When Clarkson returned to the car Branson asked where he should take him. Since he was dressed for dinner he asked to be taken to his cottage. With the war he was rarely at home. Generally a quick wash and change of clothes here and there. Today had been different, he had come home to bathe and dress before collecting Isobel.

Isobel, just thinking of her made him blush. As he removed his dinner jacket to hang it up he caught a trace of her perfume and he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Across the village Isobel was reminiscing about the kiss she had shared with Richard. At this moment she felt young.

Both climbed into their respective beds and slept peacefully.

Come morning Isobel was terrified. Why had she agreed to go to the hospital? She tried to put these thoughts from her mind as she washed her hair. Being nearly blind hadn't hindered her personal hygiene she mused. She had kept her hair the same length for years and putting up and back had become automatic. Her hands easily found her navyblue dress.

As Isobel emerged from her room Moseley announced that Dr. Clarkson was in the sitting room.

"Good Morning, Doctor or is it Major? I'm afraid I'm not sure how to address you."

She could hear him chuckle softly.

"Doctor will do fine, most of the soldiers call me doctor it is only my superior officers that address me as Major."

"Doctor, I might have been a premature in my acceptance to come to the hospital. I...I'm not sure what I can do."

Clarkson moved to stand beside her, "Well actually that is my fault, I meant to tell you yesterday. With the wounded healing many of the family wish to take them home but have no clue as to how to tend their needs. Downton and Farley House are already at capacity. I would like it if you could organize a class of sorts with the nurses."

Isobel silently digested the information. Her mind replayed their first meeting

If I'm to live in this village I must have an occupation. Please. Let me be useful

She had escaped the war with her life, her limbs and nearly all of her senses. Now she was being offered an occupation. Teaching was something she could do.

"All right."

"All right" he echoed. "Are you ready to go?"

"Actually do you have a moment?" She moved towards a corner where there was a small desk and she retrieved something. Moving back towards him he saw what she carried and he hastily sucked in a breath it was a letter-from Matthew.

He took the letter with one hand and used his other to guide her to a small sofa. They sat and he opened the letter and began to read.

Dearest Mother,

I am most glad to hear that you are recovering. Mary's letter reached me before any information from the Red Cross did. I must say having her words telling me of your injury and how you were being cared for by Dr. Clarkson did more to ease my mind than the clipped typeface of the Red Cross. The lads here were quite impressed to hear that their Captain had a Mum in the war. They all send you their best as do I. By now you will probably have had your cast off. In your last letter you mentioned that. Please know that I am well as I can be. I have leave coming and I will be in York. I hope to see you all at Downton.

Love,

Matthew

As he finished the letter he looked up to see Isobel crying. Tears streamed down her face landing in dark splotches on her dress.

Fabric touched her hand, "You keep giving me these. Do you know how many handkerchiefs of yours I have?"

"Really, how many?" He asked.

The question caught her off guard and she stammered, "This will make number four."

They laughed together before leaving for the hospital.

They walked slowly along the path. Richard had shortened his strides to match Isobels. She had not taken his arm instead she walked next to him. Their shoulders and arms would occasionally collide as they walked. Isobel was feeling ambivalent, she wanted to thread her arm through Richards yet at the same time she knew she must learn walk unaided. Passion and pride were warring within her.

"What's the matter?" He asked softly as they neared the square.

"I know I need to readjust my orientation but the fact remains you're here next to me and I want-"

"To go behind the bike shed?"

She pealed with laughter, she turned to face him her hands coming up to waist level. He could see how her fingers splayed desperate to touch to have a connection. He reached out and took one of the those hands. As a doctor he knew that the human brain had many neural connections and that when one sense was inhibited the others would become stronger. When he touched her now it was to confirm his presence. As his hand encompassed hers she relaxed noticeably.

Making the decision for her he tucked her arm into his as they walked the rest of the way to the hospital.

Sybil watched through the window as they approached. She had visited Tom last night in the garage. He had been quiet his usual political rhetoric had been absent. He had seemed almost wistful and had kissed her with what she could only call reverence. She noted that Cousin Isobel was being escorted by Dr. Clarkson. Sybil wasn't stupid she had seen the Nystagmus in Isobel's eyes she was just unsure of what it meant. Later during rounds with Dr. Clarkson she asked about it. "Doctor Clarkson, Private Dawes in bed 7, gas blindness."

"Yes Nurse Crawley." She said with a hint of impatient.

Sybil licked her lips before continuing, "I noticed he has nystagmus but Sargent Mallory who also has gas blindness does not."

Richard stuffed his hands into the pockets of his white coat so she couldn't see that he had formed fists. He had seen Sybil's assessing glances at Isobel last night and as a nurse she would have to be blind herself or stupid not to notice. However, she hadn't come out and directly asked so he decided to play along.

"Nystagmus can be caused by any number of things. He may already have a predisposition to it there are reports of it occurring in infancy and later on in life. It's an involuntary movement."

"Limits vision?" Sybil asked.

"not necessarily, toxicity and trauma could easily cause nystagmus without the vision being affected.

"Oh" Sybil said softly and she turned away.

Richard smiled in spite of himself, of the Crawley girls he had a soft spot for Sybil. However, in this matter she was going to have to come out and say it.

Isobel stood in front of the medicine cabinet. Most of the bottles she knew by touch. The smallest vials contained adrenaline. The next size up held morphine and so on. While she couldn't see individual colors some bottles were darker. She grabbed a tall one, she felt the label in her hands and felt the top. She knew it was Iodine, she knew it. To confirm her hunch she unscrewed the cap and took a whiff. She smiled in confirmation. The other dark bottle she knew bloody well contained chloroform and that one would not be getting a sniff!

Sybil watched her as she gathered supplies. On the table before her bottles were on the right and bandages of various sizes were lined up on the left. Everything was orderly and in place. Last night at dinner she had noticed that Isobel's eyes had darted back and forth. She consulted some books to learn what it was she was seeing. Nystagmus it was called. Her research was limited to the materials she could find, during her reading she thought it was only associated with the blind.

Nonetheless here Cousin Isobel was gathering up materials. She entertained the thought of her actually being blind and found she didn't care. Isobel would never endanger a patient and she trusted Dr. Clarkson he had her here then things must be fine. Cousin Isobel was Sybil's idol, she believed in her before the others for the nursing course. She had been with her at Ripon for the debate on women. Isobel had made something of her life and she did that on her own and not through her late husband. It was because of her she believed that she could do anything. She thought of Tom and made a decision.

Between the Richard and Isobel they devised a home care plan for groups of patients. They would then invite the families for a group lesson on how to properly administer morphine, change dressing and how to watch for and how to treat pressure sores.

Isobel mentioned some techniques that Richard was not familiar with. He wrote these down with along with other instructions they had come up with.

"I think Sybil might suspect something." He said as his pen scrapped along the paper.

"She's a good nurse, good nurses notice things." She said as she rewound a bandage.

"That they do." He said his voice laced with affection.

She could hear him finish his order and the quiet *thunk* as the pen was laid down on the table.

"Will you take me home?"

"My pleasure" He whispered.

Isobel was able to track his movements by the sounds of his boot heels. She counted seven paces before he stopped. A rattle signaled he had hung up his white coat and was removing his Army tunic. Another rattle, no doubt his hat.

Once again her ambivalence about taking his arm was evident on her face. It was no his turn to be brave. He came alongside her their arms touching and he whispered. "Just walk with me, if you wish you can be in my arms all night."