Alice winced a little as yet again the older woman had homed in on a sensitive issue. Edith took her responsibilities very seriously – for as long as she was on duty. After that she took having fun very seriously as well. Alice suspected their former matron might well have made a note to that effect.
Edith sat up straight against the slightly sagging cushions of the sofa. ‘Yes, Miss Dewar. I know we won’t go round in pairs but we always found it useful to help each other out when we were studying, testing each other, that sort of thing.’
Fiona Dewar nodded sagely. ‘Indeed. That shows commendable dedication. And we don’t stand on ceremony here, girls. You may call me Fiona, unless it’s in front of patients or doctors. It may surprise you to learn that I’m not vastly older than you are.’
Alice made a valiant attempt not to let her astonishment show on her face. Their previous superiors would have never, ever have relaxed the tradition of formal titles. Besides, she had thought Fiona Dewar must be at least twice her own age – but then, looking more closely, she saw that she was wrong. Perhaps the superintendent was in her late thirties; but knowing she was at such a senior level had made Alice assume she must be even older. ‘No, of course not,’ she managed to say, as Edith was clearly unable to utter a word.
The superintendent beamed again. ‘I’m delighted you’ve both decided to join us. I know the borough’s main branch is a bit more central, but we like to think we keep a welcoming house here.’
Alice shifted in her seat. ‘We saw that you had vacancies for two nurses and so we thought we could stick together.’
Fiona nodded again. ‘That sounds very sensible. So, I’m sure you’re well prepared for your new positions and you’d never have passed the exam if you weren’t, but all the same …’ She sat back a little, clasping her hands. ‘It will be different to what you’ve been used to working in a hospital. Of course you are still under the medical direction of a doctor – you won’t be expected to dispense medicine for any patient except in emergencies, and I’m happy to say that our local GPs all appreciate the hard work we district nurses do. All the same, you will be required to show initiative and to take every opportunity to promote good health and hygiene to every family. Prevention is better than cure.’ Her eyes gleamed and Alice and Edith smiled in agreement.
‘Always remember, you are guests in the patients’ homes.’ Fiona’s face grew serious. ‘We never, ever judge our patients on account of their creed or degree of poverty. I regret to say that you will have plenty of dealings with the various officials who oversee public assistance, as many households around here can’t pay into provident schemes. Yet they are all equal when it comes to treatment.’
‘Of course,’ said Alice hurriedly, inwardly wondering how bad it might be. She knew all about poverty in theory – but she’d never gone without herself.
‘So, ladies, may I safely presume that you can ride bicycles?’
‘Yes, I been doing that since I was a kiddie,’ Edith assured the woman.
Alice inclined her head towards her friend. ‘I can manage a bike too.’ She’d never been allowed one as a child; her parents had thought it was too dangerous an activity for their beloved only daughter. ‘I learned when I was a student nurse. When we were working shifts it was the only reliable way to get around.’
‘Quite so,’ Fiona Dewar said approvingly. ‘We are fortunate to be well connected with public transport here, as you must have found out earlier, but when visiting your patients you will have to do so by bike. There’s no bus or tram that will get down some of our narrower streets. Do I take it that neither of you are familiar with this part of London?’
Both nurses shook their heads.
‘Oh, it’s a wonderful place to work.’ The superintendent spread her hands in front of her. ‘You’ll never be bored for a minute. We have unemployment around here, of course, and some of our local citizens do live cheek by jowl, you might say, and so we have to be extra vigilant against the spread of disease. There was an outbreak of typhoid down in Shoreditch at the beginning of the year, terrible business. Overcrowding makes it worse. But then, you knew all that before you qualified, didn’t you?’
Alice agreed somewhat nervously. It was one thing to learn such things as a part of a course, quite another to be brought face to face with the facts. Still, if she’d wanted an easy life she could have gone back to Liverpool. Although that would have been difficult in other ways.
‘It can’t be any more overcrowded than where I grew up,’ said Edith matter-of-factly. ‘We were seven of us children in a two-bedroom house and that was better off than some of our neighbours. You just got on and made the best of things.’
‘That’s the spirit,’ said Fiona.
Alice glanced at her friend. She knew it hadn’t been as simple as that. But that was Edith’s story to tell.
There was a nervous knock at the door and the young woman who’d let them in tentatively balanced a laden tea tray as she stepped across to the desk. She didn’t meet their eyes, but kept her gaze towards the floor and her mousy brown hair fell forward, obscuring her pale face.
‘Thank you, Gladys,’ said Fiona, as Gladys scooted out again. She poured three cups from the pot. ‘I wouldn’t like to give you the impression that you’ll be waited on hand and foot here. This is purely because it’s a special occasion, to welcome you to your new home.’ She glanced up as she passed the cups across the desk. ‘We see to ourselves most of the time when it comes to cups of tea or that sort of thing. There are three meals a day served downstairs on the lower ground floor, all provided by our esteemed Cook, and you will of course maintain your own rooms in spick-and-span order. We must value hygienic practices at all times.’
‘Of course,’ Alice agreed hurriedly. It was what they’d been used to, after all. She gratefully sipped her tea, realising that her last cup had been at an unearthly hour that morning, and felt like a long time ago.
‘Our district room is on the ground floor – you’ll have passed the door to it on your way in,’ Fiona went on. ‘I must warn you that, although we are by and large a friendly establishment here, any nurse who leaves that room less tidy than she found it will incur immediate wrath. There can be absolutely no exceptions. I trust I need say no more about that most vital rule.’
Alice hastily swallowed her tea and nodded vigorously. The district room was where all supplies and equipment were kept, with which each nurse replenished the contents of her own Gladstone bag that went everywhere with her. To fall foul of the superintendent’s rule would be to risk another nurse being unable to find something important, possibly in an emergency. That could never be allowed to happen.
‘Yes, Fiona. I mean no,’ added Edith.
‘Good,’ said the superintendent, setting down her cup of tea on its serviceable saucer. ‘All finished? Excellent. Now, follow me. I’m afraid you’ll have to hit the ground running as we are extremely busy right now. Which is why we’re so glad to recruit the pair of you together, of course. You’ll be needed just as soon as you’ve had a moment to catch your breath. Someone will bring up your big cases, but please take your bags. I’ll show you to your rooms. You’re on the top floor, so I hope you’ve got good legs. Well, if you haven’t already, you soon will have.’
Alice and Edith exchanged a glance as they obediently followed the diminutive superintendent. Their previous matron would sooner have died than make a comment about their legs. Clearly things were very different around here, and Alice had the distinct impression that, whatever else they were in for, it wasn’t going to be boring.
Alice had barely had time to unpack