Page 25 of A Zephyr Rising
Henry gave his grandmother a wry smile and folded his newspaper.“I highly doubt the voices in your head are declaring their desire to become a nurse.”He stood and approached Ginger.Though he’d clearly slept and bathed, the bruise on his cheek still altered his appearance.“Now what’s all this?”
Ginger had expected this reaction.Though they were the three people in her family who promised to be the best candidates to give the news to, she had a sudden urge to retract the statement.At least before she’d spoken it, she relished the excitement.Now she was nervous.
“She says she wants to be a nurse, you ninny.”Her aunt replaced her cup on its saucer with a clink and motioned to her servant, who waited nearby to pour a third cup.“Come and have a cup of tea, Ginger dear.It’s a delicious oolong.You’ve had a frightful night and morning.Giles can order a maid to draw a long, hot bath.And we’ll fetch you some of Meg’s clothes.I can hardly believe you’ve been wandering in public looking like that.”
Ginger swallowed her disappointment.Of all people, she’d expected support from her mother’s sister.Aunt Madeline was outspokenly political—a supporter of women’s rights.She’d even taken Meg to some of the suffragette rallies.
“I am tired.”Ginger set her handbag on the sofa.“But I’m not delusional.I want to be a nurse.At first, I thought perhaps a doctor.The London School of Medicine is just around the corner from the hospital.With the war coming, we will need women as doctors and nurses.But then I realized by the time I finish the training, the war may very well be over.So a nurse it is.I even had the matron lend me a couple uniforms so I can take them to the tailor and have some custom-made for myself.”
“Nurses and doctors, my goodness, what a scandal.I can see it now: ‘Earl of Braddock’s daughter to become a nurse.’Splashed all over the newspapers.”Gran shuddered.
“Now, Mama, being a nurse is a perfectly respectable thing these days.”Madeline stood, cup of tea in her hands, and approached Ginger.“But it’s also for women who are unmarried.”She held out the cup toward Ginger.“Not only is it likely you’ll marry, and soon, but also you’re far too beautiful to be a nurse, my darling niece.You’ll have all your patients in love with you.And the wounds coming in from the battlefronts are likely to be quite gruesome.”
Ginger took the cup, the sweet scent of the tea faintly reminiscent of honey.“Marriage can wait.And I’d like to do my bit.Why should the men alone be allowed to prove their love for our country?”
“Be sensible, Ginny.”Henry’s expression was remarkably serious.“Do you ever think Father would allow such a scheme?Is this about the Martin boy?How is he recovering?”
“He was still asleep when I left the hospital.They sedated him to keep him from the pain, but the surgery went well.And no—that’s not it.”She swirled the tea in the cup.“All right, partially.Charlie’s injury may have inspired it.But I came up with the idea on my own.And then Dr.Clark said I had a strong stomach and suggested I look at the Queen Alexandra’s.”
“Doctor who?”Gran leaned toward Madeline.“You may want to dismiss Giles if we are to continue discussing this.”
Madeline gave a nod to the servant.“Thank you, Giles, that will be all.”
“I’m not ashamed to state I’d like to be useful to the coming war effort,” Ginger said as the servant slipped out noiselessly.Being able to move without being heard must be a well-practiced art.“Dr.Clark was kind enough to take me over to speak to the matron of nurses at the college.Normally they want entrants to be at least twenty-four, but with the war?—”
“My heavens.”Gran set a hand to her forehead.Ever prone to melodrama, her grandmother was acting as though Ginger had just announced her intention to become a burlesque dancer.“Who is Dr.Clark?”
Henry’s eyebrows drew together with curiosity.“The surgeon we sought for the Martin boy.I didn’t realize you’d become so friendly with him,” he said to Ginger.
Ginger waved his comment away.“That’s entirely beside the point.He examined my ankle, that’s all.Which led to our conversing about the Queen Alexandra’s.”
“Is this Dr.Clark a handsome fellow?”Madeline asked, not bothering to hide a smirk.
“What about your ankle?”Henry crossed his arms, leaning toward her.
This wasn’t going over very well.Setting her teeth together, Ginger placed the untouched cup of tea on a small table and then sat on the sofa.“He’s not unattractive.Very tall.But also irrelevant.”
“No—your aunt has a point.”Gran came over and sat beside her.“Handsome men have a way of swaying opinions.”She took Ginger’s hands.“But don’t let a foolish infatuation drive you to something so drastic.”
Infatuation?Ginger chortled.Dr.Clark was lovely, but she wouldn’t call him handsome, really.Still, he’d been too kind for her to make such a statement to her family.“I assure you, this isn’t the case.I simply want to be a nur?—”
“Well, it’s out of the question, Ginny.”Henry rubbed his jaw.“Father would never allow it.”
Her grandmother’s anxious expression juxtaposed with the smiling look in her aunt’s eyes.A faint throb in her heart spread to a burn in Ginger’s chest as she dipped her chin.“You could talk to him, Henry.Advocate for me.”She scanned the room for her absent cousin.“Where’s Meg when I need her?She’d be on my side.”
“She went up to York with Hugh for a shoot,” Madeline said.“You won’t be able to marry until you’re out of the service.Poor Stephen Fisher will be quite disappointed.”
“Poor Stephen Fisher will have to be disappointed, regardless.”Ginger reached for her abandoned tea.The adjective amused her—of all people, Stephen did little to elicit her sympathies.“I mean to refuse him.”
Henry turned and walked toward one of the tall windows in the room, which overlooked the gorgeous neighborhood of Knightsbridge.He’d done his best to stay out of the whole matter.“He’s my best friend and you’re my sister,”he’d said when Stephen first proposed.“It would be wrong of me to interfere.”
“So that’s it then?You’re to join the Queen Alexandra’s and become a merry old maid?”Henry continued to stare out the window.
The clopping of horseshoes on the street sounded faintly from outside, followed by the honk of a horn.Every time she was in the city, the noise reminded Ginger of why she loved life at Penmore.“I don’t know.I’d like to stay in at the very least while the war is on.This whole thing with the Martins has only made me understand my uselessness.I’d like to change that.”
Gran placed a hand on hers.“My dear, if you’ll take some advice from an old woman—you’re too young to decide you’d like to spend the rest of your days alone.Now, Stephen Fisher may not be the man for you which is all right.But you’re a lovely young woman.There may come a time another young man catches your fancy.If you commit to service for an organization that doesn’t allow for marriage, you’ll surely be setting yourself up for heartbreak when the time comes.”
Madeline pursed her lips.“If it hasn’t already, Mama.This Dr.Clark seems to have affected Ginger in just a morning.”
