FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE AS A GIRL.
(From the drawing by her sister, Lady Verney.)
[To face p. 208.
“Miss Nightingale overhearing him, called me in, saying, ‘Oh! Mrs. Roberts, it is Lord Raglan. Pray tell him I have a very bad fever, and it will be dangerous for him to come near me.’
“‘I have no fear of fever or anything else,’ said Lord Raglan.
“And before I had time to turn round, in came his lordship. He took up a stool, sat down at the foot of the bed, and kindly asked Miss Nightingale how she was, expressing his sorrow at her illness, and thanking and praising her for the good she had done for the troops. He wished her a speedy recovery, and hoped that she might be able to continue her charitable and invaluable exertions, so highly appreciated by every one, as well as by himself.
“He then bade Miss Nightingale good-bye, and went away. As he was going out, I said I wished ‘to apologize.’
“‘No! no! not at all, my dear lady,’ said Lord Raglan; ‘you did very right; for I perceive that Miss Nightingale has not yet received my letter, in which I announced my intention of paying her a visit to-day—having previously inquired of the doctor if she could be seen.’”
Miss Nightingale became convalescent about twelve days after her seizure, and the doctors were urgent that she should immediately sail for England. This our heroine steadfastly declined to do, feeling that her mission was not accomplished, and that she could not desert her post. Although in a state of extreme weakness and exhaustion, she felt that time would accomplish her recovery, and she decided to return in the meantime to Scutari, with the intention of coming back to the Crimea to complete her work.