eed of what she saw, the grey road, and
the green bank on the other side, topped by its hedge of trees.

Her voice sounded quiet in the quiet lane; it had no accent of self-pity
or reproach. It was as if she were making statements that had no
emotional significance whatever.

She did not mean to hurt him, yet every word cut where he was sorest.

"I wanted to tell you about it. I counted the days, the minutes till I
could tell you; but you wouldn't listen. You don't want to hear."

"I won't listen if it's about women's suffrage. And I don't want to hear
if it's anything awful about you."

"It is about me, but it isn't awful.

"That's what I want to tell you.

"But, first of all--about the raid. I didn't mean to be in it at all, as
it happens. I meant to go with the deputation because you told me not
to. You're right about that. But I meant to turn back as soon as the
police stopped us, because I hate rows with the police, and because I
don't believe in them, and because I told Angela Blathwaite I wasn't
going in with her crowd any way. You see, she called me a coward before
a lot of people and said I funked it. So I did. But I should have been a
bigger coward if I'd gone against my own will, just because of what she
said. That's how she collars heaps of women. They adore her and they're
afraid of her. Sometimes they lie and tell her they're going in when
their moment comes, knowing perfectly well that they're not going in at
all. I don't adore her, and I'm not afraid of her, and I didn't lie.

"So I went at the tail of the deputation where I could slip out when the
row began. I swear I didn't mean to be in it. I funked it far too much.
I didn't mind the police and I didn't mind the crowd. But I funked being
with the women. When I saw their faces. You world have funked it.

"And anyhow I don't like doing things in a beastly body. Ugh!

"And then they began moving.

"The police tried to stop them. And the crowd tried. The crowd began
jeering at them. And still they moved. And the mounted police horses got
excited, and danced about and reared a bit, and the crowd was in a funk
then and barged into the women. That was rather awful.

"I could have got away then if I'd chosen. There was a man close to me
all the time who kept making spaces for me and telling me to slip
through. I was just going to when a woman fell. Somewhere in the front
of the deputation where the police were getting nasty.

"Then I had to stay