by Dilly Court
‘Everything has been booked in detail through Thomas Cook,’ Cecilia said slowly. ‘There’s only one solution. You must stay here, Lindon. Have a holiday – go and see your sister in Skegness, or wherever she lives.’
‘But, Miss Cecilia, you can’t travel without a maid!’
‘I have Rose. She can help me with my hair, and we’ll be travelling for days. There won’t be any smart social functions to attend to on a boat or a train. We need to get to Alexandria as quickly as possible.’
Lindon drew herself up to her full height. ‘I should be accompanying you, not her.’
‘Really, Lindon. You forget yourself,’ Cecilia said angrily. ‘I choose my travelling companion and Rose will be much better company than you, especially when you sulk, as you are about to do now. Be grateful for the unexpected holiday and make the most of it, because I hope to return before Christmas.’
‘I’ve heard that Alexandria was badly damaged in the bombardment,’ Rose added, hoping this might make it easier for Lindon.
Lindon tossed her head and marched off with an affronted twitch of her thin shoulders.
Barely disguising a smirk, Giddings announced the arrival of the carriage and a hackney.
‘Is that all the luggage you’re taking?’ Cecilia demanded, staring at Rose’s carpet bag.
‘It’s all that I need.’
‘No matter. I’m sure I can lend you a ball gown or two. There are bound to be some social occasions at the consulate.’ Cecilia turned to Giddings. ‘The luggage will go in the hackney carriage. Make sure it’s loaded properly.’ She lowered her voice. ‘And be nice to Lindon while I’m away. She is a treasure, when all is said and done, and I don’t want to lose her.’
‘But you’ll have to make do with me in the meantime,’ Rose said, chuckling. ‘Don’t forget that I’m coming in my professional capacity, Cissie. I’m being paid by the newspaper to send back my reports on our progress.’
Cecilia shot her a sideways glance. ‘I can see that this is going to be an eventful journey, but it won’t be dull.’
The first part of the journey was completed by rail. They caught a boat train from Victoria Station to Dover, and in Calais they boarded a train for Paris. The night was spent in a smart hotel and they travelled on next day, catching a train bound for Marseilles. Rose would have enjoyed their trip more if she had not been anxious about leaving Sparrow and worried about Eugene. There had been no more news of his whereabouts. Although Cecilia appeared to be calm Rose knew her well enough to sense the tension that she tried to conceal beneath her apparently carefree demeanour. After yet another night in an elegant hotel they embarked next morning for Alexandria.
Rose was used to sea voyages, but to her surprise she discovered that this was the first time Cecilia had spent more than a few hours on the water, and at first she was bored – pacing the cabin they shared like a caged tigress. However, their fellow travellers proved to be amusing and after a day or two Cecilia began to acknowledge this, and held court regularly in the saloon. Rose sat back and enjoyed the scene while Cecilia commanded the attention of the gentlemen passengers, who were in the majority. Their wives seemed to be in awe of Cecilia, and they formed an appreciative audience. Although Rose suspected that behind their fans they were secretly making unfavourable comparisons between the forward behaviour of Miss Sheldon and the more discreet conduct of their daughters.
Rose spent at least part of each day writing a journal, which she hoped might help her when she wrote the newspaper article. She made sketches of the other passengers and the ports where they took on coal and water, and she loved to sit on deck, wrapped up against the chill as she watched the waves and marvelled at the ever-changing colours of the sea and sky. They sailed through storms and rough seas and many of the passengers retired to their cabins suffering from seasickness, but Rose and Cecilia were unaffected by the pitching and tossing of the vessel. Cecilia flirted outrageously with the gentlemen whose wives were indisposed. On one occasion Rose found her drinking brandy and smoking a cheroot in the company of a rather dashing army officer, who was on his way to join his regiment. Rose was highly amused, but it was obvious that some of the more staid gentlemen found such wayward conduct unladylike and shocking. As they edged past a table where four men were playing cards, Rose overheard one of them criticising Cissie’s behaviour and she came to a sudden halt.
‘Shame on you,’ she said angrily. ‘Would you begrudge that soldier some innocent entertainment?’
The man choked on his drink. ‘Well-bred young ladies don’t behave like that.’
Rose leaned over the table, fixing him with a hard stare. ‘You are a narrow-minded hypocrite. I saw the way you were ogling her earlier, but she ignored you. Did she hurt your pride, sir?’
‘Sit down, young woman.’ One of his companions puffed cigar smoke in Rose’s face. ‘No one asked for your opinion.’
‘Nor I yours, sir. And I would have had the good manners not to blow that disgusting weed in someone’s face.’ Rose stalked off, head held high, and went to sit next to Cecilia.
‘What was all that?’ Cecilia demanded.
‘Just passing the time of day,’ Rose said casually.
The weather improved as they neared the Egyptian coast, and when they landed in Alexandria it was warm and pleasant. Rose was shocked to see the devastation caused by the naval bombardment.
Cecilia stepped off the gangway into the arms of a tall, distinguished-looking gentleman, who bore a striking resemblance to his son.
‘Papa, it’s so good to see you.’ Cecilia held him at arm’s length. ‘But you’ve lost weight and you look tired. Has it been as awful as it looks?’
‘It’s over now, Cissie. We’re bearing up.’ Desmond Sheldon turned to Rose with smile so reminiscent of Eugene that Rose wanted to hug him. ‘And who is this, Cissie? Won’t you introduce me to your companion?’
‘Yes, of course. I was forgetting my manners in my delight at seeing you again.’ Cecilia beckoned fiercely. ‘This is Rose Munday, Papa. She works for Gene’s newspaper and she’s here to write a story about his rescue. Have you any news of him?’
‘Darling girl, I wish that I had, but we’ve heard nothing. Perhaps when we return to Cairo we might be better informed.’
Cecilia hugged him, and Rose turned away, touched by the obvious affection that existed between father and daughter, and their mutual distress, although she herself was suffering equally. All the way from England she had hoped that Eugene would have been found, but hearing that it was not so, she felt her heart sink. She was also desperate for news of Max, but having only just met Mr Sheldon, she did not like to bother him at present.
Desmond turned to her with an apologetic smile. ‘I’m sorry, Rose. We’re forgetting our manners, but I haven’t seen my daughter for a year or more.’
‘I understand perfectly, sir.’
He held out his hand. ‘Let’s get away from all this. We’re camping out in what’s left of a school, but at least we’re safe and well. Your mother has been so brave, Cissie. I’m very proud of her.’
‘We Sheldon women are tough,’ Cecilia said laughing as she tucked her hand in the crook of his arm. ‘Rose and I have just survived the voyage across the Mediterranean with nothing worse than a few bruises, caused by falling against the bulkheads in one of the many storms. But for the most part it was a pleasant voyage.’
‘You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.’ Desmond proffered his other arm to Rose. ‘Allow me to escort you to our extremely humble and uncomfortable abode, although we’re hoping to return to Cairo very soon.’ He beckoned to a youth standing by a donkey cart, issuing instructions to load the luggage that the crew had dumped unceremoniously on the quay. ‘Jabari will bring your things, but I’m afraid we’ll have to walk. It’s not too far,’ he added.
Rose took his arm and they walked slowly through streets where the army were still clearing away the rubble from damaged buildings. The air was thick with dust and
the smell of charred wood. Flies buzzed around their heads and it was so hot that Rose could feel sweat trickling down between her breasts, and there were damp patches forming under her arms. She wished she had worn something lighter, but there was nothing she could do until they reached their destination and she had time to unpack.
‘Surely the bombardment couldn’t have caused all these fires?’ Rose gazed at the ruined buildings, some of which were still smouldering.
Desmond nodded. ‘You’re quite right. There was a great deal of looting and the perpetrators set fire to what they couldn’t take. It’s been a horrendous few months since the troubles began. Most of the European inhabitants fled, and only a few have returned, but as you can see there isn’t much left of this part of the city.’
‘At least you and Mama are safe,’ Cecilia said breathlessly. ‘But you say there’s no news of Gene?’
‘No, not yet. The army have sent out search parties, so we can only hope.’
Rose sidestepped a pothole in the gritty surface of the road. ‘My fiancé is in the army,’ she said shyly. ‘I was hoping I might get news of him, too.’
Desmond came to a halt outside a building that might once have been an imposing edifice but was now a crumbling ruin. ‘Really, Rose? What regiment is he in?’
‘He’s Captain Max Manning of the 7th Dragoons.’
‘I believe they fought bravely at Tel-el-Kebir, but perhaps you’ll find out more when we get to Cairo. The railway tracks were damaged in the fighting – they’re being repaired as we speak. Anyway, this is where we’ve been camping for the duration. Come inside but mind how you go – there’s a lot of rubble still to clear away. Jabari will bring your cases.’
Rose followed father and daughter through a narrow gap between the crumbling walls of the ruins, but to her surprise the passage opened out into a sunny courtyard complete with a fountain, which by some miracle of engineering was still working. A tall fig tree with some fruit still visible on its spreading branches partially concealed a doorway in the far wall, and even as Rose peered into the shadow the door opened and a small, dark-haired woman came towards them with her arms outstretched.
‘Cissie, darling. At last.’
‘Mama.’ Cecilia melted into her mother’s embrace and they hugged and kissed, laughing and crying at the same time.
Desmond laid his hand on Rose’s shoulder. ‘They’ll calm down in a day or two. My wife and daughter are very emotional people, as you must have realised.’
Rose tried not to feel envious. She had only vague memories of her own mother, who had died when she was very young.
Then, as if sensing Rose’s discomfort, Cecilia broke free from her mother’s embrace and held her hand out. ‘Rose, come and meet my mama.’
Desmond put his arm around Rose’s shoulders. ‘Elizabeth, this young lady is Rose Munday. She’s a colleague of Gene’s.’
Elizabeth Sheldon moved swiftly to give Rose a hug. ‘I can’t believe that a lovely young woman would be involved in the newspaper world, but you are more than welcome, my dear. Although you’ll have to forgive the Spartan accommodation. We’re just thankful to have survived when others were not so fortunate. Do come inside.’ She hesitated in the doorway. ‘I suppose Jabari has their luggage. You’d better check on him, Desmond. You know that he wanders off occasionally.’
Cecilia shook her head, chuckling. ‘Mama will get everyone organised, Rose. That’s her way, so be warned.’
The interior of what was once the kitchen and servants’ quarters of the fine house was warm without being oppressive. It seemed dark compared to the brilliant sunshine outside, but upstairs the room allocated to Rose was light and airy. It was quite small, but the white walls made it seem more spacious and there was a single bed, a chest of drawers and a small washstand with a chipped jug and basin. A narrow window overlooked the courtyard, and if Rose leaned out far enough she could pluck a fig from the tree, although they were obviously past their best and not very tempting. Jabari delivered her luggage and bowed out of the room before she had a chance to thank him, but at least she was able to change out of her travelling clothes and put on something lighter and more comfortable. She sat on the bed for a while, giving Cecilia a chance to talk freely to her parents, and herself time to adjust to her new surroundings. It was hard to believe that she was in the same country as Max and Eugene, and the possibility of seeing them again made her heart race. Then she remembered that she was here on official business and she was supposed to be writing an article for the newspaper. She rifled through her case to find her journal and sat for a while, chewing the end of her pencil while she gathered her thoughts. It was hard to know where to begin, but once she started writing she found that the words flowed easily. She had just finished describing the desolation she had seen that day when the door opened and Cecilia rushed into the room.
‘You’ll never guess what, Rose,’ Cecilia said excitedly.
Chapter Fifteen
Slightly dazed by the interruption when her mind had been on her work, Rose stared at Cecilia in surprise. ‘I don’t suppose I will. What is it?’
‘We were just talking about life here, and how hard it’s been for the Europeans who did not evacuate, when Papa mentioned that he’s planning to visit the hospital tomorrow.’
‘That’s interesting, I suppose.’
‘Don’t look at me as if I’ve gone mad, Rose. Apparently Papa goes regularly to check on the progress of the injured British soldiers and sailors, especially those who are not yet well enough to endure the sea voyage back to England. He showed me a list of names, Rose, and one of them was a sub-lieutenant from one of the navy ships in the harbour, a certain James Manning.’
Rose dropped her journal and it fluttered to the floor together with the pencil. ‘Jimmy? It can’t be my Jimmy, can it?’
‘There’s only one way to find out.’ Cecilia grabbed Rose’s hands and pulled her to her feet. ‘Come downstairs, and maybe we can persuade my father to let us accompany him to the hospital in the morning. We’ve nothing else to do, and I’m sure the wounded sailors and soldiers would be cheered to see two lovely ladies from England.’
‘Jimmy might know where Max is,’ Rose said eagerly. ‘Of course I’ll go with you. Nothing would keep me away, and even if it isn’t Jimmy, we might be able to make ourselves useful.’
After a long and dusty walk through the derelict streets where skinny feral dogs snuffled in the gutters looking for scraps of anything edible, and beautiful, brown-eyed children played amongst the ruins, the small party eventually reached their destination. The hospital, as Desmond explained, was an old cotton store that had been converted for use by the military. He led them into the building and they were met by a formidable-looking woman, who looked as though her entire body had been dipped in starch. Her dark hair was sleeked back from her shiny forehead and pinned ruthlessly beneath a white cap, and her all-enveloping white apron was so stiff that it would probably stand up on its own.
She informed them at the start that she was Matron Harvey, a Nightingale nurse, and she was in complete charge, something that Rose did not doubt for a moment. Desmond took Matron aside and Rose crossed her fingers. It would be a bitter disappointment to have come this far only to be denied the chance of seeing Jimmy, but Desmond exerted all his diplomatic skills and Matron began to unbend. It was agreed that Rose could see Sub-Lieutenant Manning, but Cecilia would have to wait in the anteroom.
Matron led the way to a ward lined with cast-iron bedsteads, where the white coverlets were tucked so tightly beneath the thin mattresses that the patients looked like parcels ready for posting. The men were in various stages of recovery and Rose received whistles of admiration from one sailor, who had his right arm in a sling and a black patch over his left eye. She gave him a cheery smile and received a scolding from Matron, who accused her of flirting. The sailor was also given a sound telling-off, but the moment Matron’s back was turned he winked at Rose.
Matron Harvey stopped a
t the far end of the ward and pulled back a screen. ‘Is this your friend, Miss Munday?’
Rose’s hand flew to cover her mouth as she suppressed a cry of delight, but concern for his welfare overcame her pleasure and she moved to the foot of the bed. ‘Jimmy?’
James Manning opened his eyes, staring blankly at her with a puzzled frown. ‘Rose? Is it really you?’
‘You may have five minutes with the patient and not a second longer.’ Matron Harvey backed away, leaving the screen open so that both Rose and Jimmy were clearly visible from the nurses’ station at the far end of the ward.
Rose moved closer, covering his limp hand with hers. ‘How are you feeling, Jimmy?’
‘I can’t believe you’re here, Rose. It must be the fever and you’re just a dream.’
She leaned over and dropped a kiss on his brow. ‘It is me, and it’s a long story, but I really am here. But, more importantly, what happened to you?’
His blue eyes darkened and he shook his head. ‘It’s not very romantic, Rose. I came through the fighting unscathed, and then I contracted typhoid, so I ended up here.’
‘But you’re on the mend?’ Rose said anxiously.
‘So they say. Although I’m as weak as a kitten.’
Rose brushed a strand of fair hair back from his forehead. ‘But not as pretty. You look awful, Jimmy,’ she said, smiling tenderly.
‘Thanks, Rose. You always knew how to make a fellow feel better.’
‘You’re my brother, and I love you, even if we aren’t blood related.’ Rose hesitated, hardly daring to ask the question that was burning a hole in her heart.
Jimmy reached out to grasp her hand. ‘I saw Max briefly, but that was back in September.’
‘Was he well? Did he mention me?’
‘There wasn’t time to exchange more than a few words. He told me that his regiment was being sent to the barracks at Kasr-el-Nil, on the outskirts of Cairo.’ Jimmy’s grip on her hand tightened. ‘Why are you here, Rose? I thought you were safe in London.’