ved Mrs. Freddy, meekly. 'Don't think I defended the
Suffragettes.'

'But still,' said Miss Levering, with a faint accent of impatience, 'you
_are_ an advocate for the Suffrage, aren't you?'

'I don't beat the air.'

'Only policemen,' Greatorex mocked.

'If you cared to know the attitude of the real workers in the Reform,'
Mrs. Freddy said plaintively, 'you might have seen in any paper that we
lost no time in dissociating ourselves from the two or three
hysterical----' She caught her brother-in-law's critical eye, and
instantly checked her flow of words.

There was a general movement as Greatorex made his good-byes. Mrs.
Heriot signalled her daughter.

In the absence of the master, Lord Borrodaile made ready to do the
honours of the house to a lady who had had so little profit of her
visit. Beeching carried off the reluctant Farnborough. Mrs. Freddy kept
up her spirits until after the exodus; then, with a sigh, she sat down
beside Vida. 'It's true what that old cynic says,' she admitted
sorrowfully. 'The scene has put back the Reform a generation.'

'It must have been awfully exciting. I wish I'd been there,' said Jean.

'I _was_ there.'

'Oh, was it as bad as the papers said?'

'Worse. I've never been so moved in public--no tragedy, no great opera
ever gripped an audience as the situation in the House did that night.
There we all sat breathless--with everything more favourable to us than
it had been within the memory of woman. Another five minutes and the
resolution would have passed. Then--all in a moment'--Mrs. Freddy
clasped her hands excitedly--'all in a moment a horrible, dingy little
flag was poked through the grille of the Woman's Gallery--cries--insults--
scuffling--the police--the ignominious turning out of the women--_us_ as
well as the---- Oh, I can't _think_ of it without----' She jumped up and
walked to and fro. 'Then the next morning!' She paused. 'The people
gloating. Our friends antagonized--people who were wavering--nearly won
over--all thrown back! Heart-breaking! Even my husband! Freddy's been an
angel about letting me take my share when I felt I must--but, of course,
I've always known he doesn't like it. It makes him shy. I'm sure it
gives him a horrid twist inside when he sees even the discreetest little
paragraph to say that I am "one of the speakers." But he's always been
an angel about it before this. After the disgraceful scene, he said, "It
just shows how unfit women are for any so