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.
‘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