Hawke's Tor by Thompson E. V

Author:Thompson, E. V.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 2012-03-28T16:00:00+00:00

In fact, the ‘few minutes’ turned out to be more than half an hour – but the wait proved worthwhile. Verity was smiling when the two women returned to the hallway where Tom was waiting with the Wiltshire detective sergeant and Millie was positively radiant.

Verity was the first to speak. Addressing herself to George Farmer, she said, ‘Millie and I have had a long talk together and Tom was not exaggerating when he said she is a very bright girl. She is also a most determined one and has the commitment that Miss Nightingale looks for in every one of her nurses. I am most impressed with her.’

‘Does that mean … you want her to train to become one of your nurses?’

Tom was unable to decide whether the detective sergeant was proud of Verity Pendleton’s approbation of his daughter, or apprehensive of what it would mean to have her leave the family home. He decided it was both.

‘I do. She is still a little young to take on the responsibilities that go with being a fully qualified Nightingale nurse but until she reaches a suitable age, and with your permission, I would like Millie to become my personal assistant, with pay of course, to help me with my duties of selecting other girls for nurse training, and inspecting hospitals to ensure they meet the increasing demands of government. It is work that will undoubtedly prove invaluable for Millie’s future and she will always be under my personal supervision.’

The silence that followed her words lasted so long that Verity felt obliged to prompt Millie’s father. ‘What do you think, Mr Farmer?’

George looked to where Millie was waiting for his reply, an expression of anguish on her face. ‘I think her mother and I are going to miss her very much, Miss Pendleton, but we will be happy knowing she is working for such a responsible person and proud that she will be helping you and Miss Nightingale make nursing the caring and respectable profession it should be.’

Millie hurled herself at her father with a squeal of delight that would have gladdened any father’s heart and as her father hugged her tight in return, Tom said to Verity, ‘You and her father have just made her the happiest girl in Salisbury.’

‘I think she has you to thank for making it possible by persuading her father that she is being offered an honourable future, Tom, but it would not have stopped her from pursuing a career as a nurse because she is a determined girl who knows what she wants from life. When she reached an age when she could decide her future for herself she would have taken the step anyway, but you made it possible for her to do it with the approval of her family and come to us with their blessing. That is most satisfactory for all of us … but there is a lesson in this that you, as a policeman, should never forget.’

When Verity stopped short of

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