I am sorry my dear child for your disappointment & wish I had seen
you again before you left.
As for the sculpting make your mind quite easy. Its enough to be a
martyr to the photographers. If anyone victimises me (which is
doubtful) it shall be you.^64Later that week, Emmeline had the pleasure of being accompanied by two of
her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, to a concert in the Queen’s Hall where
Ethel conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a repeat performance of
some of her works.^65
Despite attendance at the occasional concert or a short visit to Coign,
suffrage work was always foremost in Emmeline’s mind, and, at this particular
moment of time, the passing of the Second Conciliation Bill. Anxious that
nothing should hinder its progress, she had written to Elizabeth Robins a few
days before the concert, pointing out that the suggested meeting with Sir
Edward Grey should not be too long delayed ‘because it is important to know
what the friends of the Bill mean its final form to be as soon as possible’.^66 One
week later the persistent Emmeline wrote to Elizabeth again, advising her on
how to organise her planned autumn gathering of influential friends in aristo-
cratic and political circles:
Christabel & I have talked the matter over & we do not like the idea
of your having sole responsibility & expense & think perhaps you
could get some friend who has a house in London to collaborate with
you (or more than one friend).
Lady Sybil Smith & her mother Lady Antrim are helping in a
similar way & neither of them has a house. They make use of some
friend for an At Home or a luncheon or dinner. Last week Lady
Antrim got the Dowager Duchess of Argyle to give a luncheon party
for MPs. Lady A invited the guests. Lady Betty Balfour who also lives
in the country borrowed a house for a dinner party recently. Cannot
you get Lady Lewis or some of your friends to do as much for you? In
sending out invitations you could couple the hostess’s name with
yours.^67Although Elizabeth did not wish to become a pawn in the hands of Emmeline
and Christabel, using her influential connections for suffrage ends, she admired
them both and often found it hard to resist their demands; in particular, she
respected Emmeline whom she described as ‘one of the Great People of the
time. ... But Lord! What a force behind that frail refined face!’^68
Up to now the WSPU at by-elections had always opposed the government’s
candidate on the grounds that his election to parliament would strengthen the
opposition of the government to women’s enfranchisement. However, since
Asquith now promised time the following year for all stages of the Second
THE TRUCE RENEWED