on your most sacred word of honour that you’ll marry me. Say it, Rose. Promise it. Solemnly promise.’
‘I solemnly promise.’
‘Good,’ said Mark. ‘I’ll come back at nine.’
‘Do you know what’s wrong?’
‘Yes. It’s damn’ ticklish. Bless you, darling. Till nine.’
‘Till nine,’ Rose said, and in a state of enthralment went in to dinner.
II
By eight o’clock the evening depression had begun to settle over Commander Syce. At about five o’clock when the sun was over the yard arm he had a brandy and soda. This raised his spirits. With its successors, up to the third or fourth, they rose still farther. During this period he saw himself taking a job and making a howling success of it. From that emotional eminence he fell away with each succeeding dram and it was during his decline that he usually took to archery. It had been in such a state of almost suicidal depression that he had suddenly shot an arrow over his coppice into Mr Danberry-Phinn’s bottom meadow and slain the mother of Thomasina Twitchett.
Tonight the onset of depression was more than usually severe. Perhaps his encounter with the Colonel, whom he liked, gave point to his own loneliness. Moreover, his married couple were on their annual holiday and he had not been bothered to do anything about an evening meal. He found his arrow and limped back to the archery lawn. He no longer wanted to shoot. His gammy leg ached but he thought he’d take a turn up the drive.
When he arrived at the top it was to discover Nurse Kettle seated by the roadside in gloomy contemplation of her bicycle which stood upside down on its saddle and handlebars.
‘Hallo, Commander,’ said Nurse Kettle, ‘I’ve got a puncture.’
‘Evening. Really? Bore for you,’ Syce shot out at her.
‘I can’t make up me great mind to push her the three miles to Chyning so I’m going to have a shot at running repairs. Pumping’s no good,’ said Nurse Kettle.
She had opened a tool kit and was looking dubiously at its contents. Syce hung off and on, and watched her make a pass with a lever at her tyre.
‘Not like that,’ he shouted when he could no longer endure it. ‘Great grief, you’ll get nowhere that fashion.’
‘I believe you.’
‘And in any case, you’ll want a bucket of water to find the puncture.’ She looked helplessly at him. ‘Here!’ he mumbled. ‘Give it here.’
He righted the bicycle and with a further, completely inaudible remark began to wheel it down his drive. Nurse Kettle gathered up her tool kit and followed. A look strangely compounded of compassion and amusement had settled on her face.
Commander Syce wheeled the bicycle into a gardener’s shed and without the slightest attempt at any further conversation set about the removal of the tyre. Nurse Kettle hitched herself up on a bench and watched him. Presently she began to talk.
‘I am obliged to you. I’ve had a bit of a day. Epidemic in the village, odd cases all over the place and then this happens. There! Aren’t you neat-fingered. I looked in at Nunspardon this evening,’ she continued. ‘Lady Lacklander’s got a Toe and Dr Mark arranged for me to do the fomentations.’
Commander Syce made an inarticulate noise.
‘If you ask me the new baronet’s feeling his responsibilities. Came in just as I was leaving. Very bad colour and jumpy,’ Nurse Kettle gossiped cosily. She swung her short legs and interrupted herself from time to time to admire Syce’s handiwork. ‘Pity!’ she thought. ‘Shaky hands. Alcoholic skin. Nice chap, too. Pity!’
He repaired the puncture and replaced the tube and tyre. When he had finished and made as if to stand up, he gave a sharp cry of pain, clapped his hands to the small of his back and sank down again on his knees.
‘Hal-lo!’ Nurse Kettle ejaculated. ‘What’s all this? ’Bago?’
Commander Syce swore under his breath. Between clenched teeth he implored her to go away. ‘Most frightfully sorry,’ he groaned. ‘Ask you to excuse me. Ach!’
It was now that Nurse Kettle showed the quality that caused people to prefer her to grander and more up-to-date nurses. She exuded dependability, resourcefulness and authority. Even the common and pitilessly breezy flavour of her remarks was comfortable. To Commander Syce’s conjurations to leave him alone followed in the extremity of his pain by furious oaths, she paid no attention. She went down on all-fours beside him, enticed and aided him towards the bench, encouraged him to use it and her own person as aids to rising and finally had him, though almost bent double, on his feet. She helped him into his house and lowered him down on a sofa in a dismal drawing-room.
‘Down-a-bumps,’ she said. Sweating and gasping, he reclined there and glared at her. ‘Now, what are we going to do about you, I wonder? Did I or did I not see a rug in the hall? Wait a bit.’
She went out and came back with a rug. She called him ‘dear’ and, taking his pain seriously, covered him up, went out again and returned with a glass of water. ‘Making myself at home, I suppose you’re thinking. Here’s a couple of aspirins to go on with,’ said Nurse Kettle.
He took them without looking at her. ‘Please don’t trouble,’ he groaned. ‘Thank you. Under my own steam.’ She gave him a look and went out again.
In her absence, he attempted to get up but was galvanized with a monstrous jab of lumbago and subsided in agony. He began to think she had gone for good and to wonder how he was to support life while the attack lasted, when he heard her moving about in some remote part of the house. In a moment she came in with two hot-water bags.
‘At this stage,’ she said, ‘heat’s the ticket.’
‘Where did you get those things?’
‘Borrowed ‘em from the Cartarettes.’
‘My God!’
She laid them against his back.
‘Dr Mark’s coming to look at you,’ she said.
‘My God!’
‘He was at the Cartarettes and if you ask me there’s going to be some news from that quarter before any of us are much older. At least,’ Nurse Kettle added rather vexedly, ‘I would have said so, if it hadn’t been for them all looking a bit put out.’ To his horror she began to take off his shoes.
‘With a yo-heave-ho,’ said Nurse Kettle out of compliment to the navy. ‘Aspirin doing its stuff?’
‘I – I think so. I do beg –’
‘I suppose your bedroom’s upstairs?’
‘I do BEG –’
‘We’ll see what the doctor says, but I’d suggest you doss down in the housekeeper’s room to save the stairs. I mean to say,’ Nurse Kettle added with a hearty laugh, ‘always provided there’s no housekeeper.’
She looked into his face so good-humouredly and with such an air of believing him to be glad of her help that he found himself accepting it.
‘Like a cup of tea?’ She asked.
‘No, thank you.’
‘Well, it won’t be anything stronger unless the doctor says so.’
He reddened, caught her eye and grinned.
‘Come,’ she said, ‘that’s better.’
‘I’m really ashamed to trouble you so much.’
‘I might have said the same about my bike, mightn’t