Hours later Maggie was still standing still, looking wide eyed as deer caught in the headlights, her eyes were burning not just from the lack of blinking but also from the endless tears.
When Father first made the announcement Maggie was unsure of it implications. She had simply thought that it was a way for her to get out of the engagement, now after listening to the many words that followed she realised that in fact not only had she not gotten out of the engagement but now she also had to sign up as a nurse for the army and would be daily looking at death and destruction.
It sounded silly at first, Maggie had trained as a nurse for the past few years and she was not only adequate but she was considered extremely able at her job. She even found that she enjoyed going to work in the morning or at other strange hours that her shifts would start. She would hear the other nurses on the wards complaining about the early mornings or being placed on night shift for three straight weeks but scheduling was never a real issue for Maggie as she was happy doing her job and not to mention that by being placed on a night shift meant she was able to get out of a date or discussion with Timothy.
She had gained a reputation for being not just a caring, helpful nurse but she was also exceptionally skilled when it came to the treatment whether on the wards or in surgery. On numerous occasions she had been able to diagnose a patient when the doctor had been at a lost, although after blurting out the answer the first few times, thinking she was helping the doctor, she had received a severe reprimand and was not placed on the same ward as the doctor. After that she was always very careful to point the doctor in the right direction by giving them a few careful constructed questions or even listing numerous maybes.
No the problem with joining the Red Cross was not the work as a nurse it was the patients. During Maggie’s training she has seen numerous deaths but these were still not the common part of her day. Those dying patients that she did witness were often elderly and she knew that they had lived long lives. Maggie struggled when it was a younger person, she felt so powerless. As a nurse she was able to help heal, help make people feel better, when a young man, woman or child came into her ward or theatre and the doctors would be unable to save the patient she would feel such a great sense of grief knowing that a life had been cut short. Maggie knew that she could not cope with the sight of such losses, how could the young handsome soldiers of war be her only patients.
Mother and Father had just shown Timothy, Elizabeth and William to the door and Maggie was left alone for the first time that evening. Mother had been in hysterics while Timothy had at first seemed calm but as he realised that it would be a few more years until he could acquire his bride he became irate and even accused Father of standing in the way of true love.
Mother was less reserved and was yelling things like
“Why would you need to send your daughter to war? Haven’t we done our part by sending our only son? Why do they need our daughter? She could marry Timothy and serve in one of the hospitals nearby like Ascot or even Slough if she needed to, then she could finish work when she falls pregnant.”
Even William spoke up in Maggie’s defence suggesting that it might be putting Maggie’s life at an unnecessary risk. While George was torn, all his life he had idolised his father and he felt that it was his job to believe every decision his father made was right, but he also had an extremely close and loving relationship with Maggie and the thought of something happening to his little “Queenie” was difficult to substantiate. George ended up coming to the conclusion that Maggie was such a good nurse that once the hierarchy discovered this she would be placed at a safe hospital where she would be treating Lieutenant Colonel’s rashes in strange places. These words seemed to placate most of the party still there which was why Maggie was now standing alone when he father re-entered the room.
Maggie could hardly look at her father; she knew it would be a long time until she could look him in the eyes again. She was ashamed of all that had gone on in the past hours, she could hardly believe she had acted so childishly, especially when Father had gone to so much trouble to show her that now she had finished her training he would be treating her as an adult. Maggie was nineteen years old but as she was the youngest child of the family she knew how difficult it was for her father to give up thinking of her as ‘his’ baby. Father had taken the family and Timothy to the most expensive restaurant in Windsor, he had said that he was so proud of Maggie and wanted to celebrate her achievement and there was no better place then looking down towards the Thames on one side and Windsor Castle on the other. Maggie had thought the night was one of the greatest in her life; it was just before the war was declared and Father had bought French champagne and toasted his three beautiful and successful children. Afterwards they went to a performance at the Theatre Royal where they laughed so callously at a truly dreadful performance that Timothy was continuously hushing them and chiding them for their immature behaviour, even Father was finding it difficult to muffle his laughter.
Everything had now changed in just one short evening. All Maggie wanted to do was to blame Timothy for this whole mess.
If he had asked her such a ridiculous question, if he hadn’t tricked her into saying yes.
Maggie knew deep down that she had to take the responsibility upon her own shoulders but why did her Father now have to send her away, it just didn’t make sense, she thought that she was his little girl and now he was sending her away. When the news had sunk in that she would have to leave her home, leave her family and may finally end up having to leave the country, the tears had poured out of her. She wept and sobbed to try and change her father’s mind, Timothy had tried to comfort her all the while thinking that she was crying because she was not able to marry him. She didn’t have the strength to tell him that it wasn’t for him that she cared but she knew also that it would have made her mother more supportive of sending her away.
Father looked at Maggie, he was finding this more difficult then Maggie would ever know. He had watched Maggie grow and mature but there was always something in her demeanour that concerned him. She was a princess, and although this bemused and delighted him in so many ways he knew deep down that in order for her to become the woman that she was capable of being, she would need to change. The confusion that she had found herself in with Timothy was a prime example of how she would get herself into trouble and then expect a knight in shining, namely her father, to then get her out of the trouble without too much bother for herself.
“Maggie, I understand how you must be feeling” Father began, he was determined for Maggie to listen to his words and to not ignore the wisdom he knew he was sharing with her. He looked into her large, round brown eyes, which was hard because she was not one to cry easily and yet tonight he had caused her to cry more then he had ever seen her cry before. Her long eye lashes still bore the tears she had cried and he could see that there were more tears just under the rims waiting to burst forth.
Then why are you doing this to me.
Father let out a deep sigh, he could have guessed her very thoughts, and he then knew that he was not going to get her to understand his intentions tonight.
“It’s time you went to bed; tomorrow we are going to head into London and get you enlisted with the Red Cross”.
With those words Father left Maggie sobbing harder then she had all night, pouring her tears onto the green velvet cushion that sat on the dusty old burgundy sofa.
George watched his father close the door to his study, he had desperately wanted to talk to him, to understand his reasoning for sending Maggie away but he could see by his father’s downcast head and his slumped shoulder that now was not the time.
George then walked over to the entry of the drawing room but he stopped short of entering as he could hear the sobs and hiccupping of his sister. He could only remember seeing Maggie cry on one other occasion. It was when she was getting ready for school but she didn’t want to go because some of the other girls had been picking on her because she had been playing football with the boys at lunch time. They had told her that she would turn out an old lonely woman because although the boys thought she was fun when they all grew up they would think she was too much like a boy to marry. It was purely by chance that George actually caught sight of his sister that time because he would normally have already been at his work but he had not been woken by Henrietta the family’s housekeeper as she had been sent on an early morning errand by his mother. He was quite shocked to see her tears and the sight of her mouth in a frown. Maggie was such a cheerful girl and she would very rarely have anything but a smile upon her mouth. When he had asked her what was wrong she was so quick to stop the tears but she gave away her sadness with the occasional hiccup.
He could hear from Maggie’s sobs that this was going to be a difficult time ahead for her. He would not interfere with his father’s plans but he would be sure to help ease her pain and suffering in any way he could. He had not been in the army for very long but he had been fortunate in his new acquaintances and he was sure that one particular friend could ensure that Maggie was placed away from any danger and be kept in relative comfort. He would call Gregory in the morning and get his own plans in to action. Looking in on his sister he could see from the way her long black hair was strewn all over the sofa and the gentle rising and falling of her round shoulders that she had fallen asleep from exhaustion although every few seconds though he could still see her hiccupping just like she did as a child.
George moved into the room and was going to wake her up to take her up to her room when something struck him. It had been a long time since he had really looked at her, the way her hair although long was now cut to a fashionable length rather than the long flowing mane that she had as a child. He could also see that she now wore make-up and that her face which would once been called plump was now only slightly rounded. He could see that Maggie was no longer the little sister who he needed to watch over and protect, Maggie was a woman. George looks over towards his father’s closed study door and realises why their father has made his decision. It was time for Maggie to grow up, but as her brother he could still make it a gentler path to maturity.
George leans over and picks Maggie up in his arms, she lets out a little groan but then lays her head on his shoulder as a small child would. Tonight Maggie acted like a child but tomorrow she would be starting a new life as an adult; even if her family had to drag her kicking and screaming.
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