How I’m to pay her all these months I don’t know. Wish I’d thought of that when I were securing my job here with the missus. Four months ago she’d have given me anything, but now if I asked for better wages she’d probably just lecture me about women suffering. One thing I’ve learned-you’ve to be scared of blackmail for it to work. I don’t think she cares about nothing now except votes for women.
Here’s another funny thing-the missus is busy acting like nothing happened to her this summer, but someone ain’t forgot. I were putting the shoes out in the hallway, all polished and ready for the next day, when a letter gets slid under the front door, addressed to Mr. Coleman. I picked it up and looked at it. It were in a funny hand, like a schoolgirl writing it on a wobbly chair. I opened the front door and looked out. It were a foggy night and I could just make out Miss Lavinia running up the street before she disappeared.
I didn’t put the letter on a tray for the master, but kept it with me. Next morning I sat down for a cuppa in the kitchen and showed it to Mrs. Baker. Funny how she and I are friendlier since Jack. She don’t know about the blackmail, but she must suspect as much. She never asked how I got my job back.
“What would she be writing to the master for except to make trouble?” I said.
Mrs. Baker studied the letter, then took it over to the kettle and in a minute had steamed it open. That’s what I like about her-she can be horrible mean sometimes, but she’s definite.
I read over her shoulder. When we’d finished we looked at each other. “How does she know about all that?” I wondered aloud, before I realized Mrs. Baker mightn’t have known about the missus’s predicament.
But she did. Mrs. Baker’s no fool. She must’ve worked it out for herself.
“That silly girl,” she said now. “Trying to stir things up.” She opened the door of the range and threw the letter into the flames.
As I said, she’s definite.
Edith Coleman
When she opened the door I thought for a moment that I was dreaming. But I knew very well that I was wide awake-1 am not the dreaming type. Of course there was a smirk on her face to tell me she knew I was surprised.
“What on earth are you doing here?” I asked. “Where is the char I hired?” I had taken on the running of the house while Kitty was ill and had been hiring chars until we could find a proper maid.
“I work here again, ma‘am,” the impertinent girl replied.
“According to whom?”
“Best ask my mistress, ma‘am. May I take your coat, ma’am?”
“Don’t you touch my coat. Go and wait in the kitchen. I’ll see myself up.”
The girl shrugged and I thought I heard her say, “Suit yourself.”
I wanted to say something but didn’t bother-it was not she I must speak to. Clearly Jenny would not be here if Kitty had not let her come back-behind my back and against my orders.
I walked into the morning room unannounced. Kitty was sitting with Miss Black, whom I had met briefly on another occasion. I had not thought much of her at the time. She had gone on and on about woman’s suffrage, a subject I find intolerable.
They both stood now and Kitty came and kissed me. “Let me take your coat, Mother Coleman,” she said. “Why didn’t Jenny take it at the door?”
“That is what I should like to discuss with you,” I replied, keeping my coat on for the moment-I was no longer sure that I would be staying. It was unfortunate that Kitty was not alone, as I was reluctant to talk about Jenny in front of others.
“Mother Coleman, you have met Caroline Black before,” Kitty said. “Caroline, you do remember my mother-in-law, Mrs. Coleman.”
“Of course,” Miss Black said. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Coleman.”
“Will you sit with us?” Kitty asked, gesturing toward the sofas. ‘Jenny’s just brought up the tea and Mrs. Baker has made some lardy cakes.“
I sat down, feeling very awkward in my coat. Neither woman seemed to notice.
“Caroline and I have been discussing the Women’s Social and Political Union,” Kitty said. “Did you know that they have opened an office in London just off the Aldwych? It’s very handy for the newspaper offices, and they can lobby Parliament about woman’s suffrage much more effectively from a base here rather than from Manchester.”
“I don’t approve of women voting,” I interrupted. “They don’t need to-their husbands are perfectly capable of doing so on their behalf.”
“There are plenty of unmarried women-myself included-deserving of representation,” Miss Black said. “Besides, a woman doesn’t always have the same views as her husband.”
“In any sound marriage the woman is in perfect agreement with her husband. Otherwise they shouldn’t have married in the first place.”
“Really? Would you always vote the same way as your husband, Kitty?” Miss Black asked.
“I would most likely vote Conservative,” Kitty said.
“You see?” I said to Miss Black. “Colemans always vote Conservative.”
“But that is only because a Conservative candidate now seems more likely to agree actively to support woman’s suffrage,” Kitty added. “If a Liberal or even a Labour candidate were openly supportive, I would vote for them.”
I was horrified by such an announcement. “Don’t be silly. Of course you wouldn’t.”
“I’m not concerned with the political parties. I’m concerned with a moral issue.”
“You should be concerned with moral issues much closer to home,” I said.
“Whatever do you mean?” I noticed Kitty spoke without looking at me.
“Why is Jenny here? I dismissed her in July.”
Kitty shrugged and smiled at Miss Black as if to apologize for me. “And I hired her again in October.”
“Kitty, I dismissed your maid four months ago because her conduct was immoral. Such behavior is irreversible, and she is not fit to work in this house.”
At last my daughter-in-law met my eye. She looked almost bored. “I asked Jenny to come back because she is a very good maid, she is available, and we need a good maid. The chars you hired were unacceptable.”
Something in her face told me that she was lying, but I did not know what the lie could be.
“Have you forgot what she has gone and done?” I asked.
Kitty sighed. “No, I have not forgot. I just do not happen to think it is very important. My mind is on other matters, and I simply wanted to hire someone I knew would work well in the house.”
I drew myself up. “That is ridiculous,” I said. “You can’t have a girl here who has-” I stopped and glanced at Miss Black, who was gazing at me calmly. I did not wish to mince my words, but it would be unseemly to be so frank in front of a stranger. I did not complete my sentence, knowing that Kitty could. Instead I said, “What kind of example does that set for Maude or my son?”
“They don’t know of it. They think Jenny was ill.”
“The moral foundation of this house will be undermined by her presence, whether they know of the circumstances or not.”
Kitty smiled, which seemed to me to be a most inappropriate response. “Mother Coleman,” she said, “you know that I am so very grateful to you for looking after this house while I was ill. You have been generous with your time and efforts. Now, however, it is time that I took charge of my own house once more. I have decided that Jenny may work for us again, and there is really nothing more to be said about it.”
“What does my son say to this?”
“Richard is blissfully ignorant of household matters. That, I believe, is what you taught me about running a house: never worry your husband.”
I ignored her remark, but I did not forget it. “I shall have to have a word with him.”