Page 44 of It Always Snows on Mistletoe Square
Ivy returns wearing a long navy coat, a hand-knitted scarf and gloves, and a straw hat pinned on top of her hair.
‘I shall expect you both back here within the hour,’ Stephen says, looking at his pocket watch. ‘The polling station isn’t far. I was there myself this morning. If I would have known you wished to go, Clara, you could have accompanied me.’
‘Perhaps this is something I wish to do alone,’ Clara says bravely as she stands up again. ‘Women can cope quite adequately, you know, without men.’
Stephen looks like he doubts this very much, but he puts his pocket watch back in his waistcoat. ‘I shall expect you back here by twelve at the latest.’
‘I do have a few other errands to run as well,’ Clara says, pulling her gloves back on. ‘So we may be a little later than that.’
‘What errands?’ Stephen demands. ‘I thought we had just discussed this.’
‘I need to go to the hospital and drop some things in. They are running a fundraiser this week for the children and I’m taking them some of our old clothes to sell.’
Stephen looks suspiciously at Clara. ‘What sort of a fundraiser? It is the first I’ve heard of it.’
‘Just because you’re a name on the board at Great Ormond Street, that doesn’t make you privy to everything that goes on at the hospital. They’re also putting a play on for the children next week too. Mr Barrie has kindly offered yet again to allow his work to be performed.’
‘ThatPeter Pannonsense,’ Stephen says, turning his nose up. ‘How that man has made so much money from a story about a fairy, I’ll never know.’
‘Are you sure you’re not a little jealous because you didn’t buy the rights to his novel when they were offered to you?’
Stephen smiles scornfully. ‘I hardly think so.’
‘Such a shame you turned it down. It’s just as well Charles, Great Aunt Belle’s son, bought it for the company he worked for,’ Clara continues bravely, and I find myself rooting for her as she dares to challenge her husband, albeit very politely. ‘I hear the book has been very successful. Ivy took her son and daughter to see the play last week at the theatre, didn’t you, Ivy?’
‘After you kindly paid for us, madam,’ Ivy says, looking down at the ground as if she’d rather be anywhere than involved in this conversation between her employers.
‘And you thought it rather good, didn’t you? You said as much to me.’
‘Yes, me and the children fair enjoyed it, so we did.’ Ivy glances nervously at Stephen. ‘Holly and Rudy laughed so much, especially when Nanna the dog came on.’
‘Hmm,’ Stephen says, regarding Ivy with a steely look. ‘Since when are we paying for staff to go to the theatre, Clara?’ He turns his glare back on Clara.
‘Since they deserved it,’ Clara says resolutely. ‘We’ve all been through a terrible time in the last few years, and everyone deserves some happiness again. Including the staff and children at the hospital. You know Belle and her husband were great supporters of Great Ormond Street when it first opened, and this family shall continue to support their endeavours while they are in need of our help.’
‘It’s a shame your grandfather didn’t feel the same way about his father’s publishing house and follow in his footsteps. The company might be a little stronger now if he had.’
‘Grandpapa Timothy had his own reasons for becoming a politician instead of going into publishing like his father,’ Clara says. ‘He wanted to give help to those that needed it the most.’
‘Hmm,’ Stephen says again. ‘Even if it was for the wrong party.’
I see annoyance flicker across Clara’s face, but she chooses not to show it. Instead she simply says, ‘Ivy and I will be visiting the hospital first and then the polling station. We will return as soon as possible. Come, Ivy.’
‘Please be careful, Clara,’ Stephen says, his voice softening, as Clara turns her back and heads through the door to the hall. ‘Remember, you are due in a few weeks.’
‘I am not due until January, Stephen.’ Clara turns round, her voice also softening as she tries to reassure her husband. ‘Please do not fret. I will be perfectly fine, and Ivy will watch over me as you have requested. Now, Ivy are we ready?’
‘I think so, madam.’ Ivy nods. ‘Sir,’ she says, bobbing her head towards Stephen. ‘We will be careful. I promise.’
We watch as they leave the house together.
Stephen settles down again with his newspaper by the fire and the house is silent, save for the ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece.
‘As I mentioned at the start,’ Estelle says, walking over to the Christmas tree and delicately cradling the suffragette badge in her hand. ‘That brave woman was my mother, and that … man,’ she struggles to say the word, ‘sitting there, is my father.’
‘Your mother was a suffragette – how fabulous,’ I say. ‘We have so much to thank her for.’
‘Yes, indeed we do.’
