What a time I have had since Thursday morning! All things work out
for the best; had I not been taken to Exeter, my first bout with the
enemy would not yet be ended. But fortunately the Exeter doctor is a
gentleman – the leading doctor of the place – and from the first I
realised he would not allow himself to be used by the Government. I
therefore went quietly to bed, drank some soda water, and just refused
food. I allowed him to feel my pulse. He was much moved and kept
saying ‘You are a resolute woman’ in admiring tones!!! On Sunday
morning Dr. Smalley (Home Office) came. I gave him one of my
storms and refused to let him touch me.
Some day I must tell you the dramatic story of my arrest, the
gunboat, the crowd of police who boarded the streamer, hurried me
away on a launch to a fort, and hence in two motors full of police over
Dartmoor to Exeter. It must have cost hundreds of pounds. ... I came
here via Calais in ambulance and carrying chairs, and return on
Saturday. ... Am wonderfully well and shall be ready for the next
round on Monday when my licence is up.^43Even allowing for the fact that Emmeline may have exaggerated how well she
felt, to ease the worries of Ethel, living far away in Egypt, the letter expresses
how determined she was to play the authorities at her own ‘cat and mouse’
game, as best she could. The game was an expression of her contempt for the
British government as well as means of keeping her mind active and her spirits
high, especially since detectives were watching the flat in Paris.
Emmeline returned to England on 13 December, within the terms of her
licence. Inspector Parker, another detective and a wardress boarded her train to
London but waited until Dover town to rearrest her, entering her carriage as its
occupants were making tea. When Emmeline enquired upon the grounds for the
arrest, she was told that she had broken the terms of her licence by not noti-
fying the police of her change of address. ‘Judging from her appearance’, wrote
the sceptical Inspector, ‘Mrs. Pankhurst was in good health, and up to the time
of her arrest, did not exhibit those symptoms of collapse which she assumed
after we had intimated that she was to consider herself in custody.’ During the
journey to Victoria station, Emmeline called Dr. Ede and Nurse Pine to her side,
saying, ‘I want these men to hear what I say. There is an unsigned Will in my
luggage. As you have deprived me of an opportunity of signing this Will, I want
you to witness that it is my Will, in case it is contested at any time.’^44 The
drama reached a crescendo when the group arrived at Victoria. Knowing that
Emmeline’s bodyguard was waiting there, the police had cut off all approaches
to the arrival platform. Not a passenger was allowed to leave a carriage until the
notorious ‘mouse’ had been dragged along the platform. Emmeline was treated
so roughly that she cried out in pain, all to no avail. She was then thrown into a
waiting car, her coat being pulled up from the arms over her head. Surrounding
the car were twelve taxis filled with plain-clothes men, four in each vehicle,
OUSTING OF SYLVIA AND A FRESH START FOR ADELA