It was late evening when they parted outside Mrs Wood’s lodging house, having enjoyed a tasty supper at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Wine Office Court.

Nick raised her hand to his lips. ‘We must do this again, Daisy.’

‘I’d like that, but you’re supposed to be saving your money.’

‘Maybe it will be a ham roll from Old Joe’s barrow next time, but I’ve really enjoyed today.’

‘Apart from that terrible accident this morning.’ Daisy spoke more sharply than she had intended.

‘Yes, of course. I wasn’t forgetting that, but you’ll come across similar tragedies all the time when you’re a nurse. It’s probably the most difficult thing to accept, but we can’t always save our patients.’

She drew her hand away, attempting to smile and failing. If she allowed herself to dwell on the fate of the Begg family she knew she would cry. ‘Yes, you’re right, of course. Anyway, thank you for today, Nick. I’ve really enjoyed myself.’

‘I did, too. I hope to see you again very soon, although it won’t be so easy now I’ll be living in Harley Street.’

‘It can’t be helped, and I dare say I’ll be working long hours, too.’

Nick backed away as the door opened. ‘Good night, Daisy.’

‘Good night, Nick.’ She stepped inside, nodding to Aggie, who stared at her bleary-eyed with fatigue. ‘It’s late. You should be in bed.’

‘I can’t, not until the last person gets in, and them dancers keep all hours.’

‘Where is Mrs Wood?’

‘She’ll be sitting by the fire in her parlour with a glass of gin, I expect.’

Daisy knew she was on dangerous ground if she criticised her landlady. Aggie was a nice young girl, but she was almost certain to repeat any comments against Mrs Wood and that would cause trouble. ‘I hope you get to bed soon, Aggie. I’m going straight to my room, so you needn’t worry about me.’

‘Good night, miss.’ Aggie turned away and trudged towards the basement stairs, the flame of her candle guttering in the draught.

Daisy lit another candle and took it upstairs to her room. There was no sign of Minnie, which meant she could undress, wash and get into bed without having to go through everything that had happened that day.

On Monday morning Daisy and Minnie walked to the hospital, arriving early for their first day as probationer nurses, and after a stern talk from Matron herself and a bracing lecture from Sister Tutor, they were assigned to their first duties. Daisy found herself in the sluice emptying and washing bedpans. It was not quite what she was expecting, but she applied herself to the task and earned a nod of approval from Sister Johnson when she had finished. Daisy was then assigned to a qualified nurse with instructions to follow her every move and to learn from observation. As this was mostly a question of cleaning everything in sight with carbolic soap it was not difficult to emulate, and Daisy took a hand at wiping down metal bed frames and the side lockers. She earned a rebuke from Nurse Patterson for chatting to the patients, who were feeling well enough to talk, and was reduced to simply giving those who were alert a sympathetic smile. But when she came to the ward where patients were recovering from operations she was dismayed to find Hilda Begg in a state of near hysteria.