“Yes,” I said.
“I would.”
He looked at me with some scepticism.
“You are a young woman who would never admit she was in the wrong.”
“That is not true. I am often in the wrong.”
“About trivia, yes. But the big undertakings?”
“Not true again. I have undertaken important things and failed, and I have not deluded myself into thinking they were anything but my own failures.”
“Anna is a very unusual person,” said Henrietta.
“A rare person. I knew that as soon as I saw her. That was why I went to her when I decided to change my way of life.”
He looked from one of us to the other, nodding slowly.
“And you intend to stay the course?”
“If you mean until we are no longer needed, yes,” I answered.
“But I hope the war will soon be over,” added Henrietta.
“They are saying Sebastopol can’t hold out and that it is the key to victory.
Once it has fallen the war will be over. “
‘ “They” often delude themselves. Optimism is a good thing and a great help but perhaps realism is more so. “
“Do you mean you think it will not fall quickly?” I asked.
“I think the Russians are fully aware of its importance and that they are as determined to keep it as the British and the French are to take it.”
“I don’t think I could bear years and years of this sort of thing,” said Henrietta.
“Then I should go home. I believe some of your people have.”
“Those who did not understand what nursing is, have left,” I said.
“But I believe that is nothing for us to regret.”
Again there was a scratching on the door. Dr. Adair called out something in Turkish, I presumed, and the man who had brought the coffee looked in and with him was another man. He was tall, brown-haired and brown-eyed, but he looked quite fair compared with the darkness of our host.
“Philippe!” said Dr. Adair.
“Good of you to come so promptly. Let me introduce you. Monsieur Philippe Lablanche, Miss Pleydell, Miss Marlington.”
Philippe Lablanche bowed.
“They have had the misfortune to lose themselves in the city,” said Dr. Adair.
“Will you take them back to Scutari?”
“It will be my pleasure,” said the gallant Frenchman, his eyes shining with admiration which I thought must be for Henrietta, who looked very pretty in spite of her uniform.
“I won’t offer you coffee,” went on Dr. Adair, ‘because they should be getting back without delay. ” He turned to us:
“Monsieur Lablanche is one of our inestimable allies. He will take good care of you.”
“I shall do my best.”
“There is a conveyance in the courtyard. It will get you to the shore.”
“We must depart then, ladies,” said Monsieur Lablanche.
We rose and I said to Dr. Adair: “We have to thank you.”
He bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“What we should have done without you …” began Henrietta with a shiver.
“It’s worthy of a little contemplation,” he replied.
“Look on it as a worthwhile experience and it will make you less rash in future.”
“I really had imagined our being drugged and taken off to someone’s harem,” she told him.
“I hope the disappointment was not too great.”
Henrietta burst out laughing.
“Well, it all ended most satisfactorily.
Thank you, Dr. Adair. Thank you a thousand times. “
“Once will be enough,” he said.
And we left.
As he said, there was a conveyance waiting in the courtyard. As we got in I could not help feeling exhilarated and not a little puzzled by the adventure. What was he doing there dressed like that, living like a Turkish pasha? What could it all mean? What a man of mystery he was!
He became more and more intriguing the more I knew of him.
Philippe Lablanche proved to be charming. He was very gracious and seemed especially so when compared with Dr. Adair. He pointed out the landmarks of the old city as we passed through it. It was dusk and from the minarets the faithful were being called to prayer. The city, beautiful and mysterious, seemed alluring yet sinister in the dim light. I looked at Henrietta. She was wide-eyed and excitement brought colour to her cheeks. She looked as though she were entranced.
Philippe Lablanche told us that he was attached to the French army and that Dr. Adair was a great friend of his.
“A wonderful man,” he said.
“I know of no one quite like him. He is what it is you say when a man is …”
“Unique?” I suggested.
“What is unique?”
“How one is if there is no one on earth like one.”
“That,” he said, ‘is Dr. Damien Adair. “
“Have you read his books?” I asked.
“But of course. They have been translated into French. So I read them.
But perhaps that is not so good. One day I read them just as Dr. Adair wrote them. “
“He is a man who likes adventure.”
“It is the breath of life to him.”
“You, too, must have an adventurous time. Monsieur Lablanche.”
“Yes, yes. But that is so with war.”
“I suppose,” went on Henrietta, ‘we should not ask questions about what you do? “
“How understanding you are.”
“Then,” went on Henrietta, ‘we will not ask. We will let our imaginations work in secret and we shall never be sure. “
“That is kind of you … to think so much of me.”
“It is you who are kind. You are taking us back to safety.”
“Dr. Adair is right, you know. It is unwise for ladies to walk alone.”
“We imagined that we were being taken to some sultan’s harem,” said Henrietta with a laugh.
“Oh … it is not an impossibility. Such things have been known to happen. Some ladies have been carried off. You see, these people do not feel as we do.”
“I know,” I said.
“Women are of no great importance in some countries, existing merely to serve the men.”
“That is so. Mademoiselle. So you see, in strange places we must be prepared for strange customs.”
“We shall never forget this day, shall we, Anna?” said Henrietta.
“First a few hours’ freedom. What bliss! Then to be lost … and all the terror of being driven through the streets not knowing where we were going. If only he had told us! But he couldn’t, poor man, not understanding the language. And to find ourselves face to face with Dr. Adair looking like a sultan himself … Wonderful!”
She was looking at Philippe Lablanche almost wheedlingly. She was implying: Tell us what you know about the strange habits of our fascinating doctor.
But charming as he was and he really seemed eager to please he was not telling us, that was if he knew anything to tell.
We were crossing the Bosphorus now.
“Leaving Europe for Asia,” said Henrietta.
“That sounds very adventurous … but it is just a little channel of water. What a fascinating place this is! I wish we could see more of it. Odd, isn’t it, to be in this place and all we see is rows of hospital beds.”
“I think you are wonderful,” said Philippe Lablanche.
“I know you are a great comfort to those wounded men.”
“It is more than Dr. Adair thinks we are,” I said.
“Oh no. He thinks you are doing good work. Nobody could disagree with that. We have heard so much of you and the good lady Nightingale. She is regarded as a heroine … more than that. A saint. And you, her helpers, are angels … angels of mercy. You will never be forgotten.”
“We don’t feel much like angels, do we, Anna?” asked Henrietta.
“Not in the hospital. Though some of the men like to see us, I believe. But the powers that be … half the time think we are a nuisance.”