‘What’s that?’
‘Nadine, the little girl in the brochure, wearing a pink dress. I told you she’d had an operation recently...’
‘Yes, I remember.’
‘Dr Bertrand, the head of department, is the only one there who knows that I’ve been ill—everyone else thinks I’m taking a leave of absence for fundraising. He told me that he’d have me removed by security if I went in to see Nadine earlier than seven days after my own operation.’
Nell grinned. ‘He sounds like a good man...’
‘He’s a very good man. You’d like him.’
‘And since this is the seventh day, you’d like to go and see Nadine.’
‘It would be best to go today. After the news of our engagement breaks, my turning up on the ward might cause a bit of a stir.’
‘Where is the hospital?’
‘On this side of the city, so it’ll only take twenty minutes to get there. I’m feeling better every day, and I’d really like to see Nadine.’
If this was normal, then it was a new normal that Nell hadn’t experienced before. Hugo asking her whether or not he could do something. ‘It sounds like a lovely idea. May I come along? I’d like to see the hospital.’
Hugo smiled. As time went on that smile was surfacing more and more, and it convinced Nell that everything was going to be all right. ‘I was hoping you might. You’ll have to drive.’
CHAPTER NINE
NO ONE SEEMED to notice Hugo’s presence as they walked through the reception area at the hospital. He exchanged smiles with the receptionist at the main desk, who waved him through in much the same way as she probably would have done with anyone else she knew. Here, Hugo appeared to shed the mantle of royalty.
He led her through a maze of corridors, mysterious box in hand, and a high-speed lift took them to the seventh floor. Hugo punched a code into a keypad at the entrance to one of the wards and the doors opened automatically, allowing them through.
This might just be Hugo’s greatest test. Fooling a group of luncheon diners that there was nothing wrong with him was one thing. Fooling a senior nurse was quite another, and just such a person had looked up from her conversation at the nurses’ station and was heading straight towards them.
‘Hugo. This is unexpected.’ The woman spoke in French.
‘I’ve come to see Nadine. This is Dr Nell Maitland, she’s a cardiac specialist from London. Nell, this is Senior Nurse Adele LeFevre.’
Adele smiled, holding out her hand to Nell and switching to English. ‘I’m pleased to meet you. I hope you see much that you like here.’
‘I have already. This is a beautiful hospital.’
‘Thank you. We are proud of it. When the new cardiac unit is built, we will be even more proud.’ Adele’s English was almost perfect, like that of so many of the people of Montarino. And she was keeping hold of Nell’s hand, staring at her.
‘I called Dr Bertrand to let him know we were coming. Is he free?’ Clearly Hugo didn’t expect everyone here to drop what they were doing as soon as he arrived.
‘He is finishing his rounds.’ Adele barely seemed to glance at Hugo. ‘Ten minutes.’
‘Very well. May I show Nell around, and then go to see Nadine?’ He had the grace to ask that as well.
‘Of course.’ Adele flashed Nell a smile and turned back towards the nurses’ station.
They walked through the cardiac unit, and Hugo showed her the light-filled wards, exchanging greetings with some of the nurses as they went. There were treatment rooms and a small sitting room with a dining room to one side for ambulatory patients. Everything was gleaming and state of the art, but Nell could see that the unit was working at its full capacity, with no empty beds in any of the wards.
‘Why is everyone staring at me?’ Nell whispered to Hugo as he punched a number code into a keypad next to the door at the far end of the ward.
‘This is the first time I’ve ever brought a friend here.’ He turned to her, looking a little sheepish.
So this was a first taste of the interest that would be shown in her, then, after the press release went out. Nell had anticipated something of the kind, but she hadn’t expected to feel so exposed, as if she wanted to cling to Hugo for shelter.
‘I suppose...if they’re staring at me, then at least they’re not looking at you. A lot less chance of anyone noticing that you’re still recovering from an operation.’