‘I had recently taken up the position of head nurse when she began working here, and initially I believed she would make an excellent addition to the staff. It is exceedingly difficult to attract the right type of woman to the job. Despite what is generally held to be the case, nursing does not come to all women by intuition.’

‘What altered your opinion? Why was she dismissed?’

‘She was dismissed for dishonesty and theft. A locket belonging to a recently deceased patient was found in her possession. But in truth, what troubled me about Mary was not what she was dismissed for but the multiplicity of incidents for which she was not.’

‘I’m not sure that I follow.’

Miss Peat cleared her throat, sipped her tea again and continued.

‘Things could never be proven against her. There was always someone else positioned to take the blame. My suspicions would point towards her, but evidence and accusations always fell upon others; often people to whom she bore ill will. A thief is not to be tolerated, but I believed Mary to be something far more sinister. She was a practised deceiver, a manipulator who sought to conceal her true actions.’

‘We are not merely talking about theft here, are we?’ Sarah asked.

Miss Peat shook her head.

‘Initially she made herself indispensable; she was cheerful, hardworking and was popular with the medical staff, who spoke highly of her abilities. She joined the hospital apothecary on his rounds, expressing a desire to learn as much as he was willing to teach her. She was uncommonly knowledgeable as a result. But as time went on it became clear that she was often less than truthful, and she frequently displayed a reckless disregard for doses of prescribed medicines. It was my suspicion that she also tampered with fever charts and the ward journals.’

‘Why would she do such a thing?’

‘I think she fancied herself a doctor.’

Miss Peat’s words hung in the air a moment.

‘There are few things as hazardous in a hospital as one who believes herself clever and does not comprehend the depths of her own ignorance. I believe she was instigating treatments that had not been sanctioned by the medical staff and that she preferred to work at night so that her actions could be hidden. There was a concern that more deaths occurred when she was on duty, but such a thing is difficult to prove when death is such a frequent visitor to the wards already.

‘She covered her tracks well, I’ll say that for her. But I will tell you this, for this much I do know – she is a dangerous woman. For surely there is nothing more dangerous than a woman who has ambitions above her station.’

FORTY-EIGHT