t care, and when he asked: ‘Did I interrupt something? I do hope not.’ She said peevishly: ‘Yes, you did—surely you could see…’

      ‘Oh, dear, yes,’ he assured her blandly. ‘All your little patients could see too—were you quarrelling?’

      They had reached the office door and he opened it and stood aside for her to stomp past him, then he shut the door quietly behind him and leaned against it, staring at her. ‘Never mind—next time you meet him you will have forgotten what it was all about,’ he told her kindly, and smiled. ‘But much though I would like to, I have no time to advise you on your—er—affairs of the heart. No, don’t interrupt me, I beg you, just listen to what I have to say and then I’ll go. I’ve spoken to your Principal Nursing Officer and she suggests that the best thing for you to do is to resign as from now—you have three weeks’ holiday due, I’m told, which means that you will be free to leave at the end of next week. When you are fit to work again, you will be re-engaged—about ten weeks’ time, I should suppose, but we can’t be too arbitrary about that at the moment. There will be a bed for you at Leiden and if you can arrange to come over on—let me see, today is Tuesday—Sunday week, I will see that you are met at Schiphol.’

      He had his hand on the door, ready to leave. ‘Get a single ticket,’ he warned her, ‘for you might wish to return by sea.’ He actually had the door open when she managed to get a word in.

      ‘You went to see Mother.’

      ‘Ah, yes—it seemed to me that she should know a little about me and about the operation I propose to do on your foot. I had no opportunity of telling you,’ he assured her suavely.

      She choked with temper. ‘I’m quite old enough to tell my mother myself!’

      ‘Of course you are, but mothers are prone to worry about their children, aren’t they? I might have been a charlatan, you know; convincing enough to have taken you in and charming enough to persuade you against your better judgement, as well as emptying your pockets. Now she is satisfied that I am merely a run-of-the-mill surgeon with a passion for straightening crooked bones.’

      Esmeralda’s bad temper had melted away, and she nodded her head like a small, obedient girl. ‘Yes, of course,’ she agreed, and smiled. ‘Nanny liked you.’

      ‘A mutual liking, I assure you.’ He nodded briefly and went, leaving her with a dozen questions on her tongue and no one to answer them.

      Most of them were dealt with by Miss Burden, whose summons to the office she obeyed half an hour later, and if she had had any doubts about the whole undertaking, that lady’s calm acceptance of the situation put them completely at rest. ‘Take your days off on Friday and Saturday of next week,’ she commanded kindly. ‘I will speak to Sister Richards—that will give you time to pack your things and go to your home. I understand from Mr Bamstra that you are to fly and that he recommends a late afternoon flight—he asked me to give you this telephone number so that you may let him know at what time you will arrive at Schiphol.’ She smiled briefly. ‘I daresay you are surprised that you have been asked to resign, Staff Nurse, but that seems to be the simplest way of doing things; as soon as you are pronounced fit for work again, you may apply for your post and I am sure that you will get it again without difficulty, but should you feel that you needed a quieter job, it leaves you free to take one. I should point out to you, however, that Sister Richards will be retiring soon and I have long considered you as Ward Sister in her place, but that is a matter to be discussed later. Whether Mr Bamstra will find you fit for light duties before you return here is entirely up to him.’

      Esmeralda said: ‘Yes, Miss Burden,’ and thought privately that there were a great many loopholes in the scheme, but it was hardly her place to say so. People like Miss Burden seldom admitted to mistakes; to be fair, they seldom made them. She went back to the ward, her head filled with a СКАЧАТЬ