Day after Day 12

November 1st, 1901

Dear Muriel and May,  

It has been such a time since I last wrote to you. I know you are excited about the trip to London which John has arranged for you. I was hoping to find something equally exciting to tempt you to come and visit me. The main thing about Cornwall is its wonderful scenery, but it is at its best in the spring. I will try to find an outing to attract you at that time.

I thought it would be fun if we exchanged favourite quotations. I told you I greatly admire G.K. Chesterton, so I shall put my first one in here.

‘A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.’

I hope you have a wonderful time in London and hope you will tell me all about it when you return.

Yours,
Harold

 

The girls set out for London on a cold and windy day, taking the 11.35 am train from Worcester Shrub Hill station. A luncheon car on the train provided them with a special treat. After
settling in at the Mina House Hotel, which was near Paddington station, they went for a short walk around that area of London.

The Mina House, which was 20 years old, was painted white and had wrought iron balconies. It stood out from other properties in the area. The bedrooms and dining room were decorated
on an Egyptian theme which featured tromp-l’oeuil stone work. After a small repast of omelette, bread and salad, the girls retired to their rooms, exhausted by the day’s activities and excited by the
prospect of what was to come.

The following morning they ate a substantial breakfast then walked half-a-mile to Hyde Park, there to hire a horse-drawn cab in which to ride around its sandy paths. When they reached the famous Serpentine Lake the weather was too inclement to tempt them to hire a boat and go rowing.

Afterwards they ventured upon the newly-built underground railway, finding it much like any other train journey as they rode from Paddington to Oxford Road. They went to Harrods, the world's most famous department store, each of them buying new clothes and also gifts for their parents.

After lunch, Charlotte said she would like to go off to visit her sister, and intended to take tea with her before making her way back to their hotel. Dot agreed to go with her. That left the younger girls on their own to decide how to spend the rest of the day.

May and Muriel went to the Victoria and Albert museum, spending several hours there. The girls met up again in the evening, when Charlotte reported that she had had a good visit with her sister, who was much smitten with a hospital porter, a German who had recently come to live in England. Charlotte found her sister was in good spirits, but she knew she dare not tell her father of the
meeting, and most definitely not of the liason with the German.

John arrived early the next morning, having taken the first train from Oxford to London. He and the girls embarked on a whirlwind sight-seeing tour: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, St. James’ Park They saw the Crystal Palace, though there was not time enough to go inside it. The girls, enchanted by the marvels they were seeing, enjoyed every
minute of the tour.

After lunch they returned to the hotel to rest, before getting ready for dinner and the theatre visit. John arrived in a carriage at 5.30 pm and took them to a restaurant, Simpson's-in-the-Strand, which was renowned for serving roast meats which arrived at table in silver-domed wagons, there to be carved and placed on plates.

They dined on roast beef, and were abundantly well-fed when it was time to collect their cloaks and move on to the theatre next door. It was a wet and miserable evening, and the girls were moved to pity when they saw a ragged beggar outside the theatre. Instinctively Charlotte reached into her reticule for a coin.

“Don’t do that,” John said abruptly. "His apparent penury is probably an invention. If you give him money he will never make the effort to get a decent job.'

Charlotte was taken aback. "Please don't tell me what to do with my money, Mr. Day,” she said briskly. Whereupon she put two coins in the dish in front of the beggar.

The other girls were astonished that she had gone against John Day's advice.

"Men should work for their living,'' John said, attempting to justify his earlier words.

"And what should women do?'' Charlotte asked with undisguised sharpness.

“They should follow the dictates of their husbands and fathers,'' John Day said, becoming heated. "Women do not have the intelligence to make their own decisions. When I marry my wife will trust me to make the right decisions and allow me to follow the path of leadership set out for us by the Bible.''

"Shouldn't we go inside now?'' said Muriel, trying to take the edge off the confrontation. "We are getting cold out here, and we have to find our seats.''

Muriel had taken not part in the confrontational conversation, though she found herself siding with Charlotte and was proud of her for speaking her mind. And now she was wondering about John Day. Was he really the man for her?

The doors to the Royal Strand Theatre were opened promptly at 7.30 pm by its manager, Mr Frank Curzon. They found their seats in the dress circle. John had bought the tickets, and would not
hear of it when the girls offered to pay for theirs. They had time to read their programmes.

A Chinese Honeymoon

a musical comedy in two acts by George Dance.
The role of Princess Soo-Soo is played by
Beatrice Edwards.

Directed by George Wilson. Musical Director, Ernest
Vousden. Music by Howard Talbot, with additions from Caryll,
Woodville, and Vousden. Additional Lyrics for this production by
Murry, Greenbank and Adams. Costumes by Nathan from designs by
Comelli. Choreography by Will Bishop and Fred Farren, scenic design
by Philip Howden for Act 1 and Walter Hann for Act 2...

For the next two hours the girls were enchanted. There was fine singing, and melodies to remember.
Afterwards, while waiting for a carriage which would take them back to their hotel, they thanked John Day profusely for a wonderful evening. He promised to collect them after breakfast so they could attend a church service, then he would accompany them to the railway station before catching his own train back to Oxford.

As good as his word, he arrived at 9.30 am and they walked to All Hallows-by-the-Tower. As they walked along he told them that the church was associated with the famed diarist Samuel Pepys. While the great fire of London was raging in 1666 Pepys climbed the brick tower of All Hallows to watch the blaze as it spread across the city.

Reading from a leaflet, John provided further details "All Hallows by-the-Tower lays claim to being the oldest church in London. The original church was founded by the Abbey of Barking in 675, and an arch from that first church still survives. Beneath the Saxon arch, traces of Roman pavement can be seen, evidence that this site was in use as far back as 2000 years ago.

"All Hallows has a bloody history; due to its close proximity to the Tower of London, the church received the bodies of many of those unfortunates executed in that spot, including Archbishop Laud, Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More in the sixteenth century.

"The church has strong associations with the United States; In 1644 William Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania, was christened here, and the second president of the USA, John Quincy Adams, was married in All Hallows while ambassador to the Court of St. James. In the crypt is an altar believed to have been carried on the Second Crusade by King Richard II.''

The service was well attended and very uplifting. It provided an appropriate conclusion to the girls' holiday. John Day was deeply involved in its progress, bowing his head in prayer. The girls looked around, examining the building and the other worshippers.

After the service, they had lunch, then John Day accompanied them to the station where they caught a late afternoon train to Worcester. As they parted they thanked him for the wonderful
treat he had provided. He kissed the hand of each girl as he said his goodbyes, assuring them that he too had enjoyed the weekend.

No sooner had their train left the station than Muriel asked the question which had been itching to leave her tongue.

“What did you think of John's opinion that women are not intelligent enough to make up their own minds?''

"A typical male attitude,” said Charlotte. “My father holds that opinion. That is why he was so incensed when my sisters left home. He hadn’t arranged for them to do so, and they had not asked his permission to do so. He is incapable of accepting that they can arrange their own affairs.''

“My father also had that attitude,'' said May. "He would have offered the same advice.''

"What of your mother?'' Muriel asked. "Did she have a life of her own while he was alive?''

"Oh yes,” said May. "She was a member of the Choral Society, and daily attended services in the cathedral. She was a member of the Worcester School of Embroidery. A few years ago, she won a prize for lace making.''

“I can hardly see your father objecting to her making lace, or singing in a choir, or going to church,'' said Muriel with a smile. "Did she defer to him in all matters?''

“Yes, she did, and that is partly why her widowhood has been so difficult for her. She tries to get my brother, Tom, to help her make decisions, but he is only fourteen and often doesn’t even know what she is talking about. She doesn’t seem to think she is capable of deciding things, so usually I tell her what to do. She doubts that I know anything either, being a mere woman, but at least things get done.”

"And are you going to follow her example and do all that your husband dictates that you should do?'' Muriel asked.

“How can I say what I will do until I see whom I will marry? If I were to marry John, I think I would be content to let him make decisions. He made a wonderful choice of play and the sights we should see. I expect he would ask my opinion on occasion, though I would mostly go along with what he said.''

"And what of your father Dot?'' Muriel asked. "What was he like?''

“I don’t know really,” said Dot shyly. “I didn’t see much of him. I think mother deferred to his decisions.''

“It looks like Charlotte and I are the only ones here who are willing to stand up for the right of females to make decisions,'' said Muriel firmly. "That we are just as intelligent as men.''

“Does your father allow your mother to make her own decisions?” asked Dot.

“He consults with both of us over everything that relates to our well being. He doesn’t ask us for advice about how to run his business, but he took me with him to give my opinion on the paintings he bought recently. He values my intelligence, and I, for one, am not willing to let any man take that away from me.”

“And what if you had said you didn’t like the paintings he had chosen, would he have then not bought them?” asked May.

“There was no question of that, as we both enjoy the same things. But I think if it had come to it, he would have deferred to my opinion. He made it plain that he was buying the pictures in the knowledge that I would one day own them and therefore it was necessary that I should like them.''

“So if you want a husband who will allow you to think for yourself, does that mean that your quest to get Mr. John Day to marry you is at an end?” said May with a huge smile on her face.

“It certainly means that I won’t make any rash decisions in that direction,” Muriel replied calmly. "And I am very interested in knowing whether John's brother Harold holds similar views about the female mind.''