Secret for a Nightingale (51 page)

Almost reluctantly, she came.

Fraulein Kleber lived in a very pleasant house not far from Frau Leiben’s cottage.

We found it easily, and as we approached the house we heard the sound of a shot. We were startled and looked at each other in dismay, and as we did so another shot rang out and another and another.

“Something’s happening,” said Eliza.

We hurried to the house. There was no sign of anyone. As we walked through a beautifully kept garden to some stables, we heard another shot. The sound was coming from the other side of the stables.

Then we saw what it was. A target had been set up against a tree and a woman was firing at it. She heard our approach and turned to us.

“Oh, forgive me,” she cried, “I’m getting a little practice for the Schutzenfest. It’s less than a month away and I’m a little rusty.”

She was middle-aged and greying, slim and tall and about my size.

I said: “Have we come at an inconvenient time?”

“Oh no, no. You’re from Kaiserwald, aren’t you? I knew you were coming and of course I’m delighted to fit you up.”

I introduced Eliza, but as she had no German she could not join in the conversation.

“It is kind of you,” I said.

“I haven’t brought a habit with me. I did not think there would be an opportunity to ride.”

She nodded.

“I had forgotten when you were actually coming. I’ve been so caught up with the Schiitzenfest. We have it every year. I always join in these things and I’ve been caught up with this. I look forward to the Vogelschlessen that’s the popinjay shooting. I always hope I shall be SchiitzenKonig. That’s the best shot selected every year. Of course, there has never been a woman who has achieved that yet.”

“I wish you luck,” I said.

“Come into the house.” But first excuse me while I put my rifle away.

”

We had come to a barn which had been converted into a sort of gun-room.

“My father was a great shot. He was Konig almost every year. These are his guns. I inherited them. But not quite his skill, alas.”

She put the rifle in a case and turned to us. She studied me closely.

“Well, we are about the same size so that should offer no difficulties.”

We went into the house and up to her bedroom. She had four riding habits, all of which would fit me. She asked me to take which I liked and I chose a pale grey skirt and jacket with a grey hat.

I tried them on.

“Might have been made for you,” she said.

“Got a good mount?”

“That is being provided for me.”

“From Herr Brandt’s stables, I expect. He’ll see you’re all right. He has some very fine horses.”

“I am very grateful to you, Fraulein Kleber.”

“I’m always happy to do anything for Kaiserwald. Everyone

round here is. We’re proud of it . and it has been of great benefit to us all. So . I’m delighted to fit you up. “

“Very interesting woman,” I said as we walked away.

“A pity you couldn’t understand her.”

“I did catch a word or two,” said Eliza.

“I think I’d pick up the language quickly if I was here long.”

“I’m sure you would.”

“That get-up suits you.” She looked at me closely.

“You look … different.”

I did not comment further.

I lived the rest of that day in a kind of daze. It was like a dream. I had come to Kaiserwald and he was there. It was like a miracle. I had been thinking of him so constantly that it was as though the intensity of my thoughts had conjured him up. And I was to spend a day with him alone. Eliza, I knew, was very disapproving. I did not want to discuss the matter with her. When we went to bed that night I pretended to fall asleep immediately. I was sure she was fully awake.

I was up early next morning. I donned Fraulein Kleber’s riding habit.

I knew it suited me, for I had always looked well in riding’ clothes I felt exhilarated.

Dr. Adair had provided the horses, I learned, from Herr Brandt’s stables. He had a fine black one; mine was a chestnut mare. He rode magnificently, as I had expected he would. Seated on a horse, he looked like some figure from Greek mythology. I hoped my mood of exhilaration was not too obvious.

As we rode away from Kaiserwald, I glanced back. I saw a movement at a window. So Eliza was there. I could imagine the expression on her face. She was so very much against this enterprise; and she was a person who, when she had once made up her mind, adhered to it. It would take a great deal to change her opinions of Dr. Adair. She insisted that he had taken Henrietta and melodramatically cast her off to Philippe Lablanche and nothing was going to change her. But what she feared most was what he would do to me.

“How do you like your mount?” he asked.

“She seems … amenable.”

“Good. Horses can be temperamental and it will be a long day. I hope you are as proficient on a horse as you are in a ward.”

“I rode in India and in the country. I am no expert, of course, but I think I can manage a horse reasonably well.”

“Well, I shall be with you to take care of you.”

“That,” I said, ‘is a comforting thought. How long did you stay in Scutari? “

“No longer than was necessary. There was a certain amount to be cleared up. I came to England as soon as possible.”

“Did you see any more of Henrietta?”

“Oh yes. I saw her with Lablanche. They seemed to be very content with each other.”

“In her letter Henrietta mentioned that you were very helpful.”

“I did what I could. The rest was up to them.”

“I hope it works out well.”

“That, again, is up to them.”

“These matters do not always … even though people expect them to in the beginning.”

“All we can do about that is wish them well.”

“How strange that you should be in Kaiserwald at the same time as I am.”

“It is not so strange, really.”

“Don’t you think so?”

“I arranged it. In other words I asked the Head Deaconess to invite you to come. And when I knew you had arrived I came, too.”

“But … why?”

“I have a project.”

“You mean this Rosenwald? Are you suggesting that I might take up this post … whatever it is?”

“I thought it might be a good idea to take you out to see the place.”

“So you planned all this?”

“I admit it. So you see it is not so fortuitous as you at first thought.”

“It is kind of you to plan my future.”

“You are a good nurse, and your talents should not be wasted. You know the plight of hospitals all over the world. You are a disciple of Miss Nightingale and you know what she is proposing to do.”

“Yes,” I said.

I felt deflated. When he had said that he arranged this meeting, for a moment I had thought he had wanted to see me.

“I shall be very interested to see this place,” I said coolly.

“I knew you would be. I can assure you I am looking forward to the outcome.”

We rode in silence for some time, then he asked me what my plans were.

I told him that I was really waiting to see what happened. I knew there were going to be reforms in hospitals but I was not sure where I should fit in.

“And Big Eliza?”

“We plan to be together.”

“You have become good friends, it seems.”

“She is a very good and reliable person.”

He was silent.

I said at length: “What of you? What are your plans? Are you going off to some wild country to live as a native and discover secrets of the East?”

“Like you, I am waiting on events.”

“So you have nothing planned?”

“I have much planned, but there are circumstances to be considered. I sometimes feel it is tempting fate to make too many plans in advance.”

“You mean that Man proposes and God disposes.”

“God or someone.”

We were riding through a village street and I had to fall in behind him. I noticed that people glanced at him as he rode by and I was not surprised. So distinguished did he appear.

When we were in the country again he talked a little about Rosenwald.

The nurses would not be Deaconesses and this would not be a religious institution, merely a hospital. It was in its infancy at the moment. There were few patients, not more than thirty, he believed. The nurses were country girls from the surrounding districts simple girls with no real training.

“You seem to have a very special interest in it.”

“My interest is in finding the right person to run it. The Head Deaconess is a very capable woman. Kaiserwald would not be what it is without her.”

“I agree.”

“Ah … we are not far off now. It wasn’t too long in the saddle for you, I hope.”

“No. It has been easy going.”

“And the little mare has behaved impeccably. Look. You can see the towers from here. Pleasant setting, isn’t it?”

I looked ahead. It was a small schloss in the heart of the forest, not unlike Kaiserwald.

We rode into a courtyard. A man came out to take our horses and Dr. Adair gave orders that they should be fed and watered.

We were received by one who, I supposed, was the head of the nurses.

She was clearly overawed by Dr. Adair.

“I dare say you need some refreshment,” she said.

“It is quite a distance from Kaiserwald.”

He said we should like something and could we take it together out of doors. We had certain things to discuss.

We sat at a table in front of the schloss, looking down on a valley.

The mountains in the distance made a fine background and the forest was beautiful.

I felt happier than I had for a long time. Why? I wondered. Because he was going to offer me a post. I could come here and bring Eliza with me. Perhaps occasionally he would call, if he could find the time between his visits to exotic places;

and if he thought of me at all, he would think: Oh yes, Anna Pleydell, the woman I put in to Rosenwald.

“This is pleasant,” he said.

“Do you agree?”

“Yes, it is very pleasant.”

“A good place to work?”

“It’s very beautiful.”

“Life would go on much the same every day. Patients coming and going.

How does that appeal to you? “

“I don’t know that I want peace … and nothing more.”

He laughed.

“No. I did not expect that. But it is a pleasant place … for the right person. One would have to be dedicated to the job. This could be a little kingdom with the one in control as the powerful head . ruling this little world, but of course having very little connection with what is beyond. This beer is good, isn’t it? And Sauerbraten and the inevitable sauerkraut. Well, we are after all in Germany … and the forest is a wonderful setting, don’t you agree?”

I said I did.

“When we have finished we will make our tour of inspection, for we must not be too late in leaving.”

But he did not seem in any hurry and we sat for some time over the beer and meat. It was so peaceful, the weather so fine. There was a faint mist in the air which gave a blue tinge to the mountains. I felt very happy just to sit there, now and then looking up to find his eyes on me. There was an air of unreality about the scene and I could almost convince myself that I had dreamed the whole thing.

Later we went through the ward together. There were, as he had said, about thirty patients. He looked at them all and asked the nurses a good many questions, not only about their. patients but their duties.

We inspected the kitchens and the sleeping quarters. They were very similar to those at Kaiserwald. The long dormitory was divided into cubicles; it was all very neat and clean.

It was about four o’clock when he suggested that we leave. I was surprised that he had allowed it to be so late. I very much doubted that we could get back before dark; but he probably knew that; he did not seem to be perturbed.

We said goodbye to the nurses and left.

“That is over,” he said, ‘a very necessary part of the proceedings.

”

“The whole purpose of the expedition,” I reminded him.

He smiled at me and I noticed his manner had changed.

He said nothing for a mile or so and then he brought his horse close to mine.

“I am afraid we have left it rather late for getting back to Kaiserwald.”

“Why did we not leave earlier?”

“Having come so far, we had to see everything. We could, of course, go to an inn.”

“I did not notice a great many on the journey here.”

“Nevertheless, there are a few. On the other hand, a friend of mine has a hunting lodge not far from here. I think it would be an excellent idea if we threw ourselves on his hospitality for the night.”

“The Head Deaconess is expecting us back.”

“She will think we have stayed the night at Rosenwald. I did suggest that was a possibility.”

We rode on for about fifteen minutes. The sun was low in the sky; it would soon disappear altogether.

We were deep in the forest now.

“Very soon we shall come to the lodge,” he said.

“It’s a delightful place.”

“Your friend will be surprised. He might have guests.”

“I have an open invitation to use the place whenever I wish to. He doesn’t actually live there. It is, after all, merely a hunting lodge.”

“It might well be shut up.”

“There are always servants in residence.”

We had come to a clearing and before us was the lodge. It was bigger than I imagined a miniature schloss with a tower and turrets. Close to it was a cottage and to this he led me. As we approached a man appeared at the door. When he saw us he gave’ an exclamation of pleasure and recognition.

“Herr Doktor!” he cried.

“We’ve come for a night’s lodging, Hans,” said Dr. Adair.

“I suppose the Herr Graf is not here.”

“No, Herr Doktor. I will open up the lodge.”

“Do, please, Hans. We have come a long way. We are tired and hungry.”

I said: “Surely we should go to an inn. Your friend is not here ..”

“No … no. It is an arrangement we have. If the Graf thought we had come here and gone away he would be most