get a nice fug up if you keep the window shut. Dr Wu, now – he used to burn incense and things. You won’t be doing that, will you?’
‘Not very much.’
‘The light’s switched off at the main at eleven, you pays your own laundry, it’s extra if you’ve got a wireless, and you can have a bath on Saturday mornings,’ she went on cheerfully. ‘That’s the Doctor’s orders. He likes to keep an eye on the housekeeping.’
‘I should ruddy well think he does!’ This seemed too much to tolerate, even as a junior locum . ‘Far be it for me to judge a man in advance,’ I told her, ‘but I must say he seems a bit of a mean old devil.’
‘He can be a bit stingy sometimes, that’s straight. Likes to look after the pennies.’
I sat down on a bed as unresilient as a park bench, and contemplated the discouraging start to my career as a general practitioner. The blonde continued to grin at me from the doorway, and I wondered if she was waiting for a tip; but as I felt in my pocket she went on, ‘I must say, it is nice to see someone from London Town again. How’s the old place getting along?’
‘About the same I suppose. I thought you weren’t a local girl,’ I added.
‘Not me! I ain’t one of them provincials. ’Ow did you guess?’
I hesitated. ‘You have a sort of sophisticated air about you.’
‘Go on with you! I suppose you don’t know the old “Bag o’ Nails” in Ludgate Circus, do you? I used to be behind the bar there for a bit.’
‘What, old Harry Bennett’s pub? I know it very well. Often went there with a lot of chaps from Bart’s.’
Her face took a tender look. ‘Dear old Harry Bennett! After all these years! Funny you should know it, ain’t it? We’ll have a good old pijaw about it as soon as you’re settled in. It be just as good as a holiday to me.’
‘Have you been out here long?’
‘Near on four years. I’ve got an old mum, you know–’ A door slammed. ‘The Doctor!’ she gasped. ‘Cheery-bye,’ she whispered. ‘I’ll say you’ll be down in a minute.’
I found Dr Hockett in the gloomy living-room, where the table was laid for high tea. He was standing in a green tweed overcoat in front of the gas fire, which was unlit. He was a tall, stooping man of about fifty, with a thin lined face and a thick grey moustache. His hands were clasped behind him and his gaze was fixed on his toes; his only movement as I entered was turning his eyes sharply up and glaring at me beneath his eyebrows, which hung across his face like a tuft of steel wool.
‘Good afternoon, sir,’ I said politely.
‘Good afternoon, Doctor. I had expected you a little earlier.’ He spoke in a soft monotone, as though saying his prayers. Taking one hand from behind his back he shook mine flaccidly and replaced it. ‘Remarkably warm for the time of year, isn’t it?’
‘Well, it strikes a little chilly up here after London.’
‘No, I don’t think it does,’ he went on. ‘I always wear wool next to the skin, Doctor. That is much more hygienic than filling the house with the fumes of combustible gases. If that is your car outside, you will have to leave it in the open overnight. There is only room in the garage for mine, and as it is no more than a few years old I don’t intend to expose the coachwork. I often do my nearer visits on bicycle – it is much more healthy to take exercise in the open air. You might like to follow my example, though as you’re paying your own petrol bills it’s entirely up to you. We could make an arrangement by which you had part use of the bicycle, and I would make the appropriate deduction from your salary.’
As I said nothing he continued muttering, ‘You’ve not been in general practice before, I believe? No, I thought not. The work here is hard, but the experience will be sufficient reward in itself.’
The door opened, and the blonde maid entered with a tray containing a large brown enamel teapot, a loaf of bread, a packet of
‘Not very much.’
‘The light’s switched off at the main at eleven, you pays your own laundry, it’s extra if you’ve got a wireless, and you can have a bath on Saturday mornings,’ she went on cheerfully. ‘That’s the Doctor’s orders. He likes to keep an eye on the housekeeping.’
‘I should ruddy well think he does!’ This seemed too much to tolerate, even as a junior locum . ‘Far be it for me to judge a man in advance,’ I told her, ‘but I must say he seems a bit of a mean old devil.’
‘He can be a bit stingy sometimes, that’s straight. Likes to look after the pennies.’
I sat down on a bed as unresilient as a park bench, and contemplated the discouraging start to my career as a general practitioner. The blonde continued to grin at me from the doorway, and I wondered if she was waiting for a tip; but as I felt in my pocket she went on, ‘I must say, it is nice to see someone from London Town again. How’s the old place getting along?’
‘About the same I suppose. I thought you weren’t a local girl,’ I added.
‘Not me! I ain’t one of them provincials. ’Ow did you guess?’
I hesitated. ‘You have a sort of sophisticated air about you.’
‘Go on with you! I suppose you don’t know the old “Bag o’ Nails” in Ludgate Circus, do you? I used to be behind the bar there for a bit.’
‘What, old Harry Bennett’s pub? I know it very well. Often went there with a lot of chaps from Bart’s.’
Her face took a tender look. ‘Dear old Harry Bennett! After all these years! Funny you should know it, ain’t it? We’ll have a good old pijaw about it as soon as you’re settled in. It be just as good as a holiday to me.’
‘Have you been out here long?’
‘Near on four years. I’ve got an old mum, you know–’ A door slammed. ‘The Doctor!’ she gasped. ‘Cheery-bye,’ she whispered. ‘I’ll say you’ll be down in a minute.’
I found Dr Hockett in the gloomy living-room, where the table was laid for high tea. He was standing in a green tweed overcoat in front of the gas fire, which was unlit. He was a tall, stooping man of about fifty, with a thin lined face and a thick grey moustache. His hands were clasped behind him and his gaze was fixed on his toes; his only movement as I entered was turning his eyes sharply up and glaring at me beneath his eyebrows, which hung across his face like a tuft of steel wool.
‘Good afternoon, sir,’ I said politely.
‘Good afternoon, Doctor. I had expected you a little earlier.’ He spoke in a soft monotone, as though saying his prayers. Taking one hand from behind his back he shook mine flaccidly and replaced it. ‘Remarkably warm for the time of year, isn’t it?’
‘Well, it strikes a little chilly up here after London.’
‘No, I don’t think it does,’ he went on. ‘I always wear wool next to the skin, Doctor. That is much more hygienic than filling the house with the fumes of combustible gases. If that is your car outside, you will have to leave it in the open overnight. There is only room in the garage for mine, and as it is no more than a few years old I don’t intend to expose the coachwork. I often do my nearer visits on bicycle – it is much more healthy to take exercise in the open air. You might like to follow my example, though as you’re paying your own petrol bills it’s entirely up to you. We could make an arrangement by which you had part use of the bicycle, and I would make the appropriate deduction from your salary.’
As I said nothing he continued muttering, ‘You’ve not been in general practice before, I believe? No, I thought not. The work here is hard, but the experience will be sufficient reward in itself.’
The door opened, and the blonde maid entered with a tray containing a large brown enamel teapot, a loaf of bread, a packet of
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