A Match for Sister Maggy by Betty Neels Page A

instead to the window where Stien had appeared. Maggy wished her a quick good morning and made her escape. As she went up the stairs she wondered, as she had wondered many times in the night, just who Stien was.
    Mevrouw Doelsma didn’t need much done for her, but she loved company. She talked happily about Paul, and spoke of Stien as though she had known her intimately for a long time. Maggy wanted very much to ask if they were engaged, but could not quite bring herself to do so.
    The morning passed with only a brief visit from the doctor, who, as he entered the room, suggested that she might like to take advantage of his visit to have her coffee or go for a turn in the gardens, so that when she returned shortly, their conversation was limited to questions and answers of a purely professional nature.
    Maggy had a solitary lunch, waited upon by Pratt, and then returned upstairs to settle her patient for her afternoon nap. That lady, thoroughly rested from her journey, and delighted at the prospect of getting up and going downstairs on the following day, was disposed to talk, and it was almost two o’clock before Maggy left her, changed into a kilt and sweater and went downstairs. As she passed through the hall, she heard voices and laughter from the dining room, and supposed Dr Doelsma and Stien were having a late lunch. Perhaps they hadn’t cared to lunch with the nurse. Maggy wondered if she should have asked to have her meals in her room. She had done no private nursing, and that aspect of it had not struck her. She should have found out more about it before leaving the hospital. However, it was too late now, so she smiled at Pratt who had appeared to open the door for her, and walked briskly down the drive towards the road. The doctor was home; she felt that she could safely go further afield for an hour or so.
    The village was small—a cluster of houses, a few small shops and a large church, which she found to be locked. She bought some stamps, posted letters, and purchased some local views. There were some of Oudehof, so Maggy sent one to the nurses on her ward, and one to Mrs Salt. The people she met were pleasant and friendly, and though they spoke no English, were very helpful when it came to paying for her purchases. She walked back feeling much happier and less lonely.
    She changed back into uniform and went to see how Mevrouw Doelsma was feeling; she found her awake and reading letters, which she put down as Maggy went in.
    â€˜Did you have a good walk? Paul and Stien have just gone—some play or other Stien wanted to see in Amsterdam. They asked me to say goodbye to you. Paul says that I may go for a check-up next week. He suggests that we stay for a day or two in Leiden—he has a house there—so that you can have a look round. You’ll want to see Amsterdam, and Leiden and Delft, and perhaps the Hague.’
    She chattered on, while Maggy helped her to the chair by the small open fire.
    â€˜Shall we have tea, and discuss what we can do tomorrow? Paul thought that if it is fine, I might go out for an hour in the car. Do you drive, Maggy?’
    Maggy nodded, ‘Aye, I do.’
    Her patient’s eyes sparkled. ‘Would you be all right here, do you think?’
    Maggy considered. ‘Aye, I think so.’ She had driven her father’s old Landrover over some shocking bad roads in Scotland in snow and ice and fog. It should be easy in Holland, with never a hill to see. The signs might present a problem, but she thought that they were international to a large extent, and driving on the other side of the road, although strange, should present no difficulties.
    â€˜I’d like fine to drive,’ she said.
    â€˜And so you shall, my dear, but perhaps we had better let Pratt drive tomorrow, and then you can take the wheel for a time. He’s rather fussy, I’m afraid—he prefers horses.’
    Maggy poured second cups. ‘That was a fine beast the