mrsronweasley | (no subject)

I'm reading a biography of Mary Renault. It's really interesting - she was quite a character - and I wanted to share one part. It was so damn cute, I thought things like that only happened in films or, well, novels. This is how she and her life-long partner Julie Mallard met.

They were nurses in the same hospital, only in different wards, and Julie was a senior nurse (though she was younger than M.R.). Julie had heard that there was a "literary" nurse in the hospital - some pipsqueak (my word) that shouldn't have been a nurse, if she wasn't taking her duties seriously. Nursing was supposed to be your full-time profession, not something you'd do only to get paid and write on the side.

There was a Christmas play being put on in the ward, and Mary had written one. She wanted Mallard for one part, so she went to ask her (they had never met before). ("Challans" is Mary Renault's real last name, by the way.)

Challans volunteered to write and direct the play, and one day, as Mullard was pouring herself a cup of tea from the huge two-handled blue enamel teapot, she heard a voice over her right shoulder saying: 'Excuse me, Nurse Mullard, but I've written a play for the Christmas concert and wondered if you'd be playing a part.'

Mullard was not pleased - it had always been the seniors who asked the juniors, and she put down the teapot with a deliberate slowness before answering.

'As a matter of fact,' she said, turning to face her questioner, whereupon she dismissed what she had been going to say and murmured, 'I would love to.'

'Thank you,' said Challans. 'I'll put your part in your cubbyhole.'

Still smiling, she departed, leaving Mullard to consume several slices of break and marmalade while reflecting on how much things had changed since she had been a junior.

----

I thought that was just adorable. When they finally got together, they had no idea that there was even a name for what they were doing (though I think they were aware of male homosexuality): they thought they were unique and had created something new.

I'm still dying of tests and no sleep. Baaaaaaaaaaaah. It'll be over eventually. The question is: when?..

And I still don't have my computer back. It's starting to get to me. All my files and bookmarks, not to mention AIM... *sigh* Someone keep outbidding me on the adaptor I need over at Ebay. Bastards! I'll come out on top, dammit!