M. le Général was very handsome: six foot in height, he was broad in proportion and his red and blue uniform was highly becoming. As he stood on the steps shaking hands with his colleagues, he was a debonair and pleasant figure. There was power in his face and a sense of humour, but there was cunning too. His extreme courtesy did not completely disguise his insincerity. He was frankly curious about the women doctors, but behind his polite interest was scepticism. Dr. Murray presented a letter of introduction from a British official, and requested M. le Général to furnish her with the necessary authority for the stations and an order for coal and coke. Experience had shown that he was always ready to promise everything that he was asked, but that his promises were seldom fulfilled. With great affability he said that he would send the authorisation and that he would refer the question of coal to ‘l’intendance militaire.’ It was to meet this contingency that Orderly Hodgson had accompanied the doctor. She said she would wait and take both papers with her.
‘It will take an hour to prepare,’ said the secretary.
‘I will wait an hour,’ she said amiably.
‘It may perhaps be two hours,’ he warned her.
‘I will wait two hours,’ she said, still more amiably.
‘Or perhaps till midi,’ he insisted.
‘It is well. I will wait till midi,’ she rejoined.
He shrugged his shoulders and invited her to follow him to his office. Before letting Dr. Murray go, M. le Général entered into his reasons for requiring thirty thousand beds in Paris, and ended with:
‘Je tiens absolument à retenir votre installation.’
Probably he did not care at all, but he feared that if he let the hospital leave Paris the British would absorb it. The interview was useful. The necessary document was granted; and for a time obstruction ceased.