Amy (12 page)

Helen sighed. ‘I don’t know why we have to be treated like children. Surely if we’re responsible enough to do all this they could trust us to go out in the evening now and again.’

Amy could only agree, but she could see the reason for it, under the circumstances. ‘I suppose it’s the war. Even if they’ve partially lifted the curfew I suppose Paris isn’t as safe at night as it used to be. There are a lot of odd characters about.’

‘But we wouldn’t be alone. We’d have two British officers with us.’

Amy smiled at Helen’s frowning face. ‘It would be just the same at
home, wouldn’t it? Ladies don’t go out with men unless they have a chaperon. Your mother would be scandalized.’

‘It’s such nonsense,’ Helen said, still annoyed. ‘What on earth do they think we are going to do? Run amok? It ought to be changed. It’s just another thing that men can do and women can’t.’

‘After the war, Helen. Perhaps things will be different then.’

Dan Fielding was standing in the hall, looking towards the stairs. He looked thinner, she thought, leaner, the planes of his face sharper, his eyes dark and brooding. He saw her and walked towards her, smiling. ‘Miss Osborne,’ he said.

‘Captain Fielding.’

‘I’ve come back,’ he said, ‘as you see. It’s good to see you again.’

She smiled. ‘I’m very glad to see that you are well.’

‘And you. Last time I saw you, you were a little – overworked, shall I say?’

She laughed. ‘Yes, I was a bit dishevelled.’

‘You were doing a wonderful job, as I recall. The dishevelment was truly honourable.’

She didn’t reply at once. His look was warm, and she noticed that the tips of his ears had gone pink again. She remembered that now. It must mean that he was a bit unsure, a bit embarrassed, perhaps. They would always give him away. ‘Have you come to report on the
hospital
again?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘but I wonder if you remember that I asked you if you might come out to dine with me, with a friend, of course.’ She
hesitated
, and he went on hurriedly, ‘Of course, if it’s inconvenient….’

She could almost feel Helen poking her in the ribs. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s not inconvenient, but it rather depends on Matron.’

‘I know, but if you would like to come I’ll try to speak to her today or tomorrow. Is she a dragon?’

Amy laughed. ‘No, not really, but she is rather a stickler for
appearances
. Any disrepute to the hospital and it would be instant dismissal. If she says no, I’m afraid it’s no.’

‘I’m really not that disreputable,’ he said with mock seriousness. ‘I’m quite well behaved. What day would suit you?’

‘Helen and I are free in the evening on Friday,’ she said. ‘Where were you thinking of taking us?’

‘Some of the hotels are still functioning. One of them has a good
restaurant, I believe, despite the shortages, but I’m not sure about dancing.’

‘That doesn’t matter. I don’t think I can remember how to dance, but it would be nice to go to a restaurant again.’

‘Fine. If we can go I shall be bringing a friend, Peter Turner. He’s another doctor in the RAMC. He’s quite well behaved, too.’

Amy laughed again. ‘I’m glad to hear it. I’ll hear from you after you’ve seen Matron, then.’

‘Yes.’ He held out his hand and she took it briefly. ‘
Au revoir
then – Amy. I hope to see you on Friday.’

She walked back up the stairs. At the top she turned and looked back. He was still standing at the foot, and he waved to her before
turning
away.

‘Well?’ Helen was sitting where she had left her, obviously waiting. ‘What did he say?’

‘He still wants to go. He’s going to ask Matron.’

Helen pouted. ‘I bet she says no.’

‘We’ll just have to wait and see.’

‘What’s he like, Amy? Is he nice? He’s quite good-looking.’

Amy laughed. ‘I don’t think that’s anything to go by. Yes, he seems nice, quiet and sensible.’

‘So we won’t be having a night of wild excitement.’

‘I sincerely hope not.’

Helen opened her wardrobe. ‘I’ve no idea what to wear. I haven’t brought anything.’

‘I’ve got a tea dress,’ Amy said. ‘That will have to do. Surely none of the hotels will insist on evening dress in the present circumstances. I don’t suppose we can go in uniform.’

‘Certainly not. We’ll have to go shopping. Some of the shops are open again.’ She got up and looked at herself in the long mirror. ‘Won’t it be lovely to wear a dress again.’

Amy went to visit Johnny again the next day, and he was definitely better, definitely gaining strength, and his temperature was nearly down to normal. He sat up in his bed as he saw her.

‘Sit down and talk to me, Amy,’ he said. She drew up a chair and sat beside him.

‘I’ve had a letter from my mother,’ he said. ‘Apparently my father is coming to take me home. I can be looked after there until I am well
enough to go back to the war.’ He said it quite cheerfully, as if it didn’t matter.

‘I’m glad you’re going home,’ she said.

‘Are you?’ He looked at her with a half smile. ‘Won’t you miss me?’

‘Of course.’ It’s just banter, she thought, just a bit more of the joking that went on with the men.

‘Where do you live, Amy, at home?’

His question surprised her. It was more personal than she had expected. ‘I live in Bromley,’ she said.

‘With your parents?’

‘With my father. My mother is dead. She died when I was a child.’ He seemed to be waiting for more. ‘My father is a teacher, at a local boys’ school.’

‘I see.’ He was looking at her closely, not smiling, not joking. ‘I live at home too, in Berkshire. I’m lucky enough to have both my parents. My father looks after the estate with my elder brother.’

‘Isn’t he in the army too?’

‘No. He’s in a reserved occupation. He looks after the farms. It’s very difficult at the moment, apparently. Many of the men have gone. They’ve even got some women working on the farms, doing quite heavy work, I’m told.’

She smiled. ‘It’s amazing, isn’t it, what woman can do when they’re allowed?’

‘
Touché
,’ he said. ‘I’ve already apologized for what I said about the surgeons. I couldn’t have been looked after better anywhere.’

‘It must be a lovely place to go home to.’ She was careful not to say that she already knew where he lived.

‘It is,’ he said, animated now. ‘A real piece of old England. Worth fighting for. Do you hunt, Amy?’

She shook her head. ‘Oh no. We could never afford that sort of thing. Anyway, I’d always feel sorry for the poor fox.’

He laughed. ‘It’s great sport,’ he said. ‘The best, and foxes are vermin. But there’s better hunting now.’

She raised her eyebrows in question.

‘Huns,’ he said. ‘Big game. I’d rather hunt the Hun than the fox. Far more fun.’

She thought of the men in the trenches. ‘It isn’t fun, Lieutenant Maddox,’ she said. She used his title, her voice rising in distress. ‘How
can you say that? You’ve been through it, you know what it’s like, and you’re going to have to go back….’

‘It’s the only way to look at it, Amy,’ he said. ‘And won’t you please call me Johnny? Make it a game, a challenge. It’s the only way to get through.’

She said nothing, bent her head so that he wouldn’t see her distress.

‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘I may not go back into the army. I’m going to apply for the Flying Corps. I shall hunt them in aeroplanes. That would be more my kind of thing.’

I can believe it, she thought. That would be more like him, to have his own flying machine, to be facing danger with no one to help him, testing himself, facing that peril alone. He’s a bit wild, she thought. He likes danger; he courts it. She also knew what was happening, that most of the pilots lasted about a month. Young Frensham!

‘I see,’ she said. ‘Do you think they will take you?’

‘I’m pretty sure they will,’ he said. ‘They want more pilots.’ Amy suppressed a shudder. It was obvious why they wanted more pilots. ‘And my father knows a few people.’

Sir Henry Maddox, she thought. She could imagine that he might know a few people. ‘When is your father coming?’

‘He’s on his way now.’

‘I see,’ she said again. ‘So I will be saying goodbye to you soon. Take care of yourself.’

He laughed and took her hand. She looked down at his hand, enclosing hers. It was the first time that he had ever deliberately touched her. ‘I’m not saying goodbye to you, Amy. I want to see you again. I want you to give me your address in England.’

She tried not to feel the burst of pleasure that he should want to see her again. She couldn’t forget the rules, the warnings: ‘Don’t get too attached to anyone. Not now.’

He saw her hesitation and grinned at her. ‘You can’t go about saving a chap’s life a few times and then just walk away. You have a
responsibility
towards me now.’

She relaxed and laughed. What harm could it do? ‘Very well,’ she said. ‘I’ll write it down for you, but I don’t know when I will ever be back in England.’

‘They’ll have to give you some leave, sometime. I’ll give you my address too, and you must promise to let me know.’

She gently removed her hand. ‘I will, but I’ve no idea when that will be, possibly not until after the war.’

‘Oh, I’ll see you before then.’ He was smiling into her eyes.

‘I have to get on,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you before you go.’

She went back to their room to find Helen waiting for her. ‘I’ve got nothing to wear,’ Helen said at once. ‘I’ll have to buy something. There must be somewhere I could buy a dress.’

‘I suppose there is.’ Amy was still thinking about Johnny. ‘But why don’t you wait until we know whether Matron will let us go?’

Helen waved a paper. ‘There’s a note for you here. It’s probably from her.’

The note was indeed from Matron, asking Amy to go to see her.

‘Go now,’ Helen said. ‘Then we can start planning.’

Amy smiled at her enthusiasm. ‘Very well.’

She walked down to Matron’s office. To be honest with herself, she wasn’t as wild to go as Helen seemed to be. Her pleasure at Johnny’s wanting to see her again was worrying and was occupying her mind too much. I won’t do it, she said to herself. I don’t, and won’t, have feelings for him other than friendship.

Matron was more amenable than she expected. ‘I shall give you permission to go, Amy,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you need a little relaxation, and Captain Fielding seems a very respectable young man. You are very sensible, I know, and you will look after Helen, won’t you?’

‘Of course.’ Amy tried to sound as sensible as she possibly could. Otherwise Helen would never forgive her. She gave an involuntary smile, wondering what Matron would have said if she had asked to go out with Johnny. Johnny, from a very respectable family, but perhaps a bit wild. The answer would probably have been no.

‘I would prefer it if you do not wear uniform,’ Matron went on. ‘I’m sure you can find something else, can’t you?’

‘Yes, I’m sure we can. Thank you, Matron.’

‘The restaurants close at nine-thirty. Be back by ten, Amy.’

Helen was even more excited. ‘We can go out shopping tomorrow afternoon.’ She was almost dancing. ‘There’ll be something. I think there was a dressmaker near that milliner we saw.’

The next afternoon they went out. ‘I think Printemps is open,’ Amy said, ‘but I think they are mainly selling stuff for the military. We might be able to get a couple of plain cloaks though. We’ll need those. We
can’t use our uniform coats.’

‘Let’s find that little dressmaker,’ Helen said. ‘She might have
something
.’

They found the shop. There was now a single dress in the window, a discreet afternoon dress in pale green. ‘It’s the right colour,’ Amy said. ‘Green would look good with your hair.’

They went inside, to a delighted dressmaker who was only too eager to help them. Helen tried on the dress. ‘It’s perfect,’ Amy said, ‘but it needs taking in.’

The dressmaker bustled about with her pin cushion. ‘Ask her when it will be ready,’ Helen said. ‘Your French is better than mine.’

‘
Quel jour
?’ Amy began.

‘
Demain
,’ the dressmaker beamed. ‘
Demain
.’

‘Tomorrow,’ Amy said.

Helen beamed. ‘Wonderful. I’ll rush out at lunchtime.’

‘We’ll go to Printemps then,’ Amy said, ‘and get the cloaks.’

Amy and Helen walked down the marble staircase. ‘This is more like it,’ Helen said, ‘Sweeping down this staircase in a dress, going out to dinner.’

Dan and Peter were waiting in the hall, and Dan introduced Peter. Amy was watching Peter as he met Helen, and noticed the slight widening of his eyes. She wondered if Helen had noticed.

‘We’ve even managed to get a cab,’ Dan said.

They climbed into the carriage and the horse clattered off. ‘Where are we going?’ Helen asked.

‘We’ve found a hotel that has a good reputation,’ Peter said. ‘About food, I mean.’

‘Whatever it is it will be better than the food at the forward
hospital
,’ Dan said. ‘It tends to be rather monotonous.’

They drove through streets that were dimly lit and empty of people. Amy gazed out of the window as they passed, imagining these streets as they used to be, bright with light, the tables outside the cafés thronged with people, conversation and laughter. She glanced up to see Dan looking at her.

‘You look very thoughtful, Amy,’ he said.

‘One day,’ she said, ‘I’d like to see Paris at its best, as it used to be.’

‘So would I,’ he said. ‘Perhaps we’ll be able to do that one day.’

She smiled briefly and looked out of the window again, not quite sure what he meant.

They arrived at the hotel and it was like stepping into another world, the world of old Paris; low-lit tables, flowers, the unaccustomed scents of French food, that unique cuisine. An ageing waiter showed them to their table.

Peter put his nose into the air and sniffed deeply. ‘Fabulous,’ he said. ‘Real food. We’ve had nothing but bully beef stew for weeks.’

‘We’ve had cabbage,’ Helen said.

There was an orchestra; four middle-aged ladies playing Strauss. ‘So much for dancing,’ Dan said, laughing. ‘No ragtime.’