Page 5 of The Flesh Remembers

Dearest Mama,

I am so very sorry that it has taken me so long to reply to your last letter.

Time here gets away from me so quickly.

Unfortunately, I have been very busy working with Dr.

Fairfax in the clinic, and there has been very little leisure time.

I do not mind the hard work or long hours, as I know the work we do here will be of great importance to the world one day.

So, please don’t be too cross with me for my tardiness!

I have found a new friend in a woman who has come to the clinic to work with us.

Eleanor.

She is a doctor, if you can believe it! I admire her very much.

I can’t imagine that being one of only a few women in medical school was easy.

She told me that her classmates were often rude or condescending to her and that they did not want her there, but she persisted and graduated with high honours.

I do not think I would have been able to handle the animosity she faced.

Eleanor has been working closely with Dr.

Fairfax and me, and I must confess that I enjoy having another woman around.

Indeed, there are female staff members, but none that I work with regularly.

I greatly appreciate her company and look forward to seeing her each day.

The process she will be going through soon will be quite difficult, and I do hope I may be of comfort to her.

She is quite pretty with black hair and pale skin.

Her lips and cheeks are petal pink and soft.

She looks like an old-fashioned painting come to life.

If our process is successful, you can meet her soon.

Well, Mama dear, I must go for now.

I need to prepare some things in the lab for Dr. Fairfax.

Please give my love to Papa and give Snowy an extra scratch under his chin for me.

Goodbye for now.

All my love,

Marian