They were going to give her £800. She was going to study at London University and then at University College Hospital. She would start in September. If she needed more support in future, she was to be in touch with them. She was a clean hatching thing, with wings to spread and a strength and power that had to be acknowledged. Her life was not over. She was not some dull unloved creature with no purpose, she was not alone, halfway through a dreary life to a dingy death. The boldness of it! In so many ways she was surprising herself. Major Gillies shook her hand, said he was proud of her, and sorry she would leaving. Should things not go as planned, he said delicately, she would be welcome back. ‘Do you doubt my abilities, Major Gillies?’ she asked, with the playfulness permitted by their imminent separation and the time they had worked side by side. But she half meant it. She was proud now. Woman Doctor! She bloody well would be the Woman Doctor. ‘No!’ he said. ‘No, indeed. On the contrary,’ and they smiled and it was a little awkward.
