Emmeline had succeeded in wooing the Canadian public and proving herself
worthy of her Canadian citizenship, but all was not well.
Ever since the arrival of Christabel and Elizabeth into her home, Emmeline
was aware of the tension between her eldest daughter and Catherine Pine.
Catherine Pine, with impish good humour, was apt to joke privately to
Emmeline that if Christabel’s gloomy prediction for the Second Coming of
Christ was so imminent, it hardly seemed worthwhile to cook the dinner.^63 But
worse than such comments were the differing approaches each adopted to the
upbringing of the children. Catherine Pine was an old-fashioned disciplinarian,
with sanctions such as no jam, nor reading of a favourite book or other treats for
a week if Kathleen, Mary or Joan were naughty. Christabel, on the other hand,
was much more lax with Elizabeth. ‘Elizabeth wasn’t punished at all’, remem-
bered Mary. ‘Auntie Christabel would say to her “Why did you do it, darling?”
and we were furious in our little baby minds. We used to stand on the sidelines
all bereft of whatever treat it was, and there was Elizabeth eating her strawber-
ries and cream.’^64 Matters came to a head and Emmeline was deeply upset when
Catherine Pine decided to leave and sail back home to England. She never saw
her again although they kept up a regular correspondence until a few weeks
before Emmeline’s death.^65 The news that Auntie Kate was soon to leave was
kept carefully from the children. ‘I woke up one morning and she was not
there’, Kathleen remembered. ‘She left me her Bible, a hymn book and a
Japanese letter box in which was a little chain necklace with a lucky charm
spider. The spider was in gold and its web and the chain in silver.’ A few days
before, Auntie Kate had taken Kathleen to the shops – which the children
never visited – and asked her what she would like in the way of toys. Finding
herself in such an unfamiliar situation, Kathleen did not know what to say. She
chose a toy which she did not care for afterwards.^66
With the departure of Catherine Pine, Emmeline lost not only a devoted
friend but also the children’s nurse. A succession of nurses and governesses were
subsequently employed, but the strain of organising it all on top of the fact that
for four and a half years Emmeline had had no respite from her arduous work to
support her household was too much; her health broke down. The Canadian
government granted their popular speaker six months’ leave of absence. At the
Toronto Exhibition, Emmeline had noticed the Bermuda stall and fallen in love
with the place; a British colony with a warm, balmy climate, it seemed an ideal
hideaway to recuperate. In the spring of 1924 she travelled there, together with
Christabel, the girls and Mrs. Cookson.^67
Emmeline stayed in Bermuda for about one year, enjoying the more leisurely
pace of life. Initially the family stayed at Glencoe, a guesthouse in Paget (Salt
Kettle) but by March 1925 they were renting Roche Terre, a large house on a
slight hill overlooking the Sound near Buena Vista. The house had two floors.
Emmeline lived on the second floor where a spacious lounge, dining room and
library were located while the children stayed in the bottom floor, with Mrs.
Cookson whose husband soon joined them from Alaska. ‘We could not forget
LECTURER IN NORTH AMERICA