Page 16

Chapter 16

Monday 3 April 1911

The sun was barely up when Ursula returned to 25 Library Terrace on the Monday morning after the census.

The lock on the door to the scullery at the back of the house was stiff and she had deliberately taken the key with her the previous evening in case she had needed to get back in the middle of the night without waking everyone.

Or at least, that had been her plan, but it wasn’t working out that way.

The hinges squeaked as she pushed the door open and when she stepped into the scullery, she was met by a startled Isobel, rolling pin aloft.

‘My God, Mrs Black!’ Isobel had clearly been ready and willing to use the weapon, in both terror and self-defence.

‘I’m sorry for cursing, but you did give me a fright.

’

‘I apologise,’ replied Ursula.

‘I had hoped to get in without any fuss. What time is it?’

‘It’s just before six.

’

‘I’m so tired, it’s no wonder I’m feeling the cold.

’ Ursula moved into the kitchen and loosened her headscarf.

She draped her heavy woollen coat across one of the chairs before sitting down.

‘I think I’ll just stay here for five minutes and get warm before I go upstairs.

Maybe I should take my shoes off here; I don’t want to leave dirty footprints on the stair carpet as I go up.

’ She took a breath to allow for the tightness of her corset, and bent forward to undo her shoelaces.

‘The kettle’s almost boiled, will I make you a pot of tea?

’

‘Or cocoa? It feels like bedtime to me; I’ve been awake for most of the night.

’

‘Mmmm?’ Isobel didn’t want to ask the obvious question, and busied herself with a pan and a bottle of yesterday’s milk from the cold store.

‘That was quite the most rule-breaking thing I have done since I was about nine years old, but it was worth it.’ Ursula yawned and stretched.

‘I’ve been at a protest to try to get us the vote.

’

‘The vote? You mean Votes for Women?’

‘That’s right.

Do you think you would vote, Isobel, if you had the chance?

’

‘I think so. Not sure it’s ever going to happen, mind.

’

‘Well, in this life, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

That’s what my father used to say.

’

Isobel went to the scullery briefly to rinse out the milk bottle.

‘Where was your protest? If you’ve been out walking the streets since you left last night then it’s small wonder you’re exhausted.

’

‘It was in the same place I got the yellow cookery book, in Café Vegetaria on Nicolson Street. We stayed there all night, about two hundred of us. The curtains were closed and the lighting was kept low. We talked and ate cherry cake and cheese sandwiches, and we drank tea and there was a sort of play put on by some of the women, which was rather good fun. I don’t have a dramatic bone in my body, though, so I didn’t participate in it.

And then at about five, before it was properly light, people began to leave.

Someone had peeked through the curtains and there were two policemen standing in one of the doorways opposite.

They had been there all night so I expect they were rather cold, and this morning they were writing things down.

Counting us, I suppose.

One of them was talking and the other was writing.

But it was still pretty dark and I’m not sure they would have been able to recognise any of us.

We all had our hats and scarves on, so I don’t know what the point of the activity was.

I expect some superior had told them to do it and they didn’t have any choice.

’ She paused. ‘Choice is such a powerful word. I am accustomed to choosing what to do, and not having other people direct me. I used to run the office at Mr Black’s company; I started as just a typist, but quite quickly I was promoted.

I hired staff, ordered stationery, made appointments.

I was good at my job, and that meant I was trusted with choices.

Everything seems so different now.

’

Isobel lifted the pan off the heat just in time.

Burnt milk would have made the kitchen stink for days.

‘Weren’t you frightened you might be arrested?

’ She poured the frothing liquid carefully onto a mixture of cold water and sugar and cocoa which she had mixed to a smooth paste, put the cup on a matching saucer and set it down in front of Ursula.

‘For what? For staying in a café all night? No crime was committed.’

‘But what about the census? Mr Black was completing the form last night and he asked my age so he could write it down. I didn’t realise that your name wasn’t there with the rest of us.

’

Ursula sat up straighter in the chair.

‘There’s a five-pound fine for not completing the form correctly, but I wasn’t here so it wasn’t necessary for me to be listed.

Although in point of fact if I don’t want to appear on the records I should not be back in the house before noon today.

’ She looked at Isobel.

‘But if you don’t tell anyone, and I go straight to bed before Finlay and Ann catch sight of me, they will never know.

I can’t see Mr Black giving the game away, and if I am discovered, despite my efforts, and have to pay a fine then I will take the money from my savings.

I don’t expect anyone else to do that for me.

’

‘I think you are very brave. I’m not sure I would have the nerve.

’

‘Truth be told, I’m not sure I’ll do anything like it ever again.

And I’m very pleased to hear that you would vote if you had the opportunity.

’ Ursula laced her fingers around the warm cup and sipped her cocoa.

‘I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and there are other ways I can make a difference.

For a start, I can make sure that Ann is educated about things, not just about how to choose a husband and entertain at an afternoon tea party.

She should have a career in something she loves.

’

Weariness made Ursula forget the social boundaries her mother had instilled in her.

‘I was never encouraged to have ambitions in that way. My father didn’t object to me working, but my mother didn’t approve at all.

She said it was unnecessary and unladylike and it would stop me finding a husband.

She was furious when I went to help in an office for a friend of the family, but I discovered the work suited me so I moved to another company where I had a salary, and then another one, and that made her even more cross.

She was a good person.

I loved her dearly, and she just wanted me safely married and settled.

But she was from a different time and she didn’t like change.

If I hadn’t gone out to work, I would never have met Mr Black.

’ She took another sip of cocoa.

‘But I think she would be happy if she could see me now, and that’s something, I suppose.

’

Isobel didn’t want to interrupt; she had wondered for a long time how it was that Ursula had ended up moving the four hundred miles north.

‘The owner of the last company I worked at was often the worse for a bottle of wine at lunchtime. He was late for every meeting. One afternoon I needed to hold the fort for an hour, as usual, and Mr Black arrived for his appointment. I had to make excuses and be polite, and by the time the owner came back from his lunch I had inadvertently convinced Mr Black to buy his supplies from another business entirely. A few weeks later he wrote to me and offered me a job. It was around the time when the late Mrs Black started to become unwell and he was quite distracted. He said he wanted a safe pair of hands to run his office during a difficult time, and he offered to pay my train fare. I arrived at Waverley with two suitcases and I stayed in a boarding house for a month while I looked for somewhere to live. I started my life again, from nothing, really. My parents were both gone by then, and there was a small inheritance and nothing to keep me in London. Moving to Edinburgh was the biggest decision I’ve ever made in my life.

Even bigger than getting married.

’

Isobel didn’t know what to say, so she completely ignored the unexpected disclosure and simply nodded.

‘You must be tired after being out all night.’

‘I am, rather. I need to decide what to do next. I can write letters and deliver leaflets, but I don’t want to go to rallies or put myself out there in public.

It’s not really me, I’m not .

.?.’ she hunted for the right word, ‘ .?.?. an exhibitionist.’ She drank more cocoa.

‘This is very good, thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.

’

‘The other thing I can do is to look after you better. My conversations with the other women over the last few weeks have made me realise that.’

‘ Me? ’

‘You are my employee, and you live in my house and therefore I feel a sense of responsibility towards you. I have been discussing it with Mr Black and we have agreed that you will have an increase in your wage. And you will have a few hours off during the week as well as your Saturday afternoon. The fires will need to be done, of course, and the dinner made, but I see no reason why you shouldn’t have a little time to go to the library; there’s one on the end of the road after all.

Or you may want to go and feed the ducks at Blackford Pond, or just walk along the street without a shopping bag in your hand and a list in your pocket.

’

Isobel looked at Ursula in astonishment.

‘I may not be taking part in protest marches, but I can make a difference in my own home and that is at least as important.’ Ursula drained the cup and put it on the table.

‘And now I’m going to go upstairs before inquisitive young people see me and start asking questions.

’ She scooped up her coat and scarf and left the kitchen, leaving her shoes where she had discarded them, and the cup on the table for Isobel to clear, even though the scullery sink was less than a dozen paces away.

Isobel sat down and stared at the fire in the belly of the range for a few minutes, feeling its warmth before getting to her feet again.

‘Just wait till the girls around here get to know I’m getting a pay rise and some more time off.

That’s going to set the cat among the pigeons and no mistake.

I wonder if Mrs Black has any idea what she might have started.

’

And then she picked up Ursula’s abandoned shoes and set them down neatly beside the back door, ready for polishing.