“She’s hard to miss if she’s in your vicinity,” Petra stated. She still remembered Clothilde’s sugary voice telling her how Guy had said she had little to recommend her. She didn’t believe he’d said such a thing for a moment, but it still stung. For some reason just knowing the woman was in the same room as she was made her skin prickle.

“Well, you’re well and truly wedded and bedded to Guy Granville,” Diana declared. “And there’s nothing she can do about it. Anyway, it looks as if she’s found a new man to keep her warm at night.”

“He’s very young,” Petra observed, and then briskly changed the subject. “So, what time does the meeting start this evening?”

“Nine o’clock. Christabel is speaking, so it’s bound to get a bit fiery.” Diana sliced her calf ’s liver thinly.

“Well, if we’re planning to invade Parliament, it’s certainly going to set some fires burning,” Fenella observed. “How do you think Guy will react if you’re arrested occupying St. Stephen’s Hall, Petra?”

“I have no idea,” Petra said. “But not well, I suspect.”

“You don’t have to do it, dearest, you know that,” Diana said swiftly. “If it’s going to upset Guy you should sit this one out.”

Petra shook her head. “No, I’m not doing that. If that’s what the Union is doing then I’m part of the Union and I’ll go along with them. Guy might come around, he often surprises me.” She concentrated on her lunch, keeping to herself the reflection that Rupert and Edward would probably be cheering their wives on, if not marching at their sides, while the best she thought she could hope for was Guy’s silence on the subject.

The opportunity to test the waters came that evening. On her return home from lunch, Babbit greeted her with the news that his lordship had sent his apologies but that he would not be dining at home as he would be having a private dinner with the Lord Bishop of Bristol. He would not be late home, however.

Petra’s first thought was one of relief, she’d be able to go to Caxton Hall without having to discuss the matter with Guy, but then she realized he would probably be at home waiting for her when she came back. Well, she shrugged, her private affairs were her own. If there had to be a confrontation, better sooner than later.

* * *

“It’s always so cold and drafty in here,” Fenella complained as the three women entered the red brick building that housed Caxton Hall. The meeting room was already filling rapidly with women, many clustering around the tea urns on a long table at the back of the room.