Free Ring for the Nurse by Marjorie Moore

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    “ How frightfully pompous you sound! ” A heavy aroma of Chanel perfume seemed to fill the room as the other girl came towards Felicity, her small neatly gloved hand extended in greeting. “ I suppose you are the Sister here . My name is Alaine Jason. ”
    “ I ’ m Nurse Dene, Sister is on duty; if you care to wait until she gets back I ’ m sure she ’ ll see you and then she can explain the position to you herself. ”
    With a graceful movement Alaine Jason seated herself in the chair Felicity indicated. “ I thought you looked too human to be a sister, too young and pretty too, ” she remarked as she, in turn, appraised her companion. “ What on earth made you take up nursing? You ought to be on the films with a face like yours. ”
    The outspoken remark made Felicity smile. “ It may seem odd, but I like nursing and I ’ ve an idea I ’ d find film work dull. ”
    “ Oh, I suppose every job has its compensations, ” Alaine remarked conversationally and although Felicity knew that she should continue her work, she found herself compelled to listen as Alaine Jason chattered on. “ I ’ m in pictures you know, starring in Fettle ’ s new film. My days are chock-a-block with rehearsals, that ’ s why I have to get along to see Guy whenever I can make it; it ’ s no good tying me down to times, I ought to be allowed to see him when I ’ m free. ”
    “ Alaine Jason ” —of course Felicity knew the name, she ’ d had wonderful notices in her first film, it had run for months in the West End. But there was one thing which Felicity couldn ’ t understand. What on earth could Mr. Brenton and this exotic girl have in common? Alaine Jason could surely have had her pick of men, what too had she found in Guy Brenton other than physical attraction? But perhaps more surprising still, how had she appealed to him ? Appearance alone would surely never have captivated a man of Guy Brenton ’ s discernment and Felicity would have imagined that this girl ’ s glamour and excitability, betrayed by her every movement, would have been intolerable to a man of his disposition. Perhaps it was the magnetic attraction of opposites.
    Almost as if she could read her thoughts, Alaine Jason spoke again. “ I expect you are summing me up, wondering how I ever came to fall for such an intellectual serious type! ” She rose from her c hair and crossed to the window, fidgeted for a moment with a hideous pewter vase—a gift from a grateful, patient—then swung round again. “ Guy is a poppet when you really know him, we first met at a Charity Ball. ” She leaned forward, her hands resting on the sill behind her. “ Do you know he was the very first man I ’ d ever met who behaved as if I didn ’ t exist! He ignored me ... I was furious! ” She spoke with such forceful intensity that to Felicity it appeared as if she were acting a part.
    “ Really? ” Felicity felt that the dramatic pause was, in a sense, her cue; she had nothing to say and she had no wish to be Alaine Jason ’ s confidante. With a brisk air of finality which Felicity hoped might have the required effect, she turned deliberately back to the desk. “ You must excuse me, I have some work to do, you ’ ll find some magazines on the table and Sister won ’ t be long now. ”
    “ I don ’ t think I really want to see her—not if she is anything like that old crow I saw last night—if I can ’ t see Guy now, when can I see him? ” Her deep voice expressed the tension which her whole manner disclosed.
    “ I think it may be all right for him to have visitors by the week-end, why not come along on Sunday? ” Felicity suggested.
    “ Oh, confound all these rules and things, ” Alaine Jason took a slim gold case from her bag and handed it to Felicity. “ Smoke? ”
    “ No, thanks, ” Felicity smiled as she explained. “ Not on duty. ”
    “ Another silly regulation. I don ’ t know how you stick it. ” She applied a lighter to her