Kitty Trevelyan left for the War in 1914 like the men, although, unlike the men who left as Volunteer Soldiers, she left as a Volunteer Nurse for the British Imperial nursing service. She was given her marching orders to a field hospital on the French Coast. She left an irate mother, and a young daughter at home. She knew going to war would anger her own mother, but she left anyway knowing she was doing her duty for the young soldiers at the frontlines. She arrived at the hospital with two other Volunteer Nurses, Rosalie and Flora. Both were young, innocent women who knew ultimately nothing of the anatomy of a young soldier, but both equally as trained as Kitty herself. When she met them she introduced herself as Katherine, because Kitty was what her friends and family called her. Their first duty upon arriving was to show Matron how competent they were in their duties, as the hospital was staffed by fully trained army nurses. Volunteer Nurses were seen as a sin, they were believed to not be competent enough to carrying out jobs that full nurses carried out. Once they'd shown Matron how competent they were it was obvious that their training was not as strict as that of a full time nurse. Kitty was placed on duty making beds and Flora and Rosalie were placed on duty cleaning used bandages and tidying the storage closets. Kitty had been at the hospital for several days before she noticed the dark mysterious man with the smile following her around every few hours.
Miles Hesketh-Thorne was already a member of the British Army when the war broke out in 1914. He was commissioned as a Captain and was sent to fight the war on the French frontlines. However shortly after the hospital was set up, Miles received his marching orders and was stationed at the hospital as a surgeon, as he had previous medical experience. He had been there for two months when the Volunteer Nurses arrived at the hospital. He was grateful for their assistance, he knew that the army nurses were working overtime, and he thought they deserved a break. Every week they had at least one convoy come in from the Causality Clearing Station (CCS) closer to the frontlines. These convoys contained anywhere from 100 men to 300 men, with varying wounds, some were gunshots, and some were amputated legs with infections spreading. When Miles was introduced to the new nurses, two of them smiles and curtsied, and one of them stood, clearly distressed by an inner war that she was fighting by herself, she introduced herself as Katherine, and then walked away to continued her duties. Miles was intrigued, usually he was able to get a smile from the nurses so easily. He knew it was his cheesy grin, and crappy jokes that usually made them smile. However Katherine was different, and that intrigued Miles. He knew he would see her smile before he was given his marching orders again.
Kitty began to tell Rosalie and Flora about the man she had seen following her around the hospital while she undertook her duties. Both women smiled and excitedly said at the same time, "That's Captain Hesketh-Thorne!" Kitty was confused, that name sounded familiar, she met so many people that placing his name to a face would be hard as she never saw his face as he always seemed to have his back to her when she was facing him. The next day she sat with the wounded men having a smoke, and as she went to leave them she noticed the young man again. She decided to confront him. "Why do you keep following me sir?" she didn't smile when she questioned him, she believed that faking your inner emotions was rude, and that you shouldn't pretend to be happy when you aren't. He replied with "This must me quite the coincidence Miss Trevelyan because I was about to ask you the same thing. That's just another thing we have in common." Kitty was shocked, another thing? There was nothing else, she did not know this man, she would remember if they had spoken before, because of the way he smiled, it made her want to smile herself, but she kept that to herself as she stormed off. When Rosalie found her she was quite irate.
Miles looked out over the beach as the sun was setting that evening. He had spoken to the elusive Miss Trevelyan, finally, but he still hadn't received a smile. Miles looked around the beach as he heard the crunching of sand. Usually it was just him on the beach, he looked up and saw the light blue uniform of a Volunteer Nurse headed down the beach about 30 metres away from him. Clearly this nurse hadn't seen him there. He knew who it was straight away, Miles knew by the way her beautiful auburn hair sat braided at the top of her neck. It was Miss Trevelyan again. She was holding a letter and looked quite distressed. Miles decided to approach her. He sat down next to her and she handed him the letter, he read it, and it simply said, "I cannot believe you have left me to care for YOUR child, while you run off to the war. War is no place for a women, and you must return at once if you wish to see YOUR child again." It was signed with an initial at the bottom. Miles was confused, nurses weren't allowed to be married, so this letter must be from her mother. He was quite annoyed, but he buried that feeling and placed his arm around her neck, and she leaned into him and began crying. They sat like that for about 10 minutes as the sun dipped below the horizon. Then she sat up and said, "Call me Kitty please. Everyone else does." He nodded smiling and then stood up taking her hand to help her up. Then as she stood up he uttered laughing, "Now I know why you don't smile. If I had to attempt to read that handwriting I would be upset too." She stared at him for a minute before bursting into laughter, "I guess you're right, her handwriting it horrid! I shan't go home as my place is here with the men…They need me." He was shocked, he finally got his smile, and a laugh all at once. Miles went to reply as they heard the siren call meaning that another convoy was arriving. Kitty went to run off, and Miles yelled after her "Call me Miles!" Then Miles himself chased after her as the siren wailed and the sun finally set in the background.