worse, send the boy to him, our Reggie will have to admit that he's gone balmy, and that he can never do.'
Maya looked from Almsley to Alderscroft and back again, and felt like stamping her feet with frustration at what she read there. Men! Why did they have to be so
'Maya, think,' her husband said, quietly. 'If he's sick with guilt over the idea that he's malingering, what do you think the mere sight of Andrew Pike at his bedside do to his feelings about himself?'
Defeated, she could only shake her head.
'Going 'round the bend is just not the done thing, my heart,' Almsley said sadly. 'It's what your dotty Uncle Algernon does, not an officer and a gentleman. Andrew could probably have him right and tight in months, but that doesn't matter. If he saw Andrew, he'd be certain that we all think he's mad, and if he's mad, he's broken and useless, and worse, he's a disgrace to the old strawberry leaves and escutcheon. If he's gone mad, he might just as well die and avoid embarrassing the family.'
She leveled her gaze at Alderscroft. 'Then you had better hope he can get well and work his way through his troubles on his own,' she said, doing her best to keep accusation out of her tone. 'But
Should she tell them?
She was a physician; she had to.
'Furthermore, I consider that without Doctor Pike's help, there is a real possibility that he may do away with himself if he can't manage to get himself through. Because I am not sure he can live with the pain, the fear, and the conflicts inside himself as he is now.'
There. She'd said it.
She expected them to look shocked, to protest. They didn't; they only looked saddened and resigned.
'It won't be the first one we've lost that way,' Almsley said softly, revealing the reason for their reaction. He turned to Alderscroft. 'What do you think, send him home on recovery leave?'
Almsley hadn't asked her, but she answered anyway. 'At least if he is at home, he will be in familiar surroundings and far away from anything military. It might help.'
Alderscroft nodded his massive head, slowly. 'Get his grandmother to keep an eye on him; I think it's the best we can do. I'll talk to some people, and get him leave to recover at home.' He turned back to Maya. 'Thank you, doctor. You have been of immense help; more than you know. I only wish it were possible to take more of your advice. I promise, we will see to it that everything that
That was a dismissal if ever she had heard one, and reluctantly, she allowed her husband to assist her to her feet and took her leave.
But it did nothing to end her anger—which was the only way she could keep her own profound depression at bay.
THE ROBINSONS HAD TAKEN THE first train to London, set themselves up at the Savoy Hotel, and gone straight out to take care of the most urgent need for all three of them—new wardrobes. But their visits to the first three fashion houses—their usual haunts—were less than a success.
'Have you ever seen such ugly colors?' Carolyn complained (rather too loudly) to her mother, as she and her sister followed hard on their mother's heels out to the pavement in front of the third. 'Drab brown, drab olive, drab navy and drab cream. Khaki, khaki, khaki! And nothing but tweeds and linens! And for spring and summer! What about silk? What about muslin? Do they think we're all Land Girls?'
Her mother shrugged. 'We'll try another atelier, dear,' she said, with a glance up the street, looking for a taxi. 'Someone who isn't trying so hard to be patriotic and dress us all in uniforms.'
