Chapter 5. Bethro'd to a man and a maid.

"Oh Shlegah, thank you for the wonderful email. I love that song, those lyrics. I had a bit of disagreement with Doctor T about it: if it is straight out of Shakespeare, or modified. You heard us having an argument about it the other day, didn't you?"

Patsy was ebullient and friendly. A little too friendly. Shelagh was perplexed.

"Patsy, I haven't sent you any lyrics. At least I think I haven't. "

"Well, it was sent from the Maternal Clinic email address. It is the official address, but I naturally thought the post was from you. After all, you are in charge of that address, aren't you?"

What had happened with that email? Shelagh had been so sure that it was Patrick's personal email account they used. She must have been so….distracted that she had copy-pasted the text to her own account, which had unfortunately also been open on that screen. A most unhappy incident. The elated chump, the fool Patrick was, he had in his eagerness forgotten to sign the post.

Shelagh said haltingly: "Patsy, I am glad that you liked the lyrics. It is true that I found the lyrics on the Web. It was Patrick…Doctor Turner who wished to post them to you. But he must have used my account by accident. I have advised him badly in this noble art of emailing. I thought I copy-pasted it to his account."

A confused smile spread on Patsy's face. "Ahah. OK. Well, anyway, I am glad I got the lyrics. And if the post wasn't from you…that is kind of sad, but a relief, too."

Shelagh was beginning to have a clue of what she was talking about.

"You are not gay, are you, Shelagh?"

Shelagh shook her head.

"But I am. I hope I can trust you to keep that information to yourself for a while. I thought you might be wishing to… get to know me better by sending that post. I like you, you are a wonderful person, but I am already taken. Committed to a relationship. Or so I thought…"

Patsy's eyes filled with tears. Shelagh pulled out a chair for her and asked her to sit down.

"Thank you. You see, I have a girlfriend in Durham. She's a nurse. Delia. I thought she was willing to follow me to London, but she decided to stay there. She has had some health problems, and we really had quite awful disagreements the last months. So I had to move alone. I am of course happy that Phyllis was willing to flat-share with me. Phyllis is really a true friend. Perhaps I should say that she's not gay. Last week I heard that Delia has moved in with a group of students, one of which happens to be Timothy Turner."

Shelagh was taken aback.

"Yes, exactly, Shelagh. I didn't know about that earlier. I have learned that he's Doctor Turner's, I mean Patrick's only son. So the situation is a bit tricky. "

Shelagh gave Patsy a handkerchief. "Thank you, Shelagh. You really are a most comfortable person to talk with. Many people must have said so, haven't they?"

Yes, too many, Shelagh thought a bit grimly. Not that she wasn't sympathetic to Patsy's worries. This was a right old state of confusion even by Shakespearian measures-

"But Patsy, I am sure things could turn out well. You haven't really broken up with Delia. She hasn't…dumped you, has she?"

"No. She says the same as you, that this is temporary, and in the end we will be together, but at the moment she feels that she has to continue her university studies there. She has epilepsy, and the prognosis is not clear yet. She might not be able to work as a Nurse anymore." Patsy blew her nose and watched Shelagh." Do you know Timothy Turner? Didn't he have a kind of row with his father?"

"Yes, I know Tim. He's a nice lad. He seems to be going through a…phase. Or he may have found his calling as an Event Manager. It does not please his Dad, who was expecting him to graduate in medicine."

"That's what I have heard. From the cafeteria small talk here, and from Delia. We still talk regularly, although we have had to make a pact to not speak of our….differences of opinion."

The conversation came to a lull. Shelagh's mind was again on Patrick. She was burning with this knowledge of Patsy being gay, and her heart ached when she thought of how….disappointed he might be by this information. At the same time, a strange joyful flow of new hope was running in her veins. Surely she could live with this news and keep silent? Could she? Would she? Did she have any choice?

Oh to be everyone's confidante. She knew she had a special gift in that. Even Mrs. Monica liked to talk with her about her dull upper class youth and her cruel mother. But the circumstances were becoming a little too much for her. She was in contact with Tim, and saw it as her mission to keep the father and son connected. It was too complicated. Tim living with a woman - even if only as flat-mate- a woman who was the girlfriend of the woman Tim's father seemed very much interested in. A gay woman. Patsy was really a great catch for the Maternal Clinic professionally, and she seemed a very fascinating person. Her private life was her own business, as everyone else's.

Shelagh felt her head was whirling.

"You grew quiet, Shelagh. Is something of the matter?" Patsy asked, concerned.

"No. I am all right. I just thought….it is a tricky situation, as you said. "

Patsy patted her hand. "Yes, but I have full trust in you to keep things on even keel." Then she got a bit self-conscious. The penny seemed finally to drop. "Oh, you said it was Patrick's idea to send that piece of Shakespeare to me." She pondered this for some seconds. Shelagh also mused how hard it must be to be a beautiful, gay woman in a man's world. What a pickle.

Patsy rose and smiled apologetically to Shelagh: "Well, I think his interest in Shakespeare lyrics and me cannot be anything serious, can they? He will get the message in due time, with little harm done. Thank you, Shelagh. It was lovely to talk with you."

Shelagh was left with her conflicting worlds.

"O time! thou must untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me to untie, "she muttered to herself.