| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Aix-les-Bains, to her relatives, annoyed that their plans are still not settled and that Uncle is probably having to defend her in Rome; arrangement to meet Mme. Brachet on her visit to Aix from Grésy; she is initially brusque but then says there may be work at Chambéry; she is more impressed with the fact that Amelia will not want board and lodging than with her devotion and experience; time spent in Chambéry house-hunting, without success; Mlle. Boyet, who has worked at Hospital 103 at Chambéry, meets them there - she is also visiting a soldier's grave, of which there are many; in the mean time Amelia finds a good apartment, which is described; description of hospital, which was built for consumptives but never used; there are about 100 patients there; the nurse who met them has visited Rome and was very pleasant indeed; apparently Chambéry volunteers get on well together; Mlle. Vernaz took the hospital over from a Parisian professional nurse just after the war began and has run it on professional lines; she is careful in selecting her assistants; their present masseur, a soldier, is ill and has to leave; the matter seems to be settled; the flat is ready for them to move into; the massage at 103 is begun before the wound has closed, so no cicatrices are allowed to form; they are no longer sent to Aix because it is seen as abandonment; she has overheard countrywomen discussing the crippled state of sons returned to them, and is frustrated to think she could have made a difference; attendance at a dull Protestant service taken by Mlle. Boyet's father; she disagrees with his sermon and feels that militarism needs to stop; people are worn out, the men with fighting, the women with working and waiting; the Americans at least are fresh; more fighting is expected shortly at Salonika and they have seen trainloads heading that way; they have been helping as interpreters at the station; some of them hardly know where they are, and are ill-informed by their officers; contrast of English and Scottish soldiers on the train; class and early training also shows; anecdote of a parrot overheard near their flat; thunderstorms; discharge of paragrêle guns to protect the vines from hail; some vines are diseased already; the weather is cool enough and good for walking; Aunt looks well. [Letter breaks off unsigned] |