prison. All the women officers from the matron down are now devoted
to me and were perfect angels; but Oh, it is good to be in a nice bed,
with Lady Pine in attendance.^19Three days later, 17 March, Emmeline wrote again to an anxious Ethel, reas-
suring her that she was getting around, eating well and thriving generally. She
recounted how Flora Drummond had just been to visit her and that she was
hoping to see as many influential people as possible during her convalescence,
including the Archbishop. ‘I think the authorities got a fright about me this
time but they will find there is still a lot of life in me.’^20 Emmeline sent Ethel a
photograph of herself. ‘So like you’, wrote the delighted musician, in reply. ‘I
have it fixed to my studio wall.’ The news about Emmeline’s rough treatment,
however, was painful for Ethel to read. ‘My darling I can’t write about you being
knocked about – only clench my teeth & try to forget it. Oh how passionately I
long for news of you – my dear treasure – Oh heaven help me to stay here &
finish my task.’^21
As the two women continued their correspondence, often writing to each
other on the same day, Emmeline slowly regained her health while preparing for
an address she was to give at Lowestoft on 15 April, during the annual confer-
ence of the National Union of Teachers. However, Asquith suddenly announced
that he would take the post of War Minister and offered himself for re-election
in his constituency of East Fife, a seat he had contested against a Unionist
candidate in 1910. Although there was some uncertainty about whether a
Unionist candidate would stand in the election, the lure of leading a WSPU by-
election campaign in the constituency of the arch enemy of women’s suffrage
was too great for Emmeline to resist, despite the fact that she was still physically
weak. With her velvet dress cleaned and repaired, she travelled to East Fife, only
to find that Asquith was to be returned unopposed. Immediately she returned to
Campden Hill Square, from where on 8 April she wrote to Ethel:
Oh my dear I am so glad to be back safely in this house, for I never felt so
like shirking as I did over this last Scotland expedition. I really tried it
too soon after the hunger strike. Providence does watch over me, for I
don’t think I could have stood being dragged back, as I was before, all
that distance. The police are thick round this house to prevent my going
to Lowestoft as advertised. Rather a sell for them, as I have decided my
heart is not strong enough after the rush to and from E. Fife.^22The devoted Ethel, who had feared that Emmeline would take the trip to
Fife, had already written to her friend, fearful about the effects upon her health.
‘I lie awake at night sometimes & see you like Atlas, bearing up the world of
women on your dear head’, Ethel wrote affectionately. ‘I can’t tell you what I
think of you. ... If you were to come in now all I could do would be to hold you
in my arms and ... still be silent. But you would know.’^23 Supportive and open
FUGITIVE