Mary laughed, and began to write her note. “Well, when ‘the good Lord’ ordained that we should, Mr. Godwin detested me, and I him,” she said. “He thought me domineering and difficult. I found him full of his own ideas and fixed in his ways. But time softened our harder edges, and when we met again, we found each other changed. We still agreed, wholeheartedly, that marriage is a disaster for men and women both.” She turned her gaze to her little girl. “But when the creature announced itself, it was I who insisted. Having suffered one child out of wedlock, I was not eager to do it again.”

“People can be awfully cruel.”

“And yet the cruelest experience didn’t eradicate my own foolish tendency to cherish, even expect, romantic tenderness, above all else.”

“Well, then,” said Mrs. B, “I’m glad you and Mr. Godwin found each other when you did, and a way to end your struggle.” Mrs. B couldn’t think what else to say, unaccustomed as she was to this sort of talk.

Mary signed and folded the note, no seal at all, stood, and handed it to Mrs. B. “Oh no,” she said with twinkling eyes. “Our struggle has only just begun.”

“Seventeen Evesham Buildings.” Mrs. B gripped the letter in her hand, finding it hard to take her leave. “I’ll see he gets it.”

Mary W

There were mostly two opinions on the future of our school: one, that it had none, and two, that it would fail before we opened our doors. True, we didn’t have any doors, not even a town that we knew would welcome our venture. But we had a sense of urgency, Fanny and I, and the vigor of our beliefs. It would be our mission to teach girls to cultivate their minds and bodies so they could become independent, thereby helping to create a world in which wives could defend themselves against the tyranny of husbands, or if they didn’t wish to marry, live their lives on their own terms. Eliza missed her child terribly, but began slowly to recover her mental and physical strength. She would join the effort. Everina too. But our zeal was not enough. We needed money, backers, a building, and I had no idea how to get them. I had three guineas in my pocket and no experience at all.