Page 138 of The Armor of Light
‘Is there?’
‘One always wonders why.’
Elsie said: ‘Marriage isn’t for everyone. Some women don’t see the point of enslaving themselves to a man for life.’
The bishop was shocked. ‘Enslaving? My dear! Marriage is a holy sacrament.’
‘But it’s not compulsory, is it? The apostle Paul says that it’s better to marry than to burn, which is a rather half-hearted endorsement.’
‘How discontented you seem!’
‘Mother and I are extraordinarily lucky in our husbands, of course.’
The bishop was not sure whether he was being mocked. ‘Very good of you to say so,’ he said uncertainly. ‘In any case,’ he went on, ‘Miss Shoveller’s brother is behind this strike. I wonder if you knew that.’
Elsie said: ‘I thought Sal Box was the organizer.’
‘She’s a woman. Spade is the brains behind her.’
Elsie decided not to challenge the assumption that no woman could have an organizational brain. Instead she said: ‘Why would Spade want a strike? He’s a clothier himself, though he still operates a loom sometimes.’
‘Good question. In fact there has been talk of making him an alderman. His behaviour is baffling. In any event, Arabella, please do not become anything more than a customer of Miss Shoveller. I should not wish my wife to associate with such people on any terms other than the strictly commercial.’
Elsie expected her mother to dispute this ruling, but she accepted it meekly. ‘I shan’t do anything of the kind, my dear,’ she said to the bishop. ‘You need hardly have said it.’
‘I’m glad to hear that. Forgive me for mentioning it.’
‘Not at all.’
There was something concealed beneath this stiffly formal exchange, Elsie felt sure. She had a notion it had something to dowith Kate Shoveller’s partner, Becca. She had heard girls talk about women who loved other women, in preference to men – though she could not imagine exactly what that might mean: there was, after all, a question of anatomy. And women trying on new clothes did undress in the rooms above Kate’s shop. Had her father heard some absurd rumours about Arabella being involved in such activity?
The bishop finished his tea and went back to his study, and Elsie said to her mother: ‘What was that all about?’
Arabella made a dismissive noise. ‘Your father’s got some kind of bee in his bonnet, but I’ve no idea what it is.’
Elsie was not sure she believed that, but she did not pursue the question. She went upstairs to help the nurse get Stevie ready for bed. Later Kenelm arrived to say a prayer with him. While he was there the maid, Mason, looked in and said: ‘Mrs Mackintosh, the bishop would like to see you in his study.’
‘I’ll come right away,’ said Elsie.
Kenelm said: ‘What does your father want?’
‘I don’t know.’
Mason said helpfully: ‘Alderman Hornbeam and Squire Riddick are with the bishop.’
Kenelm frowned. ‘But the bishop didn’t ask for me?’
‘No, sir.’
Kenelm was annoyed. He hated to be excluded from anything. He was over-sensitive about rejection. He quickly felt disrespected, slighted, undervalued. More than once Elsie had told him that sometimes people were simply absent-minded and left him out by accident, but he never believed that.
She went downstairs to the study. Hornbeam and Riddick were wearing wigs, indicating that this was a formal visit. Riddick looked a bit drunk, which was not unusual for him at this time of the evening. Hornbeam wore his habitual look of stern resolve. Theyboth stood up and bowed to her as she entered, and she sketched a curtsy and sat down.
‘My dear,’ her father said, ‘the alderman and the squire have something they would like to discuss with you.’
‘Really?’
Hornbeam said: ‘It’s about your school.’
