‘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.