‘You’re a good girl, Holly,’ she said gently, then becoming business like again she asked, ‘Could you go through to the sewing room and ask Dora how Lady Hamilton’s gown is coming along. She’ll be in for a first fitting later on.’

Only too happy to oblige, Holly scooted away.

By the end of January both girls were settled in their courses and were enjoying them immensely. On Sundays, when Ivy wasn’t attending a suffragette meeting, they would have a lie-in and a leisurely lunch, then go for a stroll to visit places of interest. They also visited a music hall and some of the museums. Holly wrote regularly to her mother who always replied by return of post. Much as she loved to hear from her, the letters always made her feel homesick, although for most of the time now she was enjoying living in London. She was surprised to notice that Walter Dolby was often mentioned in her letters.

‘You don’t think she’s growing fond of him, do you?’ Holly asked Ivy one day.

‘Would it be such a bad thing if she was?’ Ivy paused. She was washing the dinner pots at the sink. They took it in turns now. ‘She is still quite young, after all. She’s not quite forty yet, is she? Still young enough to meet someone else, I should think.’

‘But it’s not that simple, is it?’ Holly sighed, her face creased with worry. ‘My father is probably still alive somewhere, so even if she did fall in love again she could never remarry while she’s still legally wed to my father.’

‘Hmm, I see what you mean.’ Ivy shrugged. ‘But don’t go worryin’ over it. Her an’ Mr Dolby are probably just friends.’

Holly remained silent, hoping she was right. It hurt her though, to think of her mother stuck at home with only her grandfather and the staff for company. Now that she was living independently she had realised how much her mother had sacrificed for her to ensure that she had a stable childhood. She hoped she would one day find the happiness she truly deserved.

On the first of March the suffragettes deployed new militant tactics as they stepped up their campaign for the vote. Led by their leader Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst, many of them attacked shops in the West End with stones and hammers, which they had hidden in their muffs, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Two of them even hurled stones at 10 Downing Street, and within twenty minutes they had left a trail of devastation in their wake from Oxford Street to the Strand. Swan and Edgar’s store in Piccadilly was only one of the most well-known stores to be attacked and it resulted in 120 women being arrested.

Thankfully, Ivy had a heavy cold and hadn’t attended this particular march but Holly was horrified.