I was up early next morning. I donned Fraulein Kleber’s riding habit.
I knew it suited me, for I had always looked well in riding’ clothes I felt exhilarated.
Dr. Adair had provided the horses, I learned, from Herr Brandt’s stables. He had a fine black one; mine was a chestnut mare. He rode magnificently, as I had expected he would. Seated on a horse, he looked like some figure from Greek mythology. I hoped my mood of exhilaration was not too obvious.
As we rode away from Kaiserwald, I glanced back. I saw a movement at a window. So Eliza was there. I could imagine the expression on her face. She was so very much against this enterprise; and she was a person who, when she had once made up her mind, adhered to it. It would take a great deal to change her opinions of Dr. Adair. She insisted that he had taken Henrietta and melodramatically cast her off to Philippe Lablanche and nothing was going to change her. But what she feared most was what he would do to me.
“How do you like your mount?” he asked.
“She seems … amenable.”
“Good. Horses can be temperamental and it will be a long day. I hope you are as proficient on a horse as you are in a ward.”
“I rode in India and in the country. I am no expert, of course, but I think I can manage a horse reasonably well.”
“Well, I shall be with you to take care of you.”
“That,” I said, ‘is a comforting thought. How long did you stay in Scutari? “
“No longer than was necessary. There was a certain amount to be cleared up. I came to England as soon as possible.”
“Did you see any more of Henrietta?”
“Oh yes. I saw her with Lablanche. They seemed to be very content with each other.”
“In her letter Henrietta mentioned that you were very helpful.”
“I did what I could. The rest was up to them.”
“I hope it works out well.”
“That, again, is up to them.”
“These matters do not always … even though people expect them to in the beginning.”
“All we can do about that is wish them well.”
“How strange that you should be in Kaiserwald at the same time as I am.”
“It is not so strange, really.”
“Don’t you think so?”
“I arranged it. In other words I asked the Head Deaconess to invite you to come. And when I knew you had arrived I came, too.”
“But … why?”
“I have a project.”
“You mean this Rosenwald? Are you suggesting that I might take up this post … whatever it is?”
“I thought it might be a good idea to take you out to see the place.”
“So you planned all this?”
“I admit it. So you see it is not so fortuitous as you at first thought.”
“It is kind of you to plan my future.”
“You are a good nurse, and your talents should not be wasted. You know the plight of hospitals all over the world. You are a disciple of Miss Nightingale and you know what she is proposing to do.”
“Yes,” I said.
I felt deflated. When he had said that he arranged this meeting, for a moment I had thought he had wanted to see me.
“I shall be very interested to see this place,” I said coolly.
“I knew you would be. I can assure you I am looking forward to the outcome.”
We rode in silence for some time, then he asked me what my plans were.
I told him that I was really waiting to see what happened. I knew there were going to be reforms in hospitals but I was not sure where I should fit in.
“And Big Eliza?”
“We plan to be together.”
“You have become good friends, it seems.”
“She is a very good and reliable person.”
He was silent.
I said at length: “What of you? What are your plans? Are you going off to some wild country to live as a native and discover secrets of the East?”
“Like you, I am waiting on events.”
“So you have nothing planned?”
“I have much planned, but there are circumstances to be considered. I sometimes feel it is tempting fate to make too many plans in advance.”
“You mean that Man proposes and God disposes.”
“God or someone.”
We were riding through a village street and I had to fall in behind him. I noticed that people glanced at him as he rode by and I was not surprised. So distinguished did he appear.
When we were in the country again he talked a little about Rosenwald.
The nurses would not be Deaconesses and this would not be a religious institution, merely a hospital. It was in its infancy at the moment. There were few patients, not more than thirty, he believed. The nurses were country girls from the surrounding districts simple girls with no real training.
“You seem to have a very special interest in it.”
“My interest is in finding the right person to run it. The Head Deaconess is a very capable woman. Kaiserwald would not be what it is without her.”
“I agree.”
“Ah … we are not far off now. It wasn’t too long in the saddle for you, I hope.”
“No. It has been easy going.”
“And the little mare has behaved impeccably. Look. You can see the towers from here. Pleasant setting, isn’t it?”
I looked ahead. It was a small schloss in the heart of the forest, not unlike Kaiserwald.
We rode into a courtyard. A man came out to take our horses and Dr. Adair gave orders that they should be fed and watered.
We were received by one who, I supposed, was the head of the nurses.
She was clearly overawed by Dr. Adair.
“I dare say you need some refreshment,” she said.
“It is quite a distance from Kaiserwald.”
He said we should like something and could we take it together out of doors. We had certain things to discuss.
We sat at a table in front of the schloss, looking down on a valley.
The mountains in the distance made a fine background and the forest was beautiful.
I felt happier than I had for a long time. Why? I wondered. Because he was going to offer me a post. I could come here and bring Eliza with me. Perhaps occasionally he would call, if he could find the time between his visits to exotic places; and if he thought of me at all, he would think: Oh yes, Anna Pleydell, the woman I put in to Rosenwald.
“This is pleasant,” he said.
“Do you agree?”
“Yes, it is very pleasant.”
“A good place to work?”
“It’s very beautiful.”
“Life would go on much the same every day. Patients coming and going.
How does that appeal to you? “
“I don’t know that I want peace … and nothing more.”
He laughed.
“No. I did not expect that. But it is a pleasant place … for the right person. One would have to be dedicated to the job. This could be a little kingdom with the one in control as the powerful head . ruling this little world, but of course having very little connection with what is beyond. This beer is good, isn’t it? And Sauerbraten and the inevitable sauerkraut. Well, we are after all in Germany … and the forest is a wonderful setting, don’t you agree?”
I said I did.
“When we have finished we will make our tour of inspection, for we must not be too late in leaving.”
But he did not seem in any hurry and we sat for some time over the beer and meat. It was so peaceful, the weather so fine. There was a faint mist in the air which gave a blue tinge to the mountains. I felt very happy just to sit there, now and then looking up to find his eyes on me. There was an air of unreality about the scene and I could almost convince myself that I had dreamed the whole thing.