Kit Cavendish-Private Nurse by Margaret Malcolm

shouldn’t Sue have a patch for herself if she wanted it? And immediately she got her answer.
    “Thank you,” Sue said gratefully. “You see, Aunt Ruth says everything works more smoothly if everybody has their own particular job and is responsible for it. So ... so she wouldn’t like me doing what’s really Peters’s work, or neglecting my own, which is in the house.”
    “I see,” Kit replied, but she was not appeased. Perhaps there was something in Ruth’s idea—or there would have been if human beings were machines. But they weren’t, and everybody was the better for having a hobby that took them right away from their work. But she did not say that to Sue. It wouldn’t have helped. “But this is the sort of day that would tempt anyone out of doors, isn’t it? Spring in the air—it’s a marvelous time of year!” Satisfied that they were on friendly terms at last, and anxious not to try to force the pace, she gave Sue a smile and turned to go. “Nurse ... just a minute, please!”
    Kit turned. She had stood up and was facing her with desperate determination.
    “Yes, what is it?” Kit asked gently.
    “I ... I want to ask you something. Of course, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
    “Well, suppose you tell me what it is and then I can judge,” Kit suggested, doing her best not to feel uneasy at the growing tension in Sue’s manner.
    “Yes,” Sue almost gasped. “Yes, I will. It’s—” She faltered, twisted her hands nervously together, and then suddenly seemed to make up her mind. “It’s about you and Noel,” she explained.
    “What about us?” Kit asked, unable to keep a slightly cool note out of her voice.
    “Oh, please, don’t be angry,” Sue begged desperately. “I’ve just got to know.”
    “Well?”
    “Is he ... is he in love with you?”

CHAPTER SIX
    Kit’s first reaction to Sue’s question was one of sheer annoyance. Was Noel in love with her, indeed! Weren’t there enough complications in this household without the introduction of such an absurd one as this? Then, realizing just how much her answer meant to Sue, Kit’s anger faded.
    “No, he is not!” she said emphatically.
    “Oh!” Sue’s face cleared to some extent, but she was still not entirely convinced. “Are you quite sure?”
    “Quite,” Kit told her crisply. “You see, though I don’t think it’s always possible to be sure if someone is in love with you, I’m quite sure you know when they aren’t.”
    “Oh?” Sue looked interested. “How?”
    “Oh dear!” Kit shook her head. “I’m not honestly sure. I only know it’s true. And I’m quite, quite sure that Noel is no more in love with me than I am with him. And what, for goodness’ sake, ever made you wonder?”
    Sue’s eyes fell. “I just got the idea,” she muttered.
    “Just out of your own mind?” Kit pressed. “Or because someone else suggested it to you?” And then, as Sue did not reply, she went on, “Please tell me, Miss Day. You see, it’s rather important to me.”
    “Is it?” Sue asked suspiciously. “Why?”
    “Because, with nurses, as with doctors, there must never be any cause for their personal integrity to be in doubt,” Kit explained gravely. “And that’s perhaps even more important in the case of a private nurse who is received on trust into people’s houses. There must not be any idle gossip. It could do irreparable harm. Do you understand what I mean?”
    “Yes, I suppose I do,” Sue replied. “Well then, yes, it was someone else’s idea, though they don’t know that I—” She broke off, her eyes wide and scared.
    “You mean, you overheard something you weren’t meant to hear?” Kit suggested. And when Sue nodded, she went on, “Well, you’ll be doing both Noel and me a good turn if you will not only disabuse your own mind of the whole thing but will also tell whoever it was you overheard that it’s a lot of nonsense. Will you do that?”
    But Sue did not answer