Frau Leiben sighed.

“I worry about her. What will become of her when I am gone? I ask myself. Who will care for her? If she were like others she would marry and have a husband to look after her. Perhaps her mother will come for her.”

We were silent for a few moments, then she went on: “She was five when my daughter and her husband left her with me. I thought they would come back but they never have. They are far away in Australia.” She looked very sad.

“Herman, my husband, was here with me when they went away. And now Herman is gone. The blessed Deaconesses did what they could for him but they could not save his life and now I am alone. For three years I am alone.”

“The people here are friendly with each other,” said Henrietta.

“It must be comforting to live in a place like this.”

She nodded.

“It’s true. They were good to me when Herman died. I didn’t feel the burden so much when he was here. There were two of us to share it.”

She looked at us as though she wondered whether she v talking too much. After all, we were comparative strangers had always had an insatiable curiosity about other people lives; they seemed to sense this and confide in me. A suddenly the story came out. She and Herman had had a daughter, Clara. They had doted on her. She had looked like Gerda except that she was bright and intelligent. They I wanted the best for her. She had gone to stay with a cousin Hamburg and when she was there met Fritz and married him.

“She never really came back,” said Frau Leiben.

“Just to us . that was all. It wasn’t her home any more. And could see that she was happy that way. Of course, we rejoice for her but suffered for ourselves. When Gerda was born were so happy . and she turned out as she is. They did want her really . at least Fritz didn’t. She wasn’t a non child and she was an encumbrance. They brought her he They used to come now and then to see her and us. Then Fi came out of the Navy and they went to Australia. They did want Gerda with them.

Herman was alive then. He Im Gerda dearly. They used to go into the forest together. ” had more cows then. He used to tell her stories, all the i legends about the gods and heroes… all the stories of drag and trolls in the mountains. Herman had them all at fingertips and a way of telling them. She’d listen for hou entranced. It was easy when Herman was there, and then died. It was his lungs. He coughed and coughed and it bn your heart to hear him. They took him into Kaiserwald, a then he died and I was alone.”

“How very sad,” said Henrietta.

“Gerda is a very happy girl,” I added.

“Oh, she lives in her dream world, living all the std Herman used to tell her. I remember our last Christmas w Herman. We brought in the tree and dressed it with all i little bits and pieces, candles to make it bright. It will soon time for the tree. Old Wilhelm, the woodcutter, brings on me. I dress it. Gerda likes that. But it is a sad rime with Herman.” S I noticed that the rain had stopped and that we should have to hurry back if we were not to be late.

I said: “It has been very interesting talking to you’ Frau Leiben. I hope your daughter will come to see you soon; Australia is a long way to come. “

As we hurried back, I said to Henrietta: “What a sad story! Poor Gerda.

Poor Frau Leiben. “

“I don’t think Gerda feels the sadness,” said Henrietta, “It’s one of the compensations of being as she is. I don’t think she feels things at all. She doesn’t miss her mother. She doesn’t fret about being abandoned.”

“We don’t know what goes on in Gerda’s mind. I hope they get a nice fir tree. That’s a German custom, to have a tree and dress it up.

We’re doing it more and more at home since Prince Albert married the Queen. “

“The Queen’s mother started it before that,” said Henrietta.

“I wonder what is done at Kaiserwald?”

“Nothing, I should imagine. Just a few more hymns and prayers.”

“Something ought to be done. I think it would do the patients a lot of good. My criticism of Kaiserwald is that there is not enough jollity.”

“You’d better try telling that to H.D.,” said Henrietta.

H. D. was the Head Deaconess.

“I might well do that.”

“Have a care. You’ll be sent off with a flea in your ear,”

I asked for a meeting with the Head Deaconess an audience, Henrietta called it. It was granted to me with a show of graciousness. I did detect in the lady’s manner a certain respect for me which Henrietta had failed to arouse in her.

I was told to sit, which I did. She herself was seated at a desk with papers before her which from time to time she touched, as though to remind me that the time she could give me was limited.

I came straight to the point.

“It will soon be Christmas. I was wondering what arrangements there were for Christmas Day.”

“We shall sing Christmas hymns and have special prayers.”

“Will there be no celebrations?”

“I don’t understand you. Miss Pleydell.”

“Well, a Christmas tree, for instance.”

She stared at me disbelievingly and I went on: “I thought we might have two … one at each end of the ward, and the curtain which divides the men from the women could be drawn back so that we are all together in one big room. I thought we should have a little gift for everyone. It wouldn’t be much, of course … just a trifle. They could be on the trees and we could distribute them.”

She had let me go on for so long because she was stunned into silence.

I realized that my temerity was unheard of. No one talked like that to the Head Deaconess. No one dared to attempt to introduce new methods into the Kaiserwald.

She lifted her finger to stop me.

“Miss Pleydell, I think you have not been here long enough to know our ways. These people are sick … some of them very sick …”

“I think it would do those good who are well enough to have a little light entertainment, a little relief. Their days must seem long and they are bored, which makes them listless without any great desire to live. If they could be amused, entertained, their spirits would rise.”

“We are not here to deal with their spirits. Miss Pleydell. We are here to heal their bodies.”

“Sometimes one is dependent on the other.”

“Are you telling me that you know how to run a hospital better than I?”

“No. I am not. But I am saying that outsiders can sometimes put up useful suggestions.”

“There is no sense in this idea. We need all the money we can get.

There are many sensible things we could do with it. “

“This is sensible. I believe that to lighten the spirits helps to heal the body.”

“And suppose I agreed to your preposterous suggestion?

Where should we find the money to buy these er trifles. There are about a hundred patients, you know. “

“I do know it. I am sure that we should be presented with the trees.

The people here think highly of the hospital. “

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I have talked to them. I know some of them well enough to be sure that they would do what they could for a cause like this.”

“And the trifles?”

“I shall buy those. Miss Marlington will want to help. There is a pedlar here who could get them for us. Little things … handkerchiefs ornaments … something for them to have to make it a special day.”

“It is a special day. It celebrates the birth of Christ. We shall sing the Christmas hymns. I shall make sure that they are reminded of the significance of Christmas.”

“But the birth of Christ should be a matter for rejoicing. It should be a happy day. I believe we should see an improvement in our patients. There would be the anticipation … and the day itself. I think that making people happy, making them laugh, making them enjoy life is also good for their health.”

“And I think. Miss Pleydell, that you are wasting my time and yours.”

That was dismissal.

There was nothing I could do but retire.

A few days later the Head Deaconess sent for me.

“Sit down. Miss Pleydell,” she said.

I did so, wondering whether she was going to ask me to leave. I believed my suggestion had shocked her. She was a deeply religious woman of strong and noble character but entirely without humour. I was well aware that often such people are lacking in human understanding.

I think she believed that everyone should accept her own high moral code, and that did not include the sort of frivolity which I had proposed to introduce into her hospital.

Her next words astonished me.

“I have been thinking about your ideas, Miss Pleydell. You have a certain talent for nursing. I have noticed this. But you do not always adhere to our methods.”

Oh dear, I thought. It is coming.

“You have the making of a good nurse. You believe, of course, that your proposed entertainment will be good for the patients. You would be ready to uphold this with financial support. You are fortunate to be in a position to be able to do that.” A faint smile turned up the corners other mouth. I was amazed. It was the first time I had seen her face contorted into anything like a smile.

“Your friend Miss Marlington does not have your skills in this profession, I’m afraid.

But she is cheerful, and willing. I believe the patients like her. I have spoken to Dr. Bruckner and Dr. Kratz and they think that your proposed action would have no ill effects on the patients. Miss Pleydell, I am going to allow you to try your experiment. We shall see how many of the patients are better for your Christmas Day arrangements; and also we shall see if it affects any of them adversely. “