‘I’ve enrolled at the University College Hospital on Florence Nightingale’s Red Cross course,’ Holly excitedly told Ivy later that week when they had both finished work.
‘Funny you should say that. I’ve enrolled on an evening course too to improve my English. I was thinkin’ if I want to get out o’ the match factory I might fancy doin’ office work.’
‘Oh, that’s wonderful.’ Holly was really proud of her. Until she had begun to teach her to read and write Ivy had been totally uneducated but Holly had been amazed at the speed she had picked everything up. She had learned her alphabet in a week and by the end of the first month had been able to write short sentences and read anything Holly had put before her. In no time at all she had been better with figures than Holly was herself and had turned into a sponge for learning. She was very intelligent and Holly was thrilled that she wanted to learn more.
‘So when are your classes then?’ Ivy asked as she began to fry them up some bacon and eggs.
‘Two nights a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. They do a more in-depth one but that is all day on Wednesdays and I have to work,’ Holly said regretfully.
‘So why don’t you ask Miss May if you can work Saturday afternoons and a bit extra each night to make up the time?’ Ivy suggested. ‘I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you really wanted to do it.’
The same thought had occurred to Holly but she wasn’t sure if she was brave enough to suggest it to her employer; Miss May was very good to them and Holly didn’t want her to think that she was taking advantage.
‘I’ll think about it,’ she said as they sat down to eat their meal. When they’d finished Ivy scuttled away to get changed from her work clothes into one of the second-hand dresses they had bought on the market the weekend before. Dora Brindley had kindly volunteered to alter it for her and when she came out of the bedroom Holly let out a low whistle of approval. Dora had done a wonderful job of the alterations and suddenly Ivy looked like quite a lady. The dress was in a soft green heavy cotton with a tailored straight skirt. The top was high necked with a close-fitting bodice and long fitted sleeves, and with her hair piled high on top of her head she was transformed.
‘Crikey … you look amazing,’ Holly gasped and Ivy blushed, making her plain little face look almost pretty.
‘Thanks.’ She self-consciously smoothed her skirt and patted her hair. ‘One o’ the girls at work showed me how to do my hair. I could do yours for you, if you like, but not tonight. There’s a suffragette meetin’ I don’t want to miss. Did you know they have Sylvia Pankhurst, one of the leaders of the movement, in Holloway prison? They’ve been force-feedin’ the poor woman. An’ all because she stands up for a woman’s rights an’ what she believes in.’
‘Umm … I don’t think it’s quite like that. Didn’t the suffragettes go on the rampage smashing shop windows and waving placards recently? That’s probably why she was arrested,’ Holly pointed out quietly.
Ivy shrugged as she lifted her old coat. Unfortunately she hadn’t come across a decent second-hand one yet so this would have to do for now, although she hated having to cover her lovely new dress up with it.
‘Far as I’m concerned, even that ain’t reason enough for lockin’ her up,’ she grumbled as she did the buttons on her coat up. Then she headed purposefully for the door. ‘Ta-ra for now,’ she chirped and with a cheery wave she was gone, leaving Holly to wonder again at the change in her. Ivy was like a different person from the nervous little thing who used to jump at her own shadow when she first went to work for her grandfather. And she supposed that was no bad thing. Ivy had gained so much confidence since they’d moved to London, although she hoped that she wouldn’t get overly involved with the suffragettes and end up in Holloway Prison.
The next day as they were tidying the shop during a lull in customers, Holly told Miss May about the courses she had signed up to, watching for the woman’s reaction.
‘Why, what a grand thing to do,’ Miss May said approvingly and that gave Holly the opportunity she had been hoping for.
‘Actually,’ she began tentatively while she had the courage. ‘The best course is one that’s run at the University College Hospital all day every Wednesday so I was wondering if …’ She licked her dry lips, suddenly nervous and hurried on, ‘I was wondering if we might juggle my hours about so that I could attend that one too? I thought I could work all day on Saturdays instead of finishing at dinner time and make the rest of the hours up during the week by opening the shop an hour earlier? Even if it was too early for customers I could make sure that everywhere was thoroughly clean and tidy before they came in instead of us trying to do the cleaning in between clients. What do you think? I’ll quite understand if you’re not happy with the idea.’
Miss May was staring at her thoughtfully through narrowed eyes and Holly’s heart sank. But then the woman surprised her when she said, ‘I think it’s an excellent idea. I was never fortunate enough to have a daughter of my own but if I had I would have encouraged her to do something like that. You can certainly sign up for the course and start as soon as you like. I might just decide to close on Wednesdays. I’ve been thinking of having a closing day for some time. It would give me a little more time to spend with my husband and the shop is doing so well I can certainly afford to.’
‘Oh, thank you.’ Holly was so delighted that she rushed forward and pecked the woman on the cheek then flushed and hastily stepped back. However, rather than be annoyed Miss May seemed to like the gesture and smiled at her.
‘You’re a good girl, Holly,’ she said gently, then becoming business like again she asked, ‘Could you go through to the sewing room and ask Dora how Lady Hamilton’s gown is coming along. She’ll be in for a first fitting later on.’
Only too happy to oblige, Holly scooted away.
By the end of January both girls were settled in their courses and were enjoying them immensely. On Sundays, when Ivy wasn’t attending a suffragette meeting, they would have a lie-in and a leisurely lunch, then go for a stroll to visit places of interest. They also visited a music hall and some of the museums. Holly wrote regularly to her mother who always replied by return of post. Much as she loved to hear from her, the letters always made her feel homesick, although for most of the time now she was enjoying living in London. She was surprised to notice that Walter Dolby was often mentioned in her letters.
‘You don’t think she’s growing fond of him, do you?’ Holly asked Ivy one day.
‘Would it be such a bad thing if she was?’ Ivy paused. She was washing the dinner pots at the sink. They took it in turns now. ‘She is still quite young, after all. She’s not quite forty yet, is she? Still young enough to meet someone else, I should think.’
‘But it’s not that simple, is it?’ Holly sighed, her face creased with worry. ‘My father is probably still alive somewhere, so even if she did fall in love again she could never remarry while she’s still legally wed to my father.’
‘Hmm, I see what you mean.’ Ivy shrugged. ‘But don’t go worryin’ over it. Her an’ Mr Dolby are probably just friends.’
Holly remained silent, hoping she was right. It hurt her though, to think of her mother stuck at home with only her grandfather and the staff for company. Now that she was living independently she had realised how much her mother had sacrificed for her to ensure that she had a stable childhood. She hoped she would one day find the happiness she truly deserved.
On the first of March the suffragettes deployed new militant tactics as they stepped up their campaign for the vote. Led by their leader Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst, many of them attacked shops in the West End with stones and hammers, which they had hidden in their muffs, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Two of them even hurled stones at 10 Downing Street, and within twenty minutes they had left a trail of devastation in their wake from Oxford Street to the Strand. Swan and Edgar’s store in Piccadilly was only one of the most well-known stores to be attacked and it resulted in 120 women being arrested.
Thankfully, Ivy had a heavy cold and hadn’t attended this particular march but Holly was horrified.
‘Just think what might have happened if you had gone,’ she said to Ivy as she read the newspaper. ‘You could have been arrested too!’ She still wasn’t at all happy about her being involved with the suffragettes but Ivy wouldn’t budge on her decision to be part of them and believed wholeheartedly in what the movement was striving for.
‘The government have brought it on themselves,’ Ivy replied shortly. ‘They’ve granted concessions to the miners and the railwaymen after they went on strike but they still won’t listen to women.’
Holly could only sigh. It seemed that Ivy had made her mind up to support the movement no matter what she said.
Then only four days later Ivy was late home from work. It was most unlike her and as Holly prepared their evening meal she started to worry.
At nine o’clock she finally decided to go and look for her. What if she had been attacked on her way home from work? She might be lying in an alley injured somewhere. She had got no further than the shop door when she saw a rather bedraggled Ivy further along the street heading towards her. Her hat was askew and there was a tear in her new coat.
‘Oh, where have you been? I’ve been so worried. I was just setting off to look for you.’ Holly scolded, feeling like her mother.
‘I, er … I was at the police station,’ Ivy told her, shuffling from foot to foot.
‘The police station!’ Holly looked shocked. ‘But why?’
‘The suffragettes stormed into the House of Commons today and ninety-six of us got arrested.’
‘You what?’ Holly was appalled.
‘It’s all right,’ Ivy assured her. ‘They had us all up in front o’ the magistrates a couple of hours ago and because it was my first offence I got off wi’ a caution and a hand slap.’
Holly’s lips pressed into a disapproving line as she shook her head.
‘Oh, Ivy, where is this going to end? Can’t you see the danger you’re putting yourself in?’
Ivy grinned. ‘It’ll end when us women get the vote an’ equal rights to men,’ she replied and Holly knew it was pointless to argue with her further.