Read Online Nurse Trent's Children by Joyce Dingwell - Free Book Online Page B

around her or in the firm grasp of his strong hands. Their steps blended smoothly. Cathy found she could relax, and that made for enjoyment. She looked up and said, “Did the foundation confer this dexterity on you?”
    “They conferred on me physical jerks every Wednesday morning from seven to eight. Old Major Fitzgibbons gave them. It was his act of charity.”
    “And a good one, too.”
    “Probably, only we kids never thought so. No, Miss Trent, dancing came later in my career. To be precise, when the female sex entered into it.”
    She did not comment. She was thinking that he would find plenty of teachers. Most women were attracted by tall dark men like Dr. Malcolm.
    She was suddenly aware that he was watching her closely, and said hurriedly, “I asked because I’d like to start something like that myself. I believe the children could do with a few social attributes. Especially girls of Rita’s age group. Rita is growing up.”
    “So I’ve noticed.” His voice was dry, and she looked up, trying to read the inscrutable expression in his eyes. As usual, she failed. The music stopped and they went back to their table.
    They began dinner. It was an excellent one, and Cathy frankly enjoyed herself. “Mrs. Ferguson is a gem,” she told him, “but it is nice to have something not out of the little black book.”
    They sat back waiting for coffee.
    “Dance again?”
    “No, thank you.”
    “That leaves only one alternative, a tete-a-tete conversation.”
    She raised her blue eyes to his. “Why not, Dr. Malcolm? I believed that was the real purpose of all this.”
    He hunched his shoulders. “Not entirely the purpose but part of it. I thought it was high time you understood a few things.”
    “Like ...? ”
    “Like the statement you made a little while ago, Miss Trent. You said, ‘From the beginning you have shown clearly that you have no real confidence in Little Families.’ ”
    Cathy inclined her head. “It has appeared so to me. Have you confidence?”
    “No.”
    “Then ... ”
    For a moment there was silence, then with an abrupt movement of his head, as though brushing aside other issues, he said, “If we could advance ten years, perhaps more, maybe less... ”
    “What do you mean?”
    He did not speak at once. He seemed to be selecting his words. “On your way up to Redgates on the night of your arrival here you mentioned the segregation of the sexes in the Australian section of Little Families.” He paused and then said, “ That is what I mean.”
    He did not speak loudly or forcibly, but she was unmistakably aware of the force behind his quiet words. It was a white-hot force. It showed in his narrowed eyes, in the blanched knuckle bones of his clenched hands. She, too, felt strongly on this issue, but not as strongly as this man before her. To him, she could see, it was a major disaster.
    “I’m sorry,” she faltered, “I never dreamed ... I mean ... ”
    “You did not think a thing like that could be so important?”
    “Oh, I agree it is important, Dr. Malcolm, but you take the long view. The country is young. It still has growing pains. You must work to a certain stage, not arrive there.” She was suddenly conscious of a stricken light in his eyes, and her heart went out in sympathy and wonder and she leaned forward.
    “I felt a little as you did,” she confessed. “It was when Mrs. Jessopp left. She swept out very outraged because I had said all children, boys and girls, should be kept together in their own family units irrespective of sex. It was then that Elvira stepped in. She said that was true, and most people admitted it, but things could not happen overnight, one had to wait for them. Then she told me—” and Cathy half shut her eyes remembering that gentle liquid voice “—‘we haven’t gone half your distance, so you’ll have to give us time. In a little while it will all be right. Keep that in your mind. Keep telling yourself in a little while.’ ”
    The coffee