Page 42 of The Fortunes of Ashmore Castle

Apart from Decius and Lepida, the guests at the Cowlings’ were Kitty and Richard, and Lord and Lady Stavesacre, who had a large estate, Holm Abbey near Watlington, and were keen franchisists.

So the talk was naturally about the Women’s Enfranchisement Bill, which had come up for its second reading in the Commons on the 12th of May and had been defeated by a filibuster: talked out of time with long, rambling speeches.

‘It’s no more than we’ve come to expect after the Bills of 1870, 1886, and 1897 were defeated,’ Lord Stavesacre said.

‘But it’s a particularly bitter blow,’ his wife continued, ‘because this was by a length the best Bill that’s been presented. It had the beauty of simplicity – to give the franchise to women on exactly equal terms to men. All the others have had qualifications.’

‘What does that mean?’ Kitty asked.

Lepida explained. ‘Oh, they said that only single women and widows should have the vote, for instance, or only women who owned property, or were leaseholders, or were over a certain age – that sort of thing.’

‘Exactly,’ said Lavinia Stavesacre, ‘and that was the beauty of this Bill. It didn’t create some new-fangled fancy franchise. It simply extended all existing franchises to women, making it the easiest thing in the world to vote for. All it did was abolish the electoral disqualification of sex.’

‘A pretty big “all”, if you don’t mind my saying,’ said Mr Cowling, mildly.

‘You think so? But half of all human beings on earth are female! Fifty-three years ago Herbert Spencer wrote, “Equity knows no difference of sex. It manifestly applies to the whole race, female as well as male.”’

‘If I’m not mistaken, Herbert Spencer believed the human mind was subject to natural law,’ said Mr Cowling.

He saw Lord Stavesacre’s eyebrow rise, and said, ‘Aye, I’ve read a bit in my time.

And in every species the females and the males are different from each other. They have different functions.’

‘That’s true,’ said Richard.

‘Women can’t be soldiers. Or policemen. Where strength is wanted to protect the realm, where are women then?’

‘That’s exactly what Mr Labouchère argued,’ said Decius. ‘I’ve read the account in Hansard. He said that order and liberty rested ultimately on force, and the fact that women couldn’t contribute to that force was a limitation of citizenship.’

Lepida looked at him in astonishment. ‘Mr Blake, I thought you were one of us!’

‘It is an argument,’ Decius said mildly. ‘I didn’t say I agree with it. For instance, on that argument a weak, sickly or crippled man should be denied the vote too.’

‘Women can’t be solicitors, barristers or judges,’ Lavinia said, ‘and they’re barred from serving on juries. Yet they are prosecuted, tried and judged by men under laws enacted by men. It’s unconstitutional!’

‘Not to say inexpedient, mischievous, and unjust,’ her husband added.

‘Fine words butter no parsnips,’ Mr Cowling said impatiently.

‘Think about this: there are more women than men in the country, so you’d have more people elected to Parliament on women’s votes than on men’s.

And what if they passed a law against men’s interests, or one that men didn’t go along with?

How could you force men to obey it? You’d have riot and revolution. ’

‘But if women are the majority,’ Nina asked, ‘why shouldn’t laws favour them, as they favour men now?’

Richard gave her a humorous look. ‘I don’t think that’s the right question to ask,’ he said. ‘I imagine the franchisists are promoting the idea of a more just society, not one that’s biased in the opposite direction.’

Stavesacre gave him an approving nod. ‘It is equity and freedom under the law that we seek. Women suffer great injustice, prejudice and hardship. Give them the vote and the greatest of their grievances would be assuaged, because they would have a voice in the constitution.’

‘Who are those women who made the fuss and bother outside Parliament?’ Mr Cowling asked.

A group of women had protested against the filibuster outside the Houses of Parliament until they’d been driven away by the police. They’d been allowed to regroup by the gates to Westminster Abbey and had held a rally demanding the government intervene to secure passage of the Bill.

‘It’s an organisation called the Women’s Social and Political Union,’ Lady Stavesacre answered. ‘The leading lights are a Mrs Pankhurst and her daughters.’

‘Political, is it? I suppose they were put up to it by this new Labour Party, then?’

‘The Pankhursts were affiliated with the Independent Labour Party, but they broke with them. They want the WSPU to be a political party in its own right, because none of the others will focus on the issue.’

‘They’re right there,’ said Mr Cowling. ‘With everything else there is to put right!’

‘I shouldn’t think many women really want the vote, do they?’ Kitty said tentatively. ‘It’s not something you hear discussed.’

‘We’re discussing it now,’ Nina pointed out.

‘Yes, but you are all especially clever people who talk about that sort of thing all the time,’ Kitty said, blushing at having to explain what she only vaguely perceived. ‘I mean that you don’t hear ordinary ladies talking about it. Politics are so confusing,’ she sighed.

Mr Cowling smiled at her. ‘That’s right, Lady Stainton.

Much better leave that sort of thing to the men.

And there’s a point!’ he added, to the rest of the company.

‘If the ladies had the vote, the married ones would vote the way their husbands told them, so a married man would end up with two votes, while a single man’d only have one.

Where’s the fairness there? I’d have thought you wouldn’t be in favour of that, Decius – and Mr Tallant. ’

Richard grinned. ‘Oh, sir, questions begged right and left! Kettles of fish all over the place! I think we should change the subject.’

Decius obliged. ‘How is your new milk venture coming along? I’ve been so busy helping with the London office I haven’t kept up.’

‘Doing nicely, thank you,’ Richard answered. ‘Another farm has come in, and I’m making slow progress with Lord Shacklock. At any rate, I thought it worth investing in a second motor-lorry.’

‘Motor vehicles seem to be taking over from horses everywhere,’ said Lady Stavesacre. ‘It’s rather a shame. A carriage is much more elegant.’

‘It makes crossing the street in London more pleasant, though,’ Nina remarked. ‘Especially in wet weather.’

‘I always feel so sorry for those poor cab horses,’ Kitty said, ‘standing for hours at the ranks in the rain and the cold.’

Cowling gave her an approving look for this proper, feminine comment. ‘Motor-cabs make a lot more sense, given all the waiting,’ he said.

‘Oh, I grant the convenience of the motor vehicle,’ Lady Stavesacre said, ‘but I mourn the decline in civilisation. We’ll see ever more furious driving on the road, and more deaths.’

‘There have always been furious drivers of horses,’ Decius pointed out. ‘And the 1903 Act limited motor vehicles to twenty miles an hour.’

‘I don’t recommend being struck by a motor vehicle at twenty miles an hour,’ Richard said, with a wry smile.

‘Quite so!’ said Lady Stavesacre. ‘You never see a horse running at that speed.’

‘Except if it bolts,’ Nina pointed out.

‘But a horse will always try to avoid you. A motor vehicle is insensate,’ she concluded.

‘Where do you buy your motor spirit from?’ Lord Stavesacre asked Richard. ‘Is it hard to get hold of?’

‘We used to get it from Bolliard’s, the hardware shop in Canons Ashmore, but they didn’t carry very much and sometimes ran out.

But now Tim Tucker has opened a garage in the village, and sells petrol as well.

And since it’s more in his line of trade, he’s keeping a larger stock, so we should be all right from now on. ’

‘We ought to start manufacturing it in this country,’ Decius said. ‘Most of our benzene comes from Russia, and with all the unrest over there, the supply shouldn’t be relied on.’

Richard looked amused. ‘Is there anything you don’t know?’

Decius smiled. ‘I keep up with the news. And import and export have been rather my concern for the last couple of months.’

‘I should like to drive a motor-car,’ Nina said, out of her own train of thought.

‘Heaven forbid!’ Mr Cowling said, startled.

‘I’m sure driving a motor-car must be easier than driving horses,’ she objected.

‘As the only person here who has come a cropper in a motor-car, I wouldn’t recommend it for the nerves,’ Richard said.

Lepida judiciously changed the subject. ‘Father tells me George Bernard Shaw has a new play opening on Tuesday at the Royal Court: Man and Superman .’

Mr Cowling nodded. ‘Aye, your pa told me he’s getting up a party to go to the opening night. I’ve enjoyed some of Shaw’s plays.’

Decius said, ‘I’ve heard it’s based on Nietzsche’s philosophy of the übermensch .’

‘Father told me he asked Shaw about that, and he denied it,’ Lepida said. ‘He said he’s exploring his own idea that it’s woman who advances natural selection, because it’s women who force men to marry them, rather than men taking the initiative.’

‘It sounds like a tremendous romp,’ Richard said gravely, and Nina laughed.

‘We can’t get away from the woman question this evening, can we?’ she said. ‘Rescue us, Richard!’

Richard bowed. ‘With pleasure! Tell me, Mrs Cowling, what do you think of this summer’s hats? Isn’t it rather like wearing a fruit bowl on your head?’

* * *

Sebastian was in miserable seclusion at Wisteria House, his place in Henley. He had no guests, and was not at home to callers. He went for long walks along the riverside, his expression deterring those who might have passed the time of day with him.