‘Here we go,’ I said, and opened the door.
I don’t know exactly what I had expected to find on the other side. Mother, Mrs. Sheffield and Grace standing in an accusatory line, perhaps, with Barnaby sitting before them, raising his paw to point at us. What I actually saw was Mother and Mrs. Sheffield sitting side by side on the sofa drinking tea, while Grace sat on the most comfortable chair with Barnaby sitting in her lap (and not a footprint on her fawn-coloured skirt, I noticed. Did he manage to keep magically clean just for her?), eating a biscuit. Mother and Mrs. Sheffield were talking about yet another sale of work, but Mother looked up as I came in. Grace, meanwhile, was steadfastly avoiding our gaze.
‘Oh, there you are,’ Mother said casually. ‘Did you find something for Nora to wear?’
‘Yes.’ My mouth felt very dry. I swallowed before I asked, ‘Did you want to see us, Mother?’
‘Actually, it was I who wanted to see you.’ Mrs. Sheffield was all smiles.
Nora and I looked at each other in confusion.
‘Don’t look so worried!’ Mrs. Sheffield laughed. ‘You’re not in trouble. But I would like you to help out at the special fête we’re organising next week. For the pavilion, you know. The club is expanding so fast and the pavilion is far too small so we really do need to add some sort of extension …’
Mrs. Sheffield went on and on about the tennis-club grounds, while Mother calmly helped herself to a biscuit from the plate on the table, and Grace just sat there stroking Barnaby’s woolly head. This couldn’t be some sort of strange game, could it? I mean, Mother wasn’t going to wait until Mrs. Sheffield had gone and then suddenly turn to us and tell us she knew all about our dangerous suffragette activities, was she? I was so caught up in my thoughts that it gave me quite a shock when Nora gently kicked my ankle and I realised Mrs. Sheffield was asking me a question.
‘What do you think, young Mollie? Will you help Grace with the dog show?’
‘The dog show?’ I said stupidly. ‘Sorry, Mrs. Sheffield, I think I must have got, um, water in the ear when we were out in the rain.’
‘The dog show at the tennis-club fête!’ said Mrs. Sheffield. ‘I’m going to serve as judge. Barnaby will make a jolly little mascot for the show, won’t he? And Grace has promised to make him display his tricks.’
Barnaby turned his bright black eyes on Mrs. Sheffield and barked, as if offended by her use of the word ‘tricks’ to describe his showing-off activities.
‘Oh!’ I said. And then, because I really was too worked up to think of an excuse, I said, ‘I’d love to help.’
‘I’m so glad!’ Mrs. Sheffield beamed. ‘And you too, Nora?’
‘Of course.’ Nora’s looked as dazed as I felt.
‘Wonderful.’ Mrs. Sheffield stood up and brushed the crumbs from her skirt. ‘Now I really must be going. Thank you so much for tea, Rose.’
‘You’re always welcome,’ said Mother.
‘And thank you for taking Barnaby home from the club, Grace,’ said Mrs. Sheffield. ‘It did seem a shame to take him with me when he was having so much fun chasing the balls.’ She turned to Mother. ‘He’s quite the little ball boy. Always running to fetch! So helpful.’
‘How nice,’ said Mother, but I bet she was thinking the same thing as me, which was that Barnaby was not chasing balls to be helpful, and that he probably didn’t return them to the players once he’d got them clamped in his angry little jaws.
‘Come on then, Barnaby.’ Mrs. Sheffield held out a hand, and the Menace jumped down from Grace’s lap. ‘Are you going to stay with your cousin, Grace?’
‘Yes,’ said Nora before Grace could say a word. ‘We’ve got something awfully interesting to show you in Mollie’s room, Grace.’
‘Really?’ said Mother. ‘What?’
‘Just a book I found with some dog tricks in it,’ I said quickly. My mind had clearly recovered its ability to make up excuses on the spot. ‘Come on, Grace.’
And with a hasty goodbye to Mrs. Sheffield, we each took one of Grace’s hands and led her from the room. We both guessed, rightly, that she would never kick up a fuss in front of grown-ups. Mrs. Sheffield and Mother followed us into the hall, and we took Grace upstairs while they continued to chat.
As soon as we were safely in my room, Grace shook off our guiding hands.
‘How dare you drag me out like that!’ She was not happy.
I looked at Nora in alarm. This was not a good start to our negotiations.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘But we really need to talk to you on your own.’
‘And you didn’t seem very keen on talking to us earlier,’ added Nora.
‘What do you want to talk about?’ said Grace, though of course she knew.
‘Last night,’ I said. ‘I know you saw what those men did to Phyllis. And I know you saw that I was with her.’
‘But please, Grace, don’t tell anyone about it,’ said Nora.
‘We are throwing ourselves on your mercy,’ I said dramatically. ‘Our parents will never forgive us for this.’
‘We are honestly and truly begging you,’ said Nora, and even Grace must have realised she was sincere. ‘And in case you think this is just about us, it’s not.’
‘It’s about Phyllis,’ I said. ‘She’s meant to be starting university in October. But if Mother and Father find out about this, they’ll probably send her off to the countryside to live with one of our horrid old aunts instead.’
‘And there’s Mabel too,’ said Nora. ‘She won’t let Phyllis be punished alone. She’ll tell her parents too, and then they won’t let her go to college either.’
‘So please don’t tell,’ I said. ‘We’ll help you with Barnaby’s dog show.’
‘We’ll do anything you like,’ said Nora wildly. ‘We’ll chase after the balls at your tennis matches.’
‘But please, please don’t tell.’ I said. I felt almost breathless as I looked earnestly at Grace’s impassive face.
‘Is that all you have to say?’ Grace’s tone was stern. Nora and I looked at each other.
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘Well, you could have saved yourself the effort,’ said Grace in her most supercilious tone. ‘And all the begging. I wasn’t going to tell anyone anyway.’
Frances, I was stunned.
‘You weren’t?’ I said. ‘Why did you run away from us earlier?’
‘I thought you were going to threaten me with menaces,’ said Grace. ‘I didn’t realise you were just going to grovel.’
‘We’d never threaten to do anything violent!’ said Nora indignantly. I shot her a warning look. This was not a good time to start a fight with Grace.
‘Well, I don’t know what you’re capable of,’ said Grace. ‘I wouldn’t put anything past you.’
‘But why?’ I said. ‘Why did you decide not to tell, I mean?’
For the first time, Grace looked a little uncomfortable.
‘It didn’t feel right, that’s all,’ she said.
‘Really?’ Nora couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. ‘After all, back in school you said …’
I tried to catch Nora’s eye and give her a ‘please don’t remind her of what she said back in school’ look, but she kept going. ‘I mean, what’s changed since then?’ she said.
Grace sighed.
‘If you must know,’ she said, ‘it was those horrid men.’
This time Nora did catch my eye. She looked as surprised as I felt.
‘We were crossing the bridge when the policemen had to rescue those women – I mean, ladies,’ said Grace. ‘I saw them knock that poor lady down. And then I saw what they did to your sister. I saw you two trying to help her.’ She looked at me. ‘I had awful dreams about it last night.’
‘I slept like a log,’ said Nora.
‘Shut up, Nora,’ I hissed.
‘It was just because I was so exhausted,’ said Nora.
‘Anyway,’ said Grace stiffly. ‘Whatever I may think of your silly moveme
nt … well, they didn’t deserve to be treated the way those hooligans treated them. They were just speaking and those men started throwing stones and saying awful things and it wasn’t … it’s not fair play. Miss Casey thought so too.’
So all that tennis-club talk had actually had an effect on her! I gave a silent prayer of thanks for Miss Casey.
‘So that’s why I didn’t say anything,’ said Grace. ‘Can I go now?’
‘Of course you can,’ I said. ‘And thanks, Grace. Thanks awfully. We won’t forget it. Will we Nora? Nora?’
‘We won’t,’ said Nora. She held out her hand to Grace. ‘Thank you.’
For a moment I thought Grace wasn’t going to take it. But eventually she gave it a hint of a shake and turned to go.
‘And I meant it about helping with the dog show,’ I said, as she opened the door. But she didn’t say anything. She just walked out and closed the door behind her.
‘Well!’ said Nora. And then she burst into tears.
‘Nora!’ I said. But I felt on the verge of tears myself.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Nora, wiping her nose on her sleeve in a very uncouth fashion.
‘It’s all right,’ I said. ‘I know how you feel. Do you think she’ll keep her word?’
‘I actually do,’ said Nora. ‘Don’t you?’
‘Yes.’ I threw myself back on my bed and smiled. ‘I do.’ I felt as though I had been wound up tightly and now I had been unrolled. I propped myself up on the bed with my elbows.
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s go and see if there’s any cake left over. And then we can tell Phyllis the good news.’
And that is where I shall leave this letter, because really if I don’t stop now my hand will finally fall off. I think I need to have a little rest from writing to you for a while. I didn’t realise that capturing historic events for posterity would be such hard work. And anyway, there is not much more to tell of yesterday’s doings. All you need to know is that it seems that we are safe! And it’s all thanks to Grace’s newfound sense of fair play. I never thought she’d develop one, but I can only thank the tennis club for it. And for that, I will happily take part in their fundraising fête. Even if it does mean doing a dog show with the Menace.
Best love and votes for women,
Mollie
Sunday, 21st July, 1912.
Dear Frances,
I know I said I wouldn’t have to write another letter in a hurry because I thought all the drama and excitement was over for the moment, but of course I hadn’t told you how Phyllis reacted to the news that Grace was going to stay silent. After Grace had left us yesterday, Nora and I knocked on Phyllis’s door.
‘Who is it?’ Phyllis still sounded rather feeble after the previous day’s attack.
‘It’s us,’ I said. ‘And we have good news.’
‘Come in, come in,’ said Phyllis, and when we did, we saw that she wasn’t alone. She was sitting in bed, propped up with pillows, and Mabel was sitting in a chair next to the bed.
‘What’s happened?’ said Mabel. ‘Did you talk to Grace? Did you persuade her not to tell.’
‘Actually,’ I said, ‘we didn’t have to.’ And we told them what had happened.
‘Well!’ said Mabel. ‘I have been wondering about Lily Casey.’
‘The tennis-club lady?’ said Nora.
‘She was a few years above us at school,’ said Phyllis. ‘She’s friendly with Kathleen’s sister.’
‘And whenever we meet her I’ve had a suspicion that she might be a little sympathetic to the cause,’ said Mabel.
‘She does seem to go on about fairness quite a lot,’ I said. ‘It seems to have rubbed off on Grace.’
‘For the moment,’ said Nora.
I elbowed her in her ribs. ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,’ I said. ‘We should all be jolly grateful to Grace at the moment.’
‘I suppose so,’ said Nora, not very graciously. ‘I’ll just be glad to have my room back.’
But Phyllis was still worried about the truth coming out.
‘Are you sure she won’t change her mind?’ she asked.
‘Well, as sure as we can be,’ I said. ‘I mean, she really did seem to mean it. And we know what she looks like when she’s trying to get one over on us.’
‘She gets a sort of smug expression on her face,’ said Nora. ‘It’s impossible to miss. And she didn’t have it today.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ said Phyllis.
‘And,’ Nora pointed out, ‘she’s going home on Monday so even if she does change her mind, it would be much more of an effort to tell Mother. I mean, I can’t imagine her going to all that trouble. Especially when she’s got the tennis club to distract her.’
‘Though won’t she be leaving the club if she’s going home?’ Mabel was concerned.
But Nora shook her head.
‘She loves it so much she’s decided it’s going to be worthwhile getting the bus or the tram over for the rest of the summer season. They’ve got some sort of big tournament thing going on soon. Mother told me this morning. So she’ll have more important things to do than tell on us.’
‘Well!’ said Mabel. ‘All’s well that ends well.’
‘Are you going to stop selling magazines at meetings?’ asked Nora. ‘I mean, after what happened on Friday.’
I had been wondering the same thing, but Phyllis and Mabel seemed shocked at the suggestion that they might give up.
‘Of course not!’ said Phyllis.
‘I think we should give it a miss this week,’ said Mabel. ‘Just because we’re both still a bit bruised.’
‘Yes, that’s a good idea,’ said Phyllis.
‘But as soon as we’re both fighting fit, we’ll be back out there with our Irish Citizens,’ Mabel went on. ‘We’re not going to let those vile bullies stop us. We’re going to keep fighting, and in the end we’re going to win.’
It was rousing stuff. I almost felt like applauding. If Mabel ever has time for amateur dramatics in between all the meetings and starting college in October, she would make a jolly good Henry V – you know in that Shakespeare play where he goes around giving speeches to rally his troops. In fact, I bet Mabel would make an excellent general. I’m quite sure I would follow her into battle.
‘But no fighting this week.’ Phyllis yawned. ‘Gosh, I’m awfully tired.’
‘Come on, girls, let’s give her some peace.’ Mabel got to her feet. ‘I’ll call in tomorrow, Phyl.’
We left the room, but before Mabel headed downstairs, she turned to me and Nora.
‘You were both jolly brave this week,’ she said. ‘Especially yesterday.’
‘We didn’t really do anything,’ said Nora.
‘You came out for the cause,’ said Mabel. ‘You called the police for Phyllis. And what’s most important, you kept a cool head. Some girls – and boys, I have no doubt – would have had hysterics when the police arrived in that room on Nassau Street. But you two didn’t. And when you saw Phyllis being attacked, you could have run away. But you didn’t. You ran to help her.’
I felt myself blush AGAIN. But Nora looked a bit pink too, so it wasn’t just me.
‘We had to do something,’ I murmured.
‘No, you decided to do something,’ said Mabel. ‘And that’s an important difference. But I don’t approve of you putting yourselves in danger. You are technically children after all.’
‘You and Phyllis are under twenty-one,’ I said.
‘We’re old enough to be responsible for ourselves.’ Mabel fixed me with a stern gaze. ‘There’s a difference between eighteen and fourteen as you well know. And I know that you’ve earned the right to call yourselves suffragettes. But what happened to Phyllis wasn’t the only attack on a suffragette last night. Women were assaulted all over the city. So I think until the general mood calms down, you should give the meetings a miss. Just for a while. Do you agree?’
I looked at Nora.
‘All right,’ I said. r />
‘I agree,’ said Nora.
Mabel smiled.
‘Good,’ she said. ‘I’ll give you a copy of the next Citizen to try and make up for it. Courage, mes amies!’
And with that, she was gone. I know she’s right about avoiding the meetings for a while. After Nora had gone home, I looked in Father’s newspaper and there were awful stories about women being attacked. Some of them weren’t even suffragettes (not that that makes it any worse, but it just shows how crazed the mob were). The only good thing, I suppose, was that even the newspaper writers, who haven’t always been particularly supportive of the cause, condemned the attacks in very strong language. So perhaps the public will be so shocked by the savagery of the Antis that they will be drawn to our cause? You never know, something good might come of this. I feel quite hopeful at the moment. After all, if Grace can do the right thing, then anything can happen.
I just wish things were all right between me and Frank. This time tomorrow he will be gone, and everything is still awfully awkward between us. I wish he hadn’t come to stay at all – if he hadn’t, he would never have seen me all red-faced in my nightie, and I wouldn’t feel embarrassed every time I saw him (and he wouldn’t feel embarrassed every time he saw me). But I can’t bring myself to say anything that might clear the air between us, and clearly neither can he. So things will just have to stay as they are for now.
Anyway, with that I will end this letter. I’m actually looking forward to going to Skerries, just because it should be nice and peaceful there. I know that a few months ago I was complaining about how boring my and Nora’s lives were, and I wouldn’t like things to go back to the way they were before we discovered the movement, but I’m quite looking forward to a bit of a rest, just for a few weeks, and then we can do something dramatic again.
Best love and votes for women,
Mollie
Monday, 22nd July, 1912.
Dear Frances,
Your letter came today! New York sounds so exciting, I really can’t imagine what it must be like to walk around such a modern city. And with so many motor cars! And how wonderful that you have bought a copy of Anne of Green Gables all by yourself. It just shows that we are kindred spirits (like Anne and Diana) and are drawn to the same books. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it. I bet there are lots of other books for sale that you can’t get here.