Disorder and decay, with the inevitable disease, seemed to be the chief characteristic of the place.

How could an army fight a war from such a background?

I felt angry with those at home who had sent out men like Lily’s William to suffer the hardships they would inevitably endure. Better to die in combat, I thought, than to be brought to such a hospital.

People like Lady Mary Sims and Mrs. Jarvis-Lee were ‘becoming more and more disenchanted, and their desire to do good for their country was rapidly waning.

Miss Nightingale was in despair, but she was not one to give way to such emotion; and I could see that she was immediately formulating plans to remedy the situation and was beginning to grapple with the unexpected setbacks which awaited us.

Six rooms had been allotted to us; one of these was a kitchen and the other so small that it would be impossible to get more than two people in it.

“Well,” she said, ‘we must for the time being accept what is here. “

She hoped there would be improvements later.

When we saw the rooms our hearts sank even lower, although we were now prepared for discomforts. There were divans round the walls, Turkish fashion, and we were expected to sleep on these. They were damp and dirty.

Miss Nightingale said: “The first thing we must do is clean them and then divide ourselves up as to how we shall fit ourselves in. Let us remember that we are not here to be comfortable but to heal the sick.”

We immediately set about cleaning the rooms. Eliza kept with us for, since that encounter on the deck, we had become good friends. I had told Henrietta about the episode; she had been very sympathetic and with her natural charm she had managed to convey that she wished to be friends. We often found that Eliza was beside us and that was good for us. Eliza was a natural protector. She was big, domineering and bellicose, and most of the others were a little afraid of her. Her attitude to Ethel had shown a softness in her, a natural kindliness which she would try to hide; and although she showed she had a mild contempt for the manner in which we spoke, behaved, and were unaccustomed to the harshness of life, she was our friend.

“This will be our corner,” she said to me with a wink.

“We’ll claim it and once we have, it’s ours. Look,” she went on, pointing to a heap of dirt.

“Rats! They’ve been here. What can you expect with all that rubbish about? I reckon the rats live like lords. I’m beginning to itch. Wouldn’t surprise me if there wasn’t a few hoppers around here.”

I was very glad of their companionship; and I think Henrietta was too.

I had a notion that she was beginning to think that marriage with Lord Cariton might have been preferable to the situation she now found herself in. Henrietta was not a dedicated nurse, but she had beauty and charm which had showed itself at Kaiserwald and made her very popular with the patients. It was different with me. I would rather do nursing than anything else; and if I had to do it in Scutari instead of the dream-hospital I had imagined at home, then so be it.

When I think back to that arrival in Scutari, the images are confused.

What I remember most vividly is those poor men lying in their beds without adequate clothes and bed covering nothing but dirty sheets against the cold. I think of floors with rats scuttling across them; of the horrible smell of disease and corruption. I knew that Miss Nightingale turned with fierce indignation against those ministers snug in their London comforts who had sent these men out to fight the country’s wars with inadequate medical supplies. How foolish they were! How shortsighted! Everyone at home thought the British army invincible. But it took more than might and power to fight disease. At once it was apparent to me that disease cholera and dysentery were a greater enemy than the Russians.

The first thing we did was to scrub and wash. We had to bring some cleanliness into this hospital. Dirt hand in hand with disease was the curse of this war.

There were no candles. Miss Nightingale had discovered that there was a dearth of them and said they must be saved for necessary purposes.

So we went to bed in the dark and stretched out on our divans; Ethel and Eliza on one side, Henrietta next to me.

“This is a fine caper,” said Eliza.

“Who would have thought we should end up like this?”

And as we lay there listening to the rats scurrying across the floor, we were so exhausted that we were soon asleep.

During the next day I saw Charles Fenwick. He looked thinner and tired. We were busy cleaning our quarters, for the more we saw of the Barrack Hospital, the less desirable it seemed. Of course, Miss Nightingale had been right in ordering that before we could do anything we must clean up the place as best we could. It was an almost superhuman task and should have been done by degrees, but at least we could make a good start.

Charles had heard that we had arrived and came to see us. He took my hands and we looked at each other.

“So you are here?” he said.

“And Henrietta?”

“She is with me.”

“But you must be horribly shocked.”

I admitted that we were. We had not expected anything luxurious, but this . “It has that effect on us all. But you look well, Anna.”

“I am well, thank you.”

“Oh yes. There is so much to do. It was the cholera epidemic which made it as you see it now. We could have managed the casualties, although supplies are grossly inadequate. It makes one feel quite helpless.”

“Something will be done now Miss Nightingale is here. She is determined that this state of affairs shall not continue.”

He smiled.

“There is prejudice against her. Oh, we are bedevilled by the authorities, Anna. People who know nothing of conditions here .. people at home in Whitehall are giving the orders. It won’t do.” He looked anxiously at me.

“Anna, are you going to be able to endure this?”

“We have come to do a job and we shall do it.”

“You and Henrietta will. I wonder about the others. It was spartan at Kaiserwald, I know, but nothing like this. That was minor discomfort.

This is real hardship. And the winter will be coming on. “

“Oh dear, this is not a very happy welcome, is it?”

“I do not like to think of you and Henrietta here, seeing the sights you will see.”

“Charles, we have come here to nurse the sick and we shall do it.”

“And Henrietta … she will never be able to endure it. She is not as strong as you are, Anna. Not so determined.”

“She will stay here, I believe,” I said.

“I must find her. You will want to see her.”

I brought her to him.

He took her hands and gazed at her as he had at me. I smiled at them fondly. I believed he was attracted by her and that seemed inevitable to me. Everyone must be attracted by Henrietta.

“Charles!” she cried.

“How wonderful to see you! This is like old times. I could expect the H.D. to come bustling in at any moment and give me one of those withering looks of hers.”

“It is very different from Kaiserwald, Henrietta,” I said.

“I can see that already. There is work to be done here.”

“I was saying to Anna that it is going to be hard for you. Women should not be here.”

“We get very cross with men who say things like that, don’t we’ Anna.

“Very,” I agreed.

He said: “God bless you both. But I am truly concerned for you.”

“What about all the men out here? We haven’t seen the wards properly yet, but…”

“It will distress you,” said Charles.

“Then it is time we came to help,” I replied briskly.

“We … heard that Dr. Adair was here,” said Henrietta.

“You know … the one who has written those books.”

“Oh yes,” said Charles, ‘he’s here. He’s mostly in the General Hospital. “

“Where is that?” asked Henrietta eagerly.

“It’s all part of the same place, really. It’s about a quarter of a mile away in fact.”

“Perhaps we shall meet the famous gentleman one day,” said Henrietta.

“I dare say you’ll see him about. He’s here quite often. Usually he’s in a rage about the lack of vital supplies … as we all are.”

The mention of his name affected me emotionally although he had never been far from my mind.

I said: “Miss Nightingale will do something, I am sure. She will be sending despatches to London. Something will be done now she is here.”

“It’s like getting blood out of a stone. These senseless people at home! I mustn’t go on about them but they do make me angry.”

“I can well understand that,” I said.

“Now we shall have to be getting on with our work. We shall see you later, I hope.”

“Often, I hope,” said Charles.

“If you are in any difficulties come to me. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Isn’t that a comfort?” cried Henrietta, giving him one other languishing smiles.

He said: “It’s wrong of me … but I am glad you are here.”

“Wrong?” queried Henrietta.

“Why wrong?”

“Because of what you will go through.”

“You forget we chose it,” I reminded him.

“It is what we want.”

He smiled at me.

“I know,” he said.

“I think you are wonderful.”

We went back to our scrubbing.

Henrietta said: “I have a feeling that soon we are coming face to face with the demonic doctor.”

She was right.

I knew that Charles would be coming out of the ward at a certain time and if he were in the vicinity he liked to have a word with us. We had not been allowed to do any nursing yet. There was some conspiracy among the medical staff to keep us out, as incompetents. But, as Miss Nightingale said, no nursing could be of any use without fundamental cleanliness so there was plenty for us to do meanwhile until we could prove ourselves worthy of professional trust.