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‘Of course!’ Adrienne said sharply. ‘What did you think I was going to do – go to my own room and forget about him? I’m not a paid nurse.’ She said the words as if they were obscene.
Hester did not remind her that she was not either, but a prisoner kept under threat of death.
‘If you were a nurse, Miss Radnor,’ she said quite gently, ‘you would know that we never ignore or abandon a patient, any more than a doctor would, whatever our conditions of service, paid or not.’
Adrienne stared at her for several more seconds, then moved her position with a gesture of discomfort. ‘No,’ she said at last. ‘I suppose you can’t, can you?’
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sp; ‘Adrienne!’ Hester said quickly.
Adrienne looked back. ‘Yes?’
‘I want him to live, for a lot of reasons, but this is a dangerous and controversial experiment. I think you know that, but you are prepared to take the risks in order to save your father’s life.’
‘Of course I am!’
‘Hamilton Rand cares only about it succeeding, and the innumerable people it could save in the future. But in doing this he has imprisoned three children and is risking their lives by taking blood from them.’
‘How else could he do it?’ Adrienne protested.
‘Probably no other way,’ Hester said honestly. ‘And if he succeeds he’ll go down in history as one of medicine’s greatest heroes. But have you thought what will happen if he fails?’
Adrienne was close to tears. Her face looked almost bloodless.
‘We can’t let it fail.’
‘But if it does, have you thought of what Rand and the gardener will do with us?’ Hester hated saying it, but she might never have another chance.
Adrienne stared at her, her eyes dark with horror as the understanding sank into her mind.
‘You hadn’t,’ Hester said. ‘Maybe you don’t care if he kills me. And he will have to. He has kidnapped me. He can’t afford to trust that I won’t tell the police. My husband is a policeman! And the three children – he’ll have to kill them as well. Or maybe he’ll have the gardener do it—’
‘Stop it!’ Adrienne sobbed.
‘And you,’ Hester went on. ‘Do you think he’ll let you live? Risk you going out into the world and telling everyone what happened?’
‘But I wouldn’t tell.’
Hester smiled bitterly. ‘Maybe not this year . . . or next. But if you’re dead too, then you won’t ever tell.’
‘What . . . what do you want me to do?’ Adrienne whispered.
‘If the experiment fails, then we must escape – with the children.’
‘Then why are you trying to save him? Why not just let him die and make your escape now?’
‘Because I couldn’t live with it – could you?’
For a long moment Adrienne stared at Hester and there was understanding in her eyes, and respect. Then she turned and went into Radnor’s room, closing the door firmly.
Hester was woken in the night by the sound of the lock in her bedroom door turning and then Rand’s voice, sharp-edged.
‘Get dressed, Mrs Monk, and then come downstairs immediately. Radnor is having some kind of a crisis. Now, Mrs Monk. Right now.’
Old memories came back in a flood: being woken in the night for battle-wounded coming in. It was as if the years between had vanished. In less than two minutes she had dressed warmly, since the fires had been banked for the night. She wound her hair up into a coil and secured it with pins so it would not fall across her face. Another few seconds and her boots were fastened.
Rand had left her bedroom door open. She went straight across the landing and down the stairs as fast as was safe. She could hear in her memory the voice of Florence Nightingale telling her not to hurry so much that she was careless. Care – always do things properly. Never panic, absolutely never. Apart from being pointless, it frightened other people.
