‘My father would have filled it in if we’d been here but we were away in France at the time so we weren’t recorded as existing at all. That is unacceptable in my opinion. We are citizens and we should have been counted.’ She took a slice of bread and broke it into four. ‘And this time it’s just me and Isobel here in the house, so I’d better make sure I do it properly or you might get into trouble.’

‘Why was the 1911 census a problem?’

‘You don’t remember?’

‘Not really. I think I’d have been nine years old, maybe ten, depending on the date. My father would have filled it in for us.’

The result of her speedy mental arithmetic surprised Ann; despite her first impressions and his sprinkling of grey hair, he was three years younger than she was herself. ‘It was the year when women all over the country refused to fill the form in,’ she said.

He couldn’t respond because his mouth was full of bread.

‘No documentation without representation. That’s what we wrote on the forms.’

‘We?’

‘Well, not me, I was too young, obviously, but Ursula wasn’t recorded and my father didn’t make a fuss. She went to a party instead so she wasn’t even in the house at midnight.’

He swallowed the bread and took another spoonful of soup. ‘Ursula is your sister? And she was a suffragette?’

‘Ursula was my stepmother. And she wasn’t a suffragette, but I think she might have wanted to be. She decided she had responsibilities here, so she did other things instead. I think sometimes you only realise how remarkable some people are when it’s too late to tell them.’ She buttered the torn bread, taking a thin skim of yellow right to the corners. ‘But anyway, the whole census was wrong.’

‘More wrong than the suffragettes not filling it in?’

‘Far worse than a few empty lines on a census form, in my opinion. The government wanted to learn about the fertility of women, which is a private matter.’

‘You seem to know a lot about it.’

‘It was terrible. It’s so important that we make sure things are done fairly, don’t you think?’

He shrugged. ‘Yes. But when you are at the bottom of the pile, it’s hard to put that above getting food onto the table.’

Ann blushed. ‘I apologise. I didn’t mean to go on so much. Isobel is always telling me I get too involved in things, but it’s hard sometimes, especially when it feels important.’

He supped the last dregs of the soup. ‘At least the rain stayed away for me this morning; not sure I’ll be so lucky this afternoon, mind.’ He pushed his seat back. ‘I’d better get moving.’