Vintage Love (220 page)

“He is now in command of the Eighth Hussars, and in charge of our nursing project. We have to manage everything through him.”

“Well, that won’t be easy,” her brother predicted. “I know he and Sir George often gambled the night away together.”

“I have heard about that,” she sighed. “He already has said some dreadful things about me to Miss Nightingale. And he’s trying to push a nursing group in opposition to us. We have no choice but to try and get along with him. I hope Captain Hill will smooth things out.”

Joy’s work seemed to grow with each passing day. The next afternoon she began the last of her training lectures for the new recruits. At the same time she was checking the stockpile of needed medical items. At her desk, she was going over such a list when one of her smart, young girls entered her office with an apologetic air.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, my lady,” she said.

Joy glanced up. “I’m terribly busy. What is it?”

The petite, dark girl glanced coyly towards the open doorway of the office, where a young man in a gray suit and carrying a gray tophat waited. She said, “This gentleman wishes to see you.”

“Not now!” she said crisply.

The girl blushed. “I think you better see him. He’s been by Miss Nightingale’s office. She sent him here.”

“Is he a sales person? Supplies are not directly ordered by me.”

The girl shook her head. “He’s an army officer, my lady. His name is Captain Colin Hill.”

“Captain Hill!” she exclaimed, getting to her feet. “You should have said so!” And she came around the desk to greet the young man.

He had a handsome, bronzed face, warm brown eyes, and a pleasant smile. As he came to shake hands with her he said, “Dear lady, I’m delighted to meet you. And I shall not intrude long enough to interfere with your work.”

She blushed. “You’re not intruding. I’ve been looking forward to this meeting.”

He smiled. “So you have been bothered by salesmen?”

She shook her head. “It seems every firm in London has something to sell us and two or three agents to manage it.”

“I’ll see you are properly protected,” he said. It was then she noticed he had a rather deep, livid scar across his right temple. He continued, “I must apologize for not arriving in uniform. I’m just out of hospital. But I promise I shall be properly dressed when I report here tomorrow.”

Joy laughed. “It was your being in mufti that deceived me. What is your regiment?”

He said, “I’m with the Eighth Hussars, Colonel Sanger is our commanding officer. I asked for active duty, but the doctors refuse to allow it for at least a few months. So I shall be going to the Crimea as your liaison officer.”

She sized up the tall, brown-haired man, and felt he was likeable. He seemed to be frank and had a sense of humor. She said, “We badly need an experienced officer to advise us.”

“It’s quite a new venture,” he said. “An expeditionary nursing force. I’m proud to be part of your experiment. I admire Miss Nightingale a good deal.”

“I think it may turn out to be much more than an experiment. I believe that from this time on there will be nursing divisions to accompany all troops into battle.”

“We could have used some nurses in India.”

“This is our big chance to prove ourselves,” she said. “And you will be one of us.”

“You will also have to guide me. This is a completely different assignment.”

“True,” she said. “You can count on Miss Nightingale to be fair.”

“I’m sure of that.”

“So we will begin tomorrow,” she said, ready to have the interview end.

He hesitated, “By the way, isn’t Sir James Canby your brother?”

“He is.”

“And you were once married to Sir George Nason?”

“Yes.”

“Colonel Sanger knew him.”

“I know that,” she said with meaning. “I also know some of the things the Colonel has said about me.”

The young man looked embarrassed. “I swear he has said nothing to me, beyond the fact he knew your late husband.”

“I have had two husbands,” she said. “Both dead. So I’m free for my nursing work.”

“I see,” he said, rather awkwardly. “Well, I shall be getting on. Tomorrow I’ll be here in uniform and at your service.” With that he left.

She returned to her deskwork and found it hard to concentrate. She kept thinking about the young officer who had just paid her a call. She had been favorably impressed by his bearing and his geniality. She held a hope that they had been lucky in getting him. Time would tell whether he could get them fair treatment from the notorious Colonel Sanger.

She speculated on Captain Colin Hill’s age, and came to the conclusion he must be close to his midthirties, like herself. There was a romantic tinge of gray in his sideburns, and small lines about his eyes and mouth. Some of these wrinkles could be blamed on his exposure to the blazing Indian sun. And the sabre scar on his temple must surely have been received in India. She could see he was not the type of officer to take half-pay and remain in London waiting to buy himself a further promotion. Not Captain Lucky Colin!

The next morning he appeared in her office, looking more handsome than ever in his colorful uniform. All the young nurses reacted to him with shy, smiling looks, and they invariably went crimson whenever he spoke to them directly. His reputation for valor had been repeated among them, and he was already their hero figure.

The important thing was that he proved an adept liaison officer. On one occasion there was a grievous error in a shipment of hospital blankets. He went directly to the supplier and found where the error had been made, and saw it was corrected. He kept a strict eye on the quality of the goods shipped them, and when he found any item lacking reported it to Florence Nightingale.

At a meeting attended by Joy and the young officer, the plain-speaking Miss Nightingale said, “We are having to deal with some suppliers who are not honest!”

Captain Colin Hill nodded grimly. “I fear it is nothing new. Our quartermaster’s department is faced with such problems continually.”

The thin head nurse said angrily, “I do not think it proper that corrupt profits should be made through the blood of our men!”

“There will be no such profiteering among our suppliers if I can prevent it,” the young officer promised.

Florence Nightingale gave him an approving look. “I’m well satisfied with your efforts, Captain Hill. But why does Colonel Sanger continue to send me annoying reprimands?”

The Captain’s bronzed face showed embarrassment. “I’m at a loss to say, Miss. I can only guess that he has a total distrust of women taking authority near the battle lines. He also has some alternate plan for providing a nursing corps and your group stands in his way.”

“And he is the man we must please,” Miss Nightingale said. “Well, we shall go on trying, Captain Hill, and trust that eventually we shall prove our worth to Colonel Sanger.”

“I’m certain you will,” he said.

He and Joy left the office of the chief nurse together. As they strolled along the corridor she said, “It is too bad this battle between the Colonel and Miss Nightingale has to go on. She is overworked and tired.”

“I know,” he said. “And there is no time to lose. I suspect we shall soon be shipped out.”

“I suppose we are about due to leave,” she agreed.

He halted and said, “Look here! Do you mind if I make a rather personal suggestion?”

She looked up at his troubled, bronzed face. “Pray make your suggestion,” she said with quiet amusement.

“Tomorrow night there is to be a ball held in the grand ballroom of the Northumberland Hotel. A number of officers have been invited, including myself. The ball is being given by Major-General Slate. And one of the guests will be Colonel Sanger. He has an eye for pretty women and it might be helpful if you two should meet and got on well.”

She said, “Is that your way of inviting me to the ball?”

“Yes.”

“What if Colonel Sanger takes a dislike to me?”

“I’ll risk that,” the young officer said. “At the worst, things will remain as they are. But if he likes you he may not be so hostile to your work.”

She smiled. She knew there was a large risk involved, since she’d heard that Colonel Sanger had trafficked in nasty gossip about her. On the other hand she had a natural curiosity to meet this person who had been giving them all so much trouble.

She said, “I’ve not attended a formal ball in ages.”

“Be my partner tomorrow night!”

She sighed. “Maybe. And by the way I think there is too much frivolity. All these parties! I’m shocked by the way our army is embarking on this distant war. I cannot understand the officers taking their wives along as if they were going on a picnic.”

“I agree it is mad,” he said. “Lord Cardigan, the commander-in-chief, is a strange fellow. He has little liking for the regular army and caters to his part-time gentleman officers who have paid for their commissions.”

“Will those amateur officers be capable of leading our men against the Russians?” she worried.

He looked upset. “I sincerely hope so. Tomorrow night there will be a majority of regular army officers and their ladies present. I’d say you can do the cause good by attending.”

“Then I shall.”

“You won’t regret it,” was his promise.

She hoped he was right but she was by no means sure. With Hilda’s help she selected a fancy gown in pale blue, with white lace trim. It had a low cut bosom and back in the current style, so that it seemed nearly half of her rose above the ornate gown. A flowing cape in a matching tone of blue with a white lining added to her outfit.

When she was dressed, Hilda regarded her with pleasure. Her sister-in-law said, “You will do the family proud tonight.”

Joy gazed into the big oval mirror in her room with some doubt. “I’m not sure I like my hair in ringlets!”

“The style suits you!”

She stared at herself. “I feel I need some final touch.”

Hilda said, “Then why not wear your mother’s diamond tiara?”

Joy gasped. “I’ve never worn it!”

“James has it locked in the safe downstairs,” Hilda said. “I’ll have him take it out.”

“I don’t know! It’s so valuable, some of the other ladies might think I was putting on a vulgar show!”

“Why should they? It belongs to you now and you are supposed to wear it. I can see all the men fixing their eyes on you!” And she rushed downstairs to get the diamond tiara.

James brought it up a few minutes later and carefully placed it on her head. “I swear it makes you look regal, and at the same time younger!”

She laughed. “If it makes me look younger I should surely wear it!”

Her brother said. “Why not? Father would be thrilled to see you wearing it.”

That decided the issue. She lived her life by what she hoped was her father’s code. Since the tiara was of his choice she worried about it no more.

When the young Captain came to pick her up in his carriage, he showed unconcealed admiration. He helped her into the vehicle and told her, “You’ll be the sensation of the ball!”

She smiled in the shadowed interior of the carriage as he sat beside her. “I must say you are handsome in your dress uniform! I adore your crimson tunic with its gold epaulets and braid.”

As the carriage rode on through the London streets he explained to her, “Had this party been given by Lord Cardigan or any of his friends I would not have been invited. It is General Slate who favors the regular army.”

She smiled. “From the gossip that comes my way I fear your Lord Cardigan is an eccentric.”

“Without question,” the young officer agreed. “When he comes to London it is his practice to offer some of his men a day’s leave with five shillings. He instructs them to take stands at various corners he’ll pass on his stroll in the city. Then he saunters along, being saluted at every corner by one of his Hussars!”

“And this vain fellow is to be our leader in the Crimea?”

“I’m afraid so,” he said grimly. “He also tried to get rid of all regular personnel who had seen service in India.”

“Why?”

“He hates professional army people.”

“He needs them to lead his troops.”

“That important fact seems to have missed him. No officer with Indian service is ever invited to Cardigan’s home.”

“I doubt that any of them mind.”

“They don’t,” Captain Colin Hill said with a smile. “When cards of invitation are sent out for dinners and balls, Lord Cardigan sees to it that none of the real professionals are invited. That is why General Slate is having this affair tonight. For our benefit.”

Joy was amazed by these feuds within the body of the army. She was also shocked by the picnic-like preparations of the army staff. She wondered if they knew the great challenge facing them, or the grim danger? She felt sure that when Wellington and his men had gone off to meet Napoleon they’d known it was to be no picnic. Had the army so forgotten what a major war was like?

The carriage halted by the brilliant gaslights flanking the majestic entrance to the Northumberland Hotel. Their carriage was one in a line of many horse-drawn vehicles. When their turn came, a porter opened the carriage door and Colin sprang out first, to help her onto the brick sidewalk. Elegant couples were entering the old hotel, while on either side of the entrance there were groups of shabbily-clad London poor taking in this free show!

“Blimey, look at ‘er!” A scruffy woman exclaimed in awe at the sight of Joy on the steps in her dazzling cape and gown, set off by the diamond tiara in her blonde hair.

“Bloody royalty!” A man shouted, and this sally was greeted with boisterous laughter.

“Bloody sight!” An old hag clutching a shawl over her head and shoulders exclaimed. “That one’s got more diamonds than the Queen!”

“Wonder how she got them?” A little man squealed and there was more bawdy laughing.

Colin hastily saw her inside, saying, “You certainly were a hit out there!”

She made no reply. Inwardly she felt guilty at displaying her wealth in front of that gathering of the poverty stricken. The young captain escorted her towards a line of military men in colorful uniforms, and their ladies in elegant gowns. The loud murmuring of their conversation filled the area. Colin knew many of the officers. She saw that she was receiving her share of interested glances as they joined the line.