| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Valence, to her relatives, regarding lull in good spring weather; flowers and leaves coming out; she regrets giving up her smart winter coat which looks right with her uniform and covers it well; 'It seems that a certain amount of moral courage is required to wear a nurse's uniform, which during war years stood for a cloak covering lightness of character'; the town is very gossipy, not helped by the presence of so many wounded, an artillery barracks and an infantry barracks; there is no local industry; Mlle. Combe has also laid herself open to the same charges as Mme. Soureillat, and although in very poor health she is to marry one of her patients, a factory worker; she wishes to escape her unhappy home life and he probably wants her money; Amelia pities her future mother-in-law, with whom she is to live, for she is an invalid and untidy in her habits; if Amelia had known the background to much of the activity at the annexe, she would have done more communicating with the 201 and relied less on Mme. Soureillat's authority; Soeur St. Paulin has revealed some previous misgivings regarding Amelia's character, now cleared out of the way; by degrees one can earn respect, but the gossip is rife; Dr. Lavoiepierre has no sense of professional etiquette; 'he does not realise the antipathy against him because, being a British subject born in Mauritius, he was not compelled to serve and he himself did not volunteer'; the 201 is now the last auxiliary hospital left; the annexe has been little damaged by its war use and the evangelical authorities are pleased; the pastor, M. Benignus, has appeared with the new concierge, and Amelia has been given help to move her belongings to the 201; her patients still number 20 and are still split between two hospitals, so she now insists on having Thursday morning and Sunday off in order to save her strength; her fracture cases are doing well and she has no blood poisoning cases at the moment; her old man is bored in the civilian ward and wants her to attend to him for interest; 'war conditions are over and the stir and comradeship of 40 young men in a ward belong to the past. Like most good things one would have liked to have had more of them'; she must grow used to working with individuals. |