Devoted,
indeed, these disciples were, in no ordinary sense of the term;
for certainly she was no light taskmistress, and he who set out
to be of use to Miss Nightingale was apt to find, before he had
gone very far, that he was in truth being made use of in good
earnest to the very limit of his endurance and his capacity.
Perhaps, even beyond those limits; why not? Was she asking of
others more than she was giving herself? Let them look at her
lying there pale and breathless on the couch; could it be said
that she spared herself? Why, then, should she spare others? And
it was not for her own sake that she made these claims. For her
own sake, indeed! No! They all knew it! it was for the sake of
the work. And so the little band, bound body and soul in that
strange servitude, laboured on ungrudgingly.
Among the most faithful was her 'Aunt Mai', her father's sister,
who from the earliest days had stood beside her, who had helped
her to escape from the thraldom of family life, who had been with
her at Scutari, and who now acted almost the part of a mother to
her, watching over her with infinite care in all the movements
and uncertainties which her state of health involved. Another
constant attendant was her brother-in-law, Sir Harry Verney, whom
she found particularly valuable in parliamentary affairs.
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