Alice gasped. ‘He shouldn’t do that. You’re only meant to leave messages if you need the attentions of a nurse.’
‘Seems he does,’ said Edith with a wicked grin. ‘Anyway it was all right, it was Mary who opened the door, and of course she recognised him. Actually I think she’s a bit miffed he asked me and not her. But she’ll get over it.’
‘What did you say?’ demanded Alice.
Edith gave her a straight look. ‘I said yes, of course.’
Edith talked about nothing else for the rest of the week. Alice wondered if she even noticed what her patients said to her; when Alice asked her how the old lady on Boleyn Road was coming along after several repeat visits, Edith simply shrugged and said ‘all right’. When a postman fell off his bike and Edith was first on the scene, she barely commented on it, despite it being the most exciting thing to happen for ages. They’d had to draw the details out of her one by one.
‘Where’s he taking you?’ Mary asked, excited for her friend and gamely putting aside her envy at not being picked. It was Friday morning and they were eating breakfast.
‘He didn’t say. But if he gives me the choice, I’m going to suggest Jamaica Inn. It’s meant to be all moody and romantic. It’s on at that new Odeon on Hackney Road, so we won’t even have too far to go. He could walk me home,’ Edith said dreamily.
‘Sounds as if you’ve got it all planned,’ said Alice. It wasn’t that she begrudged her friend an evening out, but since it had been the sole topic of conversation for days she was getting fed up.
‘Oh, don’t be like that, Al. I bet you’ve wanted to see that film as much as I have. Shall I ask him if his brother wants to come along and we could make a four?’
Alice tightened her jaw. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘No, can’t say I blame you,’ said Mary. ‘He was a bit serious, wasn’t he? And not as good-looking either.’
‘Right, I won’t bother then,’ Edith told her friend. ‘Don’t say I never do anything for you, though. What do you think I should wear?’
‘How about that flowery skirt you wore to the picnic?’ asked Mary, buttering her toast. ‘Pass the marmalade, Alice, would you?’
‘Oh no, I couldn’t do that. It will have to be something different,’ Edith insisted. ‘What about my blouse with the puff sleeves, Alice? You know, I got it cheap late last summer in the sales, then it got too cold to wear it.’
‘Perfect,’ said Alice. ‘And you’ve got those sandals in cherry red that will go with its pattern. It was meant to be.’
‘Yes, that’ll be just right.’ Edith all but hugged herself in anticipation. ‘Only today’s shift and then it’ll be time to see him. I can’t wait.’ She took a spoonful of porridge and ate it slowly.
‘Aren’t you going to finish that?’ Mary demanded, always on the alert for any extra food. ‘Cos if you aren’t …’
‘You have it, I’ve got butterflies in my tummy already,’ said Edith, getting up and sliding her chair back under the table. ‘Right, I’ll see you two later before I go.’
‘That’s if there aren’t any last-minute emergencies,’ said Mary cheerfully, digging into the porridge, but Edith was already halfway across the room.
‘Right, that’s it, that’s me finished for the day.’ Alice slung her Gladstone bag down by the table in the dining area. ‘I’m parched. I was so busy all day I hardly had time for a cup of tea.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Edith offered. ‘Then I’ll be off. I was lucky, my last visit was terribly quick. A toddler had burnt himself but the grannie was so fast at getting his arm under running water that I barely had to do anything. She and the kiddie’s mother knew exactly what was for the best. She was getting ready to bathe his arm with tea – that’s said to help you know; all that tannin in it.’
Alice reached for a cup. ‘Funny, isn’t it, how some families are so well equipped and others have nothing.’ She thought for the umpteenth time of Kathleen Berry, in many ways so alone, and all the children of St Benedict’s with no running water in their homes. Little Frankie, with hardly any light. ‘That blouse looks good on you, Edith. And with those sandals too.’
‘I’m pleased it still fits.’ Edith primped her hair in the reflection of the window. ‘I’m going to bring my white bolero in case it turns cold later.’
‘Good idea,’ Alice began, but was cut short when Gladys came in, her expression an agonised mixture of shyness and urgency.
‘Please, Miss. Nurse Gillespie. They need yer.’
Edith gasped in alarm. ‘Me? Are you sure it’s me they need? I’ve done my shift, Gladys, there’s been a mistake.’
‘No, Miss.’ Gladys twisted her hands. ‘It’s that postman what you saw before, he’s been took bad again, and they said you was to go cos you knew him and what happened.’
Edith could have stamped her foot in frustration. ‘Not tonight, why did it have to be tonight? Harry will turn up and you or Mary will have to say I couldn’t make it. Then he’ll get all cross and he might even take Mary instead – I could tell he liked her, just not as much as me …’
Alice took her friend by the shoulders. ‘Don’t be silly. I’ll go. You told me all about the accident. He’s probably tried to do too much too soon. Just give me the address and I’ll go. There won’t be much they can say about it if I simply turn up instead of you.’
Edith looked up at her friend in relief. ‘Would you really, Alice? But you’re exhausted, you said so.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Alice, reaching once more for her leather bag. ‘I’ve had half a cup of tea, and if it’s close by, it most likely won’t take long. You go on, then we can say you’d already left before the message came. As long as he sees someone, it won’t matter which nurse it is. Sorry, Gladys, that’s a bit confusing, isn’t it? But I’m happy to go. I’ll be off now.’
‘Suppose so, Miss. Nurse Lake,’ said Gladys dubiously, her lank hair almost covering her eyes.
Edith impulsively hugged her friend. ‘I owe you for this.’
‘You do,’ said Alice. ‘Have a lovely evening, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’
The house was easy enough to find, and Alice reckoned it was almost exactly halfway between St Benedict’s and Jeeves Place. The door was open, and she propped her bike up on the tiny strip of paving stones serving as a front garden, before knocking and going inside. Her uniform made her instantly recognisable, and the woman leaning over the sofa in the tiny parlour stood up to give her room.
‘Thank you for coming, Nurse. We’re mighty glad to see you. I’m his next-door neighbour, and I heard Ernie cry out. I come round at once and found him here like this.’ The woman in the faded print apron wiped her hands nervously on her sleeves. ‘Will he be all right, Nurse?’
Alice moved closer to the man on the sofa. ‘Mr Leagrave? Ernest, may I call you that? I’m Nurse Lake. I’m a colleague of Nurse Gillespie and she’s told me all about you.’ She spoke quietly and firmly, to reassure him and also to judge his reactions. Was he alert or confused? She dreaded that he’d developed concussion from the accident.
Ernest Leagrave slowly moved his head round so he could see her properly. He was half lying, half sitting, propped against a pair of worn cushions. ‘You ain’t the one what looked after me before,’ he said, and though his voice was querulous there was no trace of