Seven Stories for a Summer Afternoon Page 14
—Darn! —said Lord Darrowby—. With You being so young, I'm surprised with your knowledge on current affairs of Europe geography. —Gabriel could not sustain himself.
—You want to say, Milady —said Gabriel looking for Elizabeth's attention—. That you believe that those types of territorial desires would be able to start, in the worst case, a war.
—That's right —she said without hesitation. Gabriel laughed in her face for he believed that it was unlikely.
—I think You have read many novels, I have to remind You that the Russian-Japanese war was very costly for the Russians, like the war of the Boers has been sufficient for our men. Nowadays, with the advance of liberalism consolidates the development of a labor movement that would benefit Europe as a whole.
—I disagree, Milord —said Elizabeth—. Lord Darrowby believes that the monarchy will stay and I don't put it in doubt, but the tensions are evident in some countries and it shows that our Empire is the one that has the largest territory, and that can lead others to want the same. Don't You believe that dividing up the world is a game that the working class does not want to play?
—No, Milady. —With a certain degree of mockery interfered Gabriel. Elizabeth, seeing in his eyes that he is having fun, meant that for him it was just a topic of no importance—. You are totally wrong. United Kingdom will not enter into any conflict either with the Austrian Empire or the German Empire, the costs of the colonies are increasingly high for the Treasury, and starting a war to get more territory and colonies is absurd concerning the advances that we have in the industrial development.
—And You do not want to lose a part of your heritage, am I wrong?
—That answer I would like to give to You at another time, or maybe in another place.
Elizabeth's face blushed slightly since Gabriel was so shameless. She should respond and not let him realize how she had been annoyed, especially when Lord Darrowby and the duchess of Sussex laughed.
—Then I will live in doubt whole my life, you can be sure that it will not happen. With Your permission.
Elizabeth said goodbye and walked away, hating Gabriel for how he had changed the course of the conversation.
Four years later
—Damn! —shouted Gabriel —. Damned Racket! And damned minefields!
The Great War, for which he was once convinced that would never happen, was leaving desolation all around the globe. From the early beginning he was fighting on German front and with all that he had seen he could have filled many books of terror.
From the start he denied that confrontation, but he had to go to the front to defend his country. He would have liked to travel four years back in time to continue discussing what a beautiful lady defended passionately. He would have accepted she was right, since that night he had heard, from the mouth of his own father, that the great tension existed in both Empires.
The desire to keep the interest of that beautiful woman made him ignore what was really happening. In his platoon remained just a few of the men who had enlisted since the beginning, and the new recruits were young and inexperienced.
That night was dark and the tiredness of the troops was visible in the diseases that were product of the bad hygienic habits and malnutrition that were usual those days. Although he was able to be in a dry and not very dangerous place as many of his position, he preferred to be with those that were under his command and that peer-to-peer brought him to a campaign hospital for the first time.
The burial of a barbed wire into his foot had created an infection weeks before and, to tell the truth, that saved his life since he realized he was in a minefield; that wound was creating him many problems when he walked, and he had to obey immediately the order of his superior, despite not wanting to leave his troop.
During the three-hour trip he took time to think of his England and what he left behind, dances, dinners, long walks in Hyde Park, the odd flirtation with a marrying girl and the large stays when he visited his family country house.
In no time he realized that he would miss what so many times bored him. Once entered in the camp, he was surprised to come face to face with the one he would never imagined he would meet in the north of France, Lady Elizabeth.
And the memories of their past encounters came to him.
Lady Elizabeth's tricky point of view was discussed by many other gentleman, especially by him, which made that the discrepancy set them completely apart. Seeing her again was a fresh air in his life.
He would have bet his title that at that moment she would be married and not in a hospital in the middle of the war close to the battlefields. He waited patiently for her to come closer and when she saw him, her face turned pale.
Elizabeth Stone, or how she should have been called Lady Elizabeth, had concealed for months her true identity. Thanks to her aunt Geogna she appointed as a volunteer, she wanted to feel useful, tired of enduring long dinners and tea parties in the afternoon.
Her mother became horrified on the day she suggested the possibility of being a volunteer in the nurse corps of the Red Cross; she was nervously wondering again and again how she came to those absurd ideas. She could help, as all the honorable girls, raising funds, but being a volunteer was not in her plans for her youngest daughter.
Elizabeth was sure, she would not sit still, waiting for those who decided to stay to asked for her hand, since she knew perfectly well that they jumped from bed to bed. From the negative point of view and the suggestion, in exchange, to tour America to escape from those ideas, she ended up asking help from her aunt, who devised a solution.
Together they created Elizabeth Reeve, but her aunt never imagined that she would end up on one of the most dangerous fronts of the great war. She asked her repeatedly to return and Elizabeth refused; the excitement of freedom that she believed she would get was clouded with the reality.
To be the nurse corps volunteer was an arduous and tiresome task; the pride made her refuse to go back, she didn't want that people say she was a woman with little stamina. Disappointed by what she saw on a daily basis, her first months were the hardest; and overwhelmed with the different wounded men, she came to panic with the continuous explosions.
The first time she saw men wounded by gas coupled to the wounds of barbed wire made her flee to the nearest pavilion and weep. Blisters and edema were unpleasant and many times she did not know what injury was more horrifying, but to meet Gabriel Somerset was the last thing that she could have imagined.
For her, Gabriel was a young inconsiderate guy who took as a joke everything that could have some consequences. If in the beginning she felt attracted to him, but meeting him again four years later, she was frightened. Not knowing what to do, she had no choice but to pretend she had not seen him, which did not help at all.
—Nurse! —yelled Gabriel, drawing her attention. Elizabeth's eyes closed and before he screamed again, she answered his call.
—Good evening, captain, doctor Williams will come here as soon as he can. —Gabriel, who knew her, wanted to go on wounding her ego.
—Oh, Lady Elizabeth! —exclaimed. Immediately she came up to him trying to shut him up.
—Please, don't You ever call me like that! —she asked with fear. Gabriel opened his eyes and a gurgling came from his throat.
Elizabeth, fearing to be discovered, waited for him to calm down to explain him everything. However, he went away.
—What does the most stylish young person more in London between blood and bad smells? —Elizabeth sighed resigned.
—It is not a good time to give explanations.
He reviewed the history looking for the reasons that he had been transferred to the field hospital, recalling his own surprise when he learned that he had enlisted to fight on the enemy front; in that war which he dared to deny that would happen and, because of his condition, he believed that he was in any place except for that.
—I do not understand, Milady.
—Please —she begged again—. Do not call m
e like that.
—You were drinking tea and talking about the current things that were happening, and you've changed the life that you loved to see the horrors of war?
Elizabeth looked at him about to reply, but the doctor appeared.
—It is rare to have a viscount here —he noticed. In Gabriel's face was drawn a small pout, realizing that the doctor recognized who he was, and Elizabeth noticed that he did not like to use his title and a small smile spread across her face.
—Regarding the viscount, we can leave him in England —Gabriel made it clear—. In any case, I've been forced to come here by the lieutenant-colonel, this damn infection does not let me walk! —He complained glancing to Elizabeth as a giggle slipped over her mouth.
In another time, Lady Elizabeth would reflect horror at the blasphemy that he said. Despite that, it had no importance, he could imagine how she got used to the worst damnations.
—You did the right thing, you have a considerable infection and I'm forced to keep You at least fifteen days in the hospital, consider it to be a holiday. Miss Reeves... —Gabriel raised an eyebrow, baffled by how the doctor addressed Elizabeth, that meant she was hiding the truth about herself.
—Tell the supervisor that as soon as he will have free time he should arrange that the captain is moved into D area.
—Right away —answered Elizabeth without batting an eye.
She followed the doctor's directions and saw the perfect opportunity to take revenge on Gabriel with the treatment that was planned for him. She tried to cause him more pain than expected.
Gabriel, who at first looked at her with a snub, was puzzled to see how she got along with bandages and cures. He doubted if the woman that he dared to scorn for some time was the one who would help him at the moment.
Once Elizabeth accomplished her small revenge, she concentrated on doing her work and was grateful for being called to a new contingent of wounded men, thus preventing the viscount of Arlington to think about how to return her the pain that she had caused him.
The following days, from far away, Gabriel looked at Elizabeth, wearing an attire not flattering at all. The last time they met, the color of the dress she wore highlighted her figure and her skin; the delicacy with which she walked made everyone stop to contemplate her. Now, she had simple dress, a cap and a shoemaker apron that many days ago turned not to be white and pristine anymore.
If at that moment he would say the woman, who kept a fixed gaze, was the daughter of a Lord, no one would believe it. He wanted to know what had driven her to be here, wearing that uniform which, at the end of the day was filled with rancid blood; to change sheets and empty chamber pots with no reluctance.
All of that led Gabriel to admire her completely and, in his mind, appeared the images of the first dinner when he was able to reach the closeness he longed for, and smiled at the rejection he got. While the way that he proposed marriage to her was absurd, he does not deny that he wanted it from the first time he saw her.
He kept the secret of Lady Elizabeth, despite the fact that he called her Milady, from time to time, earning a bad look and succeeding to get her attention for a few seconds, that attention that years ago ended up in the discrepancy. He could not deny that her beauty had increased, perhaps the maturity made her more irresistible.
Elizabeth was still not able to understand why the supervisor had assigned her to help Gabriel when she had to make the beds in the block where he was placed. He armed himself with patience, as if it was an entertainment for him calling her Milady, but the fourth time he did so, Elizabeth reminded him that she was healing him and to see in his eyes he was having fun, she knew that it was just a way of rebuking her.
This week they learned about each other: Gabriel, of her dedication to the others; and Elizabeth, of motivation that he gave to the rest of the soldiers discouraged by the war. On the other hand, Gabriel changed his mind, the little time they spent together he would use to remember the life they left behind in England, and that way he would come closer to her.
He asked her to sit down and began to describe how this and that Lord had abandoned their appeal, and the smile in the end was enough to realize that he had stolen her heart.
The following week, Gabriel was walking better and got used to sit next to her, finding a conversation topic in which both would coincide. The first time, they ended up in a discussion in which Elizabeth left with an unconscious reverence, reminding him of who she was.
However, in the evening he approached her, wishing her a good night. During the time they were together they managed to disconnect from the reality, they got to know each other and discovered the hidden thoughts under the watchful gaze of all who were in the hospital, surprised by their behavior.
Elizabeth was aware that his wound healed very fast and that soon he would return to the front and, for the first time, she began to miss him already. Gabriel managed to keep her close to him for as long as he could, and when he saw her hands, he remembered that a long time ago they were silky.
That day, Gabriel invited her to a short walk ready to declare his feelings.
—Lady Elizabeth, I wonder what you will do when your mother see your disastrous look. —Elizabeth smiled.
—She will ask where are the years of education that I received.—She closed her eyes and, for the first time, let out her frustrations—. The year that I have been here makes me assume that my family will soon discover where I am or they have already done so and prefer to keep it a secret.
A tear ran down her cheeks and Gabriel wiped it off with the edge of his hand. It would be for him very difficult to leave her, so he lifted her chin and kissed her.
Elizabeth did not expect it, even less did not correspond, it was her first kiss and coming form the man for which she years before sighed in silence. Gabriel started with a shy kiss, and little by little, with her permission, it turned into demonstration of his devotion toward her.
—Elizabeth —he addressed her for the first time in intimate tone—. Promise me that as soon as I leave to the front, I will receive every week a letter from you describing how you feel and, in exchange, I promise that you will receive one from me.
Elizabeth listened to him recalling those days, those minutes when a deep feeling settled in their hearts. Gabriel wanted her to write to him and the sadness overwhelmed her, she just started to understand what was it like to wait for someone, she smiled and accepted, sealing her request with a kiss on his lips.
On the night when he was leaving to the front, no matter who they were, Gabriel turned to kiss her, Elizabeth felt that the kiss kept silent promises and she prayed to God that not everything ends up in mere correspondence.
That day she begged to keep him alive, watching as he moved with the platoon toward the trenches.
Amiens, August 9th, 1918
Lady Elizabeth!
Since the last time that we met I thought of you. The short conversations we had helped me to find out more about that refined girl who was presented in press reviews.
I never wanted to explore exactly how you managed to find a fake id, but I've created a huge expectation to know something about it. I would like you to tell me in details how began that what for you was a mean to flee away. I want to receive the response promptly.
Respectfully,
Viscount of Arlington.
Upon receiving the first letter, Elizabeth smiled, as the number of wounded that were arriving due to the offensive of the allies made her fear that it would never arrive. The nationalities were so varied that she did not know when she was attending an Australian, a Scottish or an English, and many times they were young, who almost bled to death.
30° Hospital, France, August 20th, 1918
Viscount of Arlington
I have received your letter and as soon as I had free time I sat down to respond. Since the offensive began, I asked God to protect you, the news that we have received indicate that progress has been made to disintegrate German troops.
The civilians are the ones who carry the consequences. I can not deny that some days ago the noise of the cannons woke me up and I got up thinking about you. I would like to comply with your request, but I would like, even more, to be able to tell it in person.
Waiting for your prompt response,
Lady Elizabeth.
Gabriel received the letter fifteen days after the first offensives. More than eight divisions were involved in the advance, and among these was his division, whose task was to take up again the city of Albert. Reading the letter from Elizabeth made him forget for few moments that his days could have been numbered.
In some place of Tilloy, September 1st, 1918
My dear Elizabeth!
In the moment when I received your letter I felt like being at home, to deny that I did not want to hear from you is impossible. The commitment that I have acquired I keep in mind, and I am pleased to know that you want to see me again; now I wonder if I can have a hope for the future.
I know that is an unusual question, but today I had to sit down and to write to many families, to tell them that their sons or husbands will not come back, all those that I have left on my way in war who were my responsibility, and it has made me think of a possible future, a future that I would like to become a present. A future for which I once asked in a way that was not right and if I could rectify that moment, I would never cease to insist.
If the answer is yes, I will stick to it to help me survive and to see you again.
Yours,
Gabriel Somerset
To the field hospital arrived the information from the front and those were not encouraging. Elizabeth listened to some injuries who were delirious of high fevers and pain. The offensive was still bloody, but her heart got its moment of tranquility upon receiving the letter from Gabriel.
Gabriel asking her a future in a request that came in the form of a poppy, she could not refuse it since it was what she wanted.