Chapter: THE MATERNITY NURSING HOME LORNE HOUSE, STOKE NEWINGTON

Her Royal Highness Princes Louise, the Duchess of Argyll, defrayed the
cost of the purchase of the leasehold of this charming Home. The
lady-Officer in charge informed me that the object of the
establishment is to take in women who have or are about to have
illegitimate children. It is not, however, a lying-in Home, the
mothers being sent to the Ivy House Hospital for their confinements.
After these are over they are kept for four or sometimes for six
months at Lorne House. At the expiration of this period situations are
found for most of them, and the babies are put out to nurse in the
houses of carefully selected women with whom the mothers can keep in
touch. These women are visited from time to time by Salvation Army
Officers who make sure that the infants are well treated in every way.

All the cases in this Home are those of girls who have fallen into
trouble for the first time. They belong to a better class than do
those who are received in many of the Army Homes. The charge for their
maintenance is supposed to be L1 a week, but some pay only 5s., and
some nothing at all. As a matter of fact, out of the twelve cases
which the Home will hold, at the time of my visit half were making no
payment. If the Army averages a contribution of 7s. a week from them,
it thinks itself fortunate.

I saw a number of the babies in cradles placed in an old greenhouse in
the garden to protect them from the rain that was falling at the time.
When it is at all fine they are kept as much as possible in the open
air, and the results seem to justify this treatment, for it would be
difficult to find healthier infants.

Five or six of the inmates sleep together in a room; for those with
children a cot is provided beside each bed. I saw several of these
young women, who all seemed to be as happy and contented as was
possible under their somewhat depressing circumstances.

 Still on health leave, Dr. Rivers travels to visit Burns, who has been released from Craiglockhart and is living at his family's vacation home on the English shore. As the two walk to the Burns home from the train station, razor wire and sandbags remind the psychologist of the front, even though Burns seems oblivious to the connection. Burns explains that he is alone in the cottage and that his parents have remained at home in London. He is seemingly benefitting from the fresh air and community spirit of the country town. He attempts to make the doctor comfortable but reminds Dr. Rivers of a child trying to remember how adults act when receiving a guest. He reflects that the war does not make men mature but instead, gives them a "curiously ageless quality". Despite his commitment to his method, Dr. Rivers is reluctant to force Burns to relive his memories for reasons he cannot fully articulate. Burns's nightmares have gotten worse and he fails to eat anything during the psychologist's visit. Dr. Rivers is determined to let Burns introduce the topic of war on his own, but Burns strictly avoids talking about his condition or his memories. Instead, the pair spends the next few days taking quiet walks along the seashore and visiting local pubs, avoiding any sensitive subjects. Dr. Rivers uses the time to work on a paper about the effects of suppressing war memories and worries that he has done Burns a great disservice by not forcing him to relive his experiences. He realizes that he may be categorizing Burns's predicament as mythical, akin to Jonah being in the belly of the whale, instead of addressing it as a practical psychological issue. The psychologist thinks about the awful things his other patients have endured, recalling that corpses are often used as haphazard building material in the trenches. Therefore, Rivers cannot classify Burns' experience as definitively worse than Prior's or anyone else's. On one of their walks, Burns and Rivers pass the area where fishermen gut their fish, leaving the heads and bloody entrails all along the shore. The sight of the gore disturbs Burns. Once they return to the house, Burns begins to speak about mundane things in a manic and disconnected manner. That evening, Dr. Rivers awakens to the sound of a boat crashing into the shore. The sound is similar to that of a bomb exploding. Dr. Rivers leaves his room and realizes that Burns is no longer in the house. Concerned, the psychologist runs out into the heavy storm. A local woman points him in the direction of a small defensive fort. When he reaches the low, squat building, Dr. Rivers finds Burns nearly catatonic in the cellar, which is completely submerged at high-tide. Instinctively, Dr. Rivers thinks, "Nothing justifies this. Nothing nothing nothing. With some gentle prodding, Rivers is able to drag Burns back to the house and coax him into bed. The next morning, Burns finally begins to speak about his experiences in the war. He says that he was tasked with writing letters home to the families of men who had died. Burns tells of a useless charge in which 80 percent of the men in a single company were killed. He admits that he used to constantly volunteer for patrol in the hopes that he would be hit by a bullet, get a clean wound, and be discharged. After his narrative is complete, the officer reflects that what is so horrifying about Christ's crucifixion is that someone had to be evil enough to invent the punishment. Though Burns does not speak about the specific incident that triggered his shell-shock, Dr. Rivers believes that his speaking about the war at all demonstrates great improvement, even if Burns seems unstable. He thinks that Burns's experience really is worse than that of the others because it as so completely destroyed the man he once was. The psychologist reflects, however, that the process of transformation often resembles further deterioration. He tries to imagine a future for his patient but admits that Burns has "missed his chance of being ordinary"

