“I’m so glad I passed the cottage that day. Why didn’t Frau Leiben call for help?”

“She probably knew what was wrong and thought she could manage to look after the girl.”

“You mean the grandmother may have procured that stuff?’

”One never knows. All I can tell you is that Gerda was pregnant and took something calculated to get rid of the baby . and it did . though in the process it nearly got rid of Gerda herself. “

“It’s a terrible thing …”

“I shall warn her about taking such things. She must never do it again.”

Henrietta was thoughtful.

“Well, it worked,” she said.

“That’s what Gerda will say.”

“We must impress on her that she must never do it again.”

“Her own suffering will do that more forcefully than any talking could do,” I said.

“That’s true,” agreed Charles Fenwick.

“But she should never have done what she did.”

“Never have been carried away by the blandishments of a lover,” added Henrietta.

“But people are human.”

“I’d like to know how she got hold of that stuff. Some old woman, most likely. That should be discovered and stopped.”

“Well,” said Henrietta thoughtlessly, ‘perhaps it has turned out for the best. “

“I should not like to have to make a decision on that,” said Charles.

“And I should very much like to know more about the case. First, who was the scoundrel who took advantage of her innocence, and who was the one who gave her that destructive potion. I want her watched for a day or so until she is back to normal.”

“You think she isn’t normal now?”

“I do not. She is in a sort of daze.”

“One is never sure what Gerda knows.”

“She is sure to be in a highly emotional state. I am going to suggest that you. Miss Pleydell, are put in charge of her. I could not ask you earlier as we needed a nurse experienced in midwifery. Now I think you will be the best for her.”

“Shall I go to her right away?”

“First I will see the Head Deaconess. She has agreed that you shall look after the girl, but I will see her first… as soon as we return.”

I sat by her bed. How frail she was! I stroked the unruly curls back from her narrow brow, and she opened her eyes and smiled at me.

“I’m in Kaiserwald,” she said.

“That’s right. You’ve been ill and you are getting better.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

I continued to stroke her brow.

“That’s nice,” she murmured.

“It makes me feel better.”

She slept a while and I did not wake her until I took some gruel to her.

“Am I going to stay here?” she asked.

“Until you are better.”

“I was ill, wasn’t I?” Her face crumbled.

“It hurt. It hurt so much.”

“It was because of what you took, Gerda. Where did you get that medicine?”

She smiled secretively.

“Did you know what it would do?”

“It was to make me better.”

“It gave you a lot of pain.”

“It made me better.”

I said: “You told me about the Devil. You met him in the forest. Was it the Devil who gave it to you?”

She wrinkled her brow.

“Who was it you met in the forest, Gerda?”

She was silent.

“You told me it was the Devil.”

She nodded. Her face changed and she was smiling. I could see that in her mind she was back there with whoever it was who had seduced her.

“Who?” I whispered.

She whispered back: “It was the Devil.”

“And who gave you the medicine?”

She closed her eyes. She looked very ill and I thought I should not be questioning her. I am bringing it all back to her, I thought. I am worrying her when what she needs is peace. I must wait until she is better.

But something told me I was not going to find my answer from Gerda.

Gerda grew stronger every day. After two weeks she left Kaiserwald and went back to her grandmother. She looked very frail, daintier than ever; and she seemed quite guileless and unaware of what had happened.

I did talk to her grandmother once. The poor old lady was griefstricken. I tried to comfort her.

She said: “That it should happen to one of mine! I never thought to see that.”

“Frau Leiben,” I said, ‘have you any idea who . “

She shook her head.

“There aren’t many young men about here. They go to the towns when they’re old enough. There’s little for them here . and those who are here are decent young men. They wouldn’t take advantage of Gerda. “

“I suppose one can never be sure what people will do on impulse. She talked about the Devil.”

“One of her fancies. She was always one for fancies. She talks sometimes of seeing the trolls. It’s due to all those tales Herman used to tell her.”

“And that stuff she took. Did you see anything of that?”

“Nothing. I thought she was a little changed. I had no idea that she was three months gone.”

“It must have been a great shock. What has upset the doctors is that she might have killed herself. They would like to know who gave her whatever she took. If you should ever find out, I think you should let the doctors know. They are very anxious that such a thing should not occur again.”

She looked startled.

“Oh,” I said quickly, ‘they weren’t thinking of Gerda, but of some other girl who might find herself in a similar position. “

“If I knew I would tell,” she said.

And I believed her.

February was almost upon us. It was the month of our departure. Our minds had been so taken up with Gerda’s affair that we had not realized how speedily the time was passing.

Our walks through the forest took on a new significance for me. Often I thought: I shall soon say goodbye to all this. I wonder if I shall ever see it again.

It had been a very worthwhile experiment. It had in a way put a bridge between me and my grief. There had been quite long periods when I had been so involved in what was going on around me that I had forgotten my loss. Now I could believe that I was on the way to making a new life for myself.

Charles Fenwick contrived to be free when we were and the three of us walked together in the forest. Talk now was about plans for going home.

Charles said that it was good to see what was happening in Germany, and it was very commendable, but of course there was plenty of room for improvement even here, in diagnoses if not in nursing care.

“They will miss you two,” he said.

“You must have been a most useful acquisition to the nursing staff.”

“They’ll miss you, too,” I replied.

“Well, Kratz and Bruckner are very efficient … very methodical, very conscientious.”

“Very German,” added Henrietta.

“You could say that. They have made this into an excellent establishment. I had heard good reports about it from a friend of mine who was here not long ago.”

“Another doctor, I suppose?”

“Yes, a very eminent man. Dr. Adair.”

“And he was favourably impressed?”

“Very. And he would be hyper-critical. He did say there could be improvements. But he is appalled by conditions in hospitals throughout the world.”

“Perhaps he will do something about it?”

“I feel sure he will. He is the sort of man who takes up something and very soon it is done. His energy is prodigious.”

“He sounds something of a paragon,” said Henrietta.

“I don’t know about that.” He laughed.

“There have been some scandals about him.”

“I am becoming more and more interested,” cried Henrietta.

“Well, there always would be about such a man. He has been out East.. travelled very widely … lived among the natives as one of them.

He has written books about his adventures. He believes that we should not shut our eyes to the methods of other races simply because they are alien to us. He believes that people may have drugs or methods of healing that we might well learn from. “

My heart was beating furiously. I heard myself say: “What did you say this doctor’s name was?”

“Adair.”

“I read a book once by a doctor who did just that. But it was not Adair.”

“Was it Damien?”

“Yes.”

Charles laughed.

“That is his name … his Christian name. He writes under the name of Damien. Apparently it would be inconvenient to use his full name. He needs some anonymity.”

I was looking at Henrietta. She opened her mouth to speak, but I silenced her with a look.

I said slowly: “And he was here recently?”

“Oh yes. It must have been only a short time before you arrived.”

I felt dizzy. We might have met him. I pictured myself coming face to face with him.

“Do you see him … often?” I asked.

“Good Heavens, no! He’s here, there and everywhere. He’s always busy on some project. An eminent man, as I said. But I did happen to see him when he came back this time. He told me about this place and said it was well worth a visit. As a matter of fact, he arranged it for me.”

“That’s very interesting,” I said.

“After having read his books …”

“Perhaps you will meet him one day.”

“I hope to,” I replied.

When he left us to see a patient, Henrietta said: “At last we are on the trail.”

“Just think. We might have met him.”

“Fate must have brought us here. I wonder about him. Charles seems to think highly of him. Do you detect a little hero-worship?”

“Yes,” I said.

“It’s the effect he seems to have on some people. My brother-in-law Stephen was the same.”

“He must be a fascinating man.”