“I’m sorry, Jimmy,” she said penitently. “I didn’t mean to be such an idiot—truly.”
“You’re weak,” said Jim, with concern. “You can’t get influenza and be in bed in this beastly hotel for three weeks without feeling it. Never mind, kiddie—you’ll be better as soon as you can get out into the country.”
“I expect it’s the influenza,” Norah answered, seizing upon so excellent an excuse, but still despising herself very heartily. “I never was in bed so long before; and it doesn’t buck one up. And I wasn’t expecting to see you in your uniform, and—and——” She turned back to the window hurriedly.
Jim talked on, as if he had not noticed.
“We’ll be able to see quite a lot of you,” he said. “It’s great luck going into camp at Aldershot—if you’re in London we’ll be able to run up often; and of course, if you’re not, it will be because you’ve come to live even nearer. We were jolly lucky to have had so much Australian training—it has saved us a heap of fagging here.”
“Yes, it was great luck,” said Norah, to the window.
“You’ve got to get fat, by the way;” said Jim. “This little influenza game of yours, has pulled you down—you’ll have your shoulder through your dress, if you don’t watch it. I was talking to a fellow from Aldershot this morning, at the tailor’s: he says it may be months before we go out to the front. Or we may be put on garrison duty somewhere in England. They want us to be as fit as possible before we go.” He laughed, shortly. “Fit! and he says that ordinarily a regular regiment reckons that it’s two years after a subaltern joins—even after Sandhurst training—before they consider him worth his salt! Well, I hope we won’t make a mess of it, that’s all.”
“You won’t make any mess of anything,” Norah cried, indignantly, swinging round to face him. “You know ever so much already—drill and shooting and riding—”
“What I don’t know would fill a barn,” said Jim sagely. “Drill isn’t everything—there’s knowing men, and handling them, and finding out what you can do and what you can’t. It makes you nearly scared to be an officer, sometimes.” He squared his shoulders resolutely. “But I’m going to have a mighty hard try at my job. I believe it’s something of a start in the right direction to know that one doesn’t know much!”
Norah fingered the star on his cuff.