"Please will you give Loveday my love--and the baby and Adam, of course.

I'll telephone her tomorrow."

He said easily.

"Why not?" He had come a little way into the room, to stand beside her.

"Frightened, Esmeralda?"

"Yes," she said baldly.

"Don't be--I'm not, and I'm the one who should be frightened, aren't I? ".

She smiled, suddenly more cheerful.

"But you believe in miracles."

"Oh, yes." He bent and kissed her without haste. She was still savouring the comfort of it as he walked out without another word, shutting the door behind him.

He wasn't in the plaster room when she entered it the following morning, so she disposed herself on the table, well propped up so that she would be able to see what was going on, said her good mornings to Monique and Octavius, exchanged lighthearted badinage with Syja, and ignored the disappointment she felt; orthopaedic surgeons had better things to do with their time than saw off plasters.

Octavius actually had the saw in his hand, when the object of her thoughts walked in, allowed himself to be helped out of his jacket as he wished everyone good morning, rolled up his shirtsleeves, and tied in a large plastic ap.r.o.n, took the instrument from his registrar's hands.

"I thought you weren't coming," exclaimed Esmeralda, never a girl to keep her thoughts to herself.

"You've a huge list this morning."

He had the saw poised.

"You can say that again," he remarked cheerfully.

"This is by way of a little light relief."

She kept as still as a mouse while he worked and when she felt the plaster loosen and open under his hand, she shut her eyes, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g them tight. She felt her foot lifted and the plaster taken away before it was laid gently beside its fellow.

"Open your eyes, Esmeralda," commanded Mr. Bamstra.

Her foot looked white and somehow withered, and the scars still showed pinkly, but over and above these things, it was a perfect foot, nicely arched, narrow, the toes straight. She wriggled them cautiously and saw their movement with something like awe, then said softly: Thimo, oh, Thimo!

" and looked up at him with a tremulous smile, to find his eyes on her, regarding her steadily.

"Thank you--I'll never be able to thank you enough--I simply can't believe it!"

He smiled then.

"Get off there and stand on both feet, then you can believe it."

She did as she was told, a little nervous of her foot in case the moment it touched the ground it would revert to its poor flattened former self. But it didn't, and she took two cautious steps forward to bring her to him.

"It's your foot as well as mine, if you know what I mean," she told him seriously.

"It's like being given (he most wonderful present."

Her eyes searched his impa.s.sive, kindly face; it seemed a long way away, but then she was on her bare feet and he stood six feet four inches at least; all the same, she managed to reach up and kiss him.

"I don't suppose that's at all the right thing for me to do," she told him, 'but I wanted to. " She looked round her and saw the smiling faces and was kissed and hugged in her turn until Mr. Bamstra said quietly: "I think there's just time for a quick look before we have to be in theatre,"

and she got back on the table once more while he and Octavius prodded and poked and peered.

"An X-ray as soon as possible, I think," suggested Mr. Bamstra, 'and keep off it until we've taken a look at it, if you please--if everything is as it should be, you'll go down to Physio directly after lunch. "

He nodded in a general sort of way and hurried away, closely followed by Octavius, leaving Esmeralda to be taken back to her room, on crutches once more and not minding a bit, for she would throw them away quite soon now and walk on her beautiful new foot.

She waited until Octavius came to tell her that the X-ray was quite satisfactory before she telephoned her mother to tell her the news and listen happily to her delight and relief.

"And here's Nanny," said Mrs. Jones.

"She hates the telephone, you know that, just for once she's glad of it."

Nanny was crying, which touched Esmeralda very much, for she had always been a solid rock they had all leaned on, and she hadn't realized just how much she had minded about her foot.

"And is that nice young man there?" Nanny wanted to know in the fierce voice she always used when she wanted to hide her deeper feelings.

"He's in theatre. Nanny--it's operating day."

"Well, Miss Esmeralda, I hope you thanked him properly, and when you see him, you just tell him that I hope he gets everything he wants in life, for he deserves it. There's not much he wants: he's rich and clever and handsome, but what he needs is to wed with the girl of his choice."

She said "Yes, Nanny," listened dutifully to a short lecture on doing exactly as she was told, exchanged a few more words with her mother, and rang off.

Nanny, she reflected, was a dear old thing and had a funny way of putting things, and yet somehow, the way she had said it made one realize that Thimo deserved just that to wed the girl of his choice.

Physio was rather painful; her foot, its bones whole once more, was nonetheless unused, and as such creaked and groaned at every movement.

Quite convinced that no one knew what they were doing and that her foot would fall apart at any moment, she did her exercises, had a little heat to loosen up the joints and then went back upstairs, glad for once of her crutches and secretly relieved that she was to spend the night in the hospital. She met Syja in the corridor, who gave her a wide smile, said heartily: "All goes well, is it not? I bring tea in one moment," and sailed away down the corridor.

Tea would be wonderful, thought Esmeralda as she opened her door to find Jonkvrouw Bamstra sitting in the chair by the window, a great bouquet of flowers in her lap. She got up as Esmeralda went in, put the flowers on the bed and went to meet her.

"You do not mind if I come to tea?" she asked.

"Your own mother is not here to listen to your wonderful news and I hoped that I might take her place. Thimo is also so happy it is a great success, I hear, and I wish very much to see the foot."

Esmeralda cast down her crutches and put her arms round her visitor.

"Oh, you are a darling!" she cried.

"You see, I'm so happy and excited and I'm dying to talk about it, and here you are..." She smiled mistily.

"I'll never be able to thank Thimo properly."

"Oh, yes, you will," said his mother in a voice which held no doubts on the matter.

"And now I would like to see my son's work."

Esmeralda sat down on the bed and lifted her gown. The foot looked much nicer now, it had become pink and the scars hardly showed, and it had lost its wrinkled look. They admired it together until the tea arrived, then they settled down to an hour of talk until Jonkvrouw Bamstra declared that she would have to go. And not five minutes after her departure, Loveday telephoned to say that they had heard the good news and what about Esmeralda coming for a day or two before she went back to England, and hot on the heels of this invitation came more flowers; from her mother and Nanny and from Loveday and Adam. She fetched some vases and busied herself arranging them, and all the time at the back of her mind was the absurd wish that Thimo had sent her flowers too. Absurd, of course; if surgeons sent their patients flowers every time they performed an operation, they would be broke in a couple of years. All the same, the first excitement seemed doomed to wilt under a feeling of loneliness. It was fortunate that Octavius should come in to take a quick look at her and tell her that the bones, according to the X-ray, had united perfectly; with a little care, there would be nothing to remember of the poor crushed foot it had once been.

"You are wondering how you will get to the consulting rooms, I expect," he observed, and she said hastily that yes, she was, although she hadn't given it a thought.

"A taxi will take you each day for the first week. You will have your physio here, of course, and you will exercise yourself with care for the second week, if all is well, you may walk, taking a stick with you." He smiled.

"And then you will be discharged, whole."

"Oh, isn't it fun, Octavius," she exclaimed, and remembered his heavy day.

"You must be tired the list's finished?"

"Yes, it was a long and heavy one. Mr. Bamstra has already gone he is a busy man, as you know. He has patients to see this evening!"

She agreed soberly; Thimo was busy. Perhaps he had asked Octavius to point that out to her, or perhaps the registrar had sensed her faint hurt because Thimo hadn't come to see her. She hoped not, reminding herself that she wasn't in the least hurt, and when Octavius left a few minutes later, she occupied herself with her exercises, read the headlines of the Haagsche Post, ate her supper and presently went to bed, her hair neatly plaited and a nourishing cream, guaranteed to bring the bloom of beauty to the most obstinately plain face, carefully ma.s.saged in according to the instructions on the jar.

"Not a pretty sight," Esmeralda told herself, examining her reflection with its well brushed head of hair disciplined into a long thick plait and a face shining with cream, 'and certainly not an evening for visitors. "

She got into bed, and since Monique and Syja had called in to say good night as they went off duty, and Anna wouldn't be along for a little while yet, she decided to continue the good work upon her person and do her nails. She arranged the little bottles, orange sticks and bits of cotton wool conveniently, and set to work. She had one hand finished and was holding it up to admire its perfection when someone tapped on the door. She called come in, pleasantly surprised that the time had gone so quickly--if this was Anna then it must be almost nine o'clock. In half an hour she could put out her light and go to sleep.

It had, after all, been a long day.

She looked up and realized with a thrill of pleasure that it was going to be even longer. Thimo, bearing an ice bucket containing a foil wrapped bottle and with two gla.s.ses in his other hand, kicked the door shut behind him and put his burden down carefully on the dressing table.

"We simply have to celebrate," he declared, 'though it's a little late in the day, I'm afraid. " He smiled at her and the smile became questioning.

"You do feel all right, don't you?"

She had forgotten the cream and put a quick hand to her face.

"I.

thought I'd have a go at my face--cream and things, you know--I didn't expect anyone. I'll wipe it off. "

The smile had become gentle.

"Leave it-what's a layer of face cream between friends-though I don't like your hair dragged back like that."

"It's cool and tidy."

He was busy with the cork.

"Who wants to be cool and tidy when the world has become their oyster and they can buy all the pretty slippers they want?" The cork popped in a most satisfactory manner and he filled their gla.s.ses.

"The Directrice would probably throw me out if she were to walk in now," he observed placidly, 'although I did mention that I would do my best to keep you happy--though in a purely avuncular manner, of course. "

He handed her a gla.s.s.

"To you, Esmeralda, and a wonderful future."

She sipped.

"Oh, dear," she said, near to tears, 'you are so kind; there are so many people who aren't kind, you know, and you've made up for them all--and now please may we drink to you and dozens and dozens more successful ops and everything you want happening. "

Not a very well thought out speech, perhaps, but she did mean every word of it; it put her in mind of Nanny's message, but somehow she felt shy about voicing it--later perhaps.

"Champagne goes to my head," she told him.

"Good--you'll sleep well and come back to work in fine form." He filled their gla.s.ses again.

"Have you made any plans yet?"

She shook her head, and the champagne sent delightful little bubbles round inside it.

"Only what I said--but that will have to be later."

He spoke almost carelessly.

"I have to go over to Trent's shortly--supposing I take you back with me and drop you off at your home? You could lay your plans and take dancing lessons." He strolled over to the window and stood looking down into the dusk-filled courtyard below.

"There's a big ball--you know the one--the combined hospitals affair.

There'll be a great crush; wouldn't that be a splendid occasion in which to start? The floor will be so packed that you could try out your dancing without imagining that everyone's eyes are on you, and the moment your foot starts to ache--and I can promise you it will--I could take you home. " He turned to look at her.

"I always get a couple of tickets sent to me," he added casually.

"It sounds absolutely super." The champagne was p.r.i.c.king her nose and she felt like getting out of bed and dancing then and there, but common sense forced her to ask: "But isn't there anyone else you'd rather take? The--the girl..."

"No." It was so decisive an answer that it seemed best not to pursue the matter. Esmeralda took another sip of champagne and asked: "I shall be able dance by then?"

"Of course." He came back to sit on the edge of the bed, his manner so casual and impersonal that it made drinking champagne with a consultant surgeon in such unlikely circ.u.mstances a perfectly natural thing to do.

"Slippers," he mused, 'very beautiful ones, and a dress to turn all heads. "

She giggled and shook her head.

"Oh, it's so funny--I mean, just look at me now! Who is going to turn their head to look at me?"

Mr. Bamstra's fine mouth settled itself into a very firm line indeed, for all the world as though he wanted to say something and had no intention of allowing himself to do so; instead he said placidly: "They will, you know. Can you splash out on a new gown?"

She nodded.

"Easily. I've hardly touched my allowance." Her eyes shone greenly.

"I'll get a Gina Fratini model--white silk, no, chiffon..."