| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Valence, to her relatives, regarding weather; quietness in annexe following 80% evacuation; their clothes are disinfected and kept at the habillement department of the 201, so have to be fetched; Liénart has gone, with one finger still suppurating slightly but his massage treatment completed; one patient, Cahffiotte, left in the big ward alone, amusing himself by swinging on his mattress to make the springs creak; problems with the doctor's absence and Mme. Soureillat's ignorance of surgical massage, leading to some cases being neglected; the doctor blames them but Amelia is not bothered as it is his fault; Mme. Soureillat was angry and took it out when dressing the patients; she is still cross because the doctor told her off, but Amelia points out that the doctor arrived cross and was determined to find fault somehow; she also says that massage cannot be done in a week and they have done nothing to retard progress; there is no working in concert with the doctor at Valence as there was at Chambéry; she has made a start on 15 patients for massage but already 10 of them have been moved on; she finds she has treated 36 in 3 months, to her surprise: she keeps records in a notebook; she is not bothered by doctors as long as the patients are happy and she is satisfied with her work; departure of Villeneuve and Toulorge; Hergaux has left, and has made up his mind to become a gamekeeper; he cannot be an arable farmer with part of one hand missing, and it is risky to buy animals at present; a horse which would previously have cost 1,000 francs now costs 2,500 francs, and he would need five for his father's farm; news of his brother being taken prisoner indirectly killed his father; his mother keeps two cows and sells milk and butter; his sister's husband was killed two years ago and his nephew is now wounded in hospital; he thinks that farming now would take 20 years to recover the capital investment; he is also thinking of the support of his wounded brother, who will only be able to garden; he seems untainted by the war life; he deserves to succeed in civilian life; news brought by the doctor that peace had been signed, though some doubted it; the officers threw a little party for the departure of some of their colleagues and invited the staff; she provided the music but everyone else did their share in the entertainment; it was fun, and much less formal than coffee at Mme. Soureillat's next day; news of the Kaiser's abdication ('surely the beginning of the end'). [Letter breaks off without signature] |