As for the spirit of
self-sacrifice, well--Sidney Herbert and Arthur Clough were men,
and they indeed had shown their devotion; but women--! She would
mount three widow's caps 'for a sign'. The first two would be for
Clough and for her Master; but the third--'the biggest widow's
cap of all'--would be for Aunt Mai. She did well to be angry; she
was deserted in her hour of need; and after all, could she be
sure that even the male sex was so impeccable? There was Dr.
Sutherland, bungling as usual. Perhaps even he intended to go off
one of these days, too? She gave him a look, and he shivered in
his shoes. No!--she grinned sardonically; she would always have
Dr. Sutherland. And then she reflected that there was one thing
more that she would always have-- her work.
IV
SIDNEY HERBERT'S death finally put an end to Miss Nightingale's
dream of a reformed War Office. For a moment, indeed, in the
first agony of her disappointment, she had wildly clutched at a
straw; she had written to M. Gladstone to beg him to take up the
burden of Sidney Herbert's work. And Mr. Gladstone had replied
with a sympathetic account of the funeral.
Succeeding Secretaries of State managed between them to undo a
good deal of what had been accomplished, but they could not undo
it all; and for ten years more (1862-72) Miss Nightingale
remained a potent influence at the War Office.
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