The Custom of the Trade

by Shaun Lewis

  ‘I have to say,’ Elizabeth continued. ‘I feel like a new woman after a bath and change of clothing. I’m going to burn those clothes I wore in Holloway.’

  ‘How nice for you, Elizabeth. When I get back to Lancashire I’m likely to find myself out of a job. My clothes are going to have to last me a long while yet, I’d say.’

  Elizabeth winced at Alice’s remark and grabbed her hand. ‘I’m sorry, Alice. That was tactless of me and it’s all my fault you were ever involved.’

  ‘Lizzy, I cannot restrain my curiosity further,’ Richard intervened. ‘I’ve given up leave to trot up from Portsmouth to answer your call of distress. I’ve gone to the expense of hiring you a lawyer and renting you a room in this establishment. Worst of all, I’ve lied to cover for you and Miss Robson and to protect your true identities. In just what have you been involved? How is it that a few days ago you were facing two months’ imprisonment and now you are here scoffing sandwiches? I reckon you owe me an explanation.’ Richard placed his cup and saucer on the table with such force it attracted the attention of some of the other hotel guests.

  ‘You’re right, of course, Dick darling. You’ve been such a sweetie. Alice and I were attending to WSPU business last week when the police arrested us. We’ve been attending classes in jiu-jitsu these past few weeks to become members of the Bodyguard.’

  ‘Just a moment. What’s this joojitsoo, and what do you mean by the Bodyguard?’

  ‘It’s a technique for self-defence from Japan. One of our members, Edith, is training a few of us how to handle violent hecklers.’

  ‘But is that absolutely necessary, Lizzy? I mean, a few insults from the crowd are hardly likely to lead to broken bones.’

  ‘Dick, you can be naïve at times. We often get treated like dogs. And the police are no better. Remember how they killed two women on Black Friday?’

  ‘Elizabeth is right, Mr Miller. And it’s not just violence either. Some men use it as a great opportunity to molest us outrageously, too.’

  ‘But that’s preposterous. I can’t believe that men would behave so indecently, and surely not the constabulary.’

  ‘Dick, believe me, it’s true,’ Elizabeth retorted sharply. ‘And the prison warders are no better. You would think we were animals, the way the Establishment treats us. You must know about the force-feeding?’

  ‘Of course I do, but I thought that was all over. After all, has the government not just passed legislation to stop all that?’

  ‘What rot, Dick. You’re referring to McKenna’s Cat and Mouse Act. All that happens is that after we fall ill from hunger, they release us for a few days under licence and then re-arrest us a week or so later. They think we’ll be too weak to cause trouble whilst out on licence and they don’t get undue publicity for their barbaric tube feeding. The trouble is that it’s working. That’s why we’ve formed the Bodyguard and how our altercation with the police came about.’

  ‘But, Lizzy, you’ve still not explained all that.’

  ‘You tell him, Alice. You’re the teacher.’

  ‘You mean, I was until last week, Elizabeth. Quite simply, Mr Miller, the role of the Bodyguard is to prevent our leaders being re-arrested under this new legislation, the Prisoners Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act. Last month our leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, was scandalously given three years and sent to Holloway. She immediately started a hunger strike and ten days later was released under licence, even before this new act had received Royal Assent. Her licence required her to return to prison to complete her sentence on the twenty-eighth, but she was too ill to do so. Since then she has been under siege by the police in the home of one of our number in Norfolk Square. Oh, Mr Miller, might I have just a little more to eat? I’m still ravenous.’

  ‘No, Dick. It would only make her ill. Alice, you must be careful. Finish the tea instead.’ Elizabeth poured the last of the tea from the pot.

  ‘Oh well, Elizabeth. I suppose you’re right. Anyway, to continue our story, last week two detectives tried to force entry into the house with a warrant for poor Emmeline’s arrest. Naturally, as members of the Bodyguard, we took action to prevent this and, in the ensuing scuffle, we were arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer. The truth is that it was more the other way round. Elizabeth can tell you the rest. I’m feeling a little tired.’

  ‘There’s not much else to add, anyhow. We went on hunger strike, too, and, as you already know, were due to appear in court a few days ago. Then, thanks to that darling little lawyer you sent us, the police seemed to have had a change of heart. The case was deferred and the next thing we knew was that we were bound over to keep the peace and released.’

  ‘And will you keep the peace, Lizzy?’

  ‘Fat chance. Thanks to our little ruse and your connivance, they don’t know our real names, so we are free to continue the fight.’

  ‘And what of your plans now, Lizzy, and you, Miss Robson?’

  ‘I’m going to Boulogne to see Christabel, lay low and recover for a short while. As soon as I’m feeling stronger, I’ll re-join the Bodyguard and help keep Emmeline free. You’re going back to your aunt’s are you not, Alice?’

  ‘I suppose so, but I’m not sure what I’m to tell my Aunt Emmy. If she finds I’ve been in prison, she’ll skin me alive and my mother would die of the shame. And I’m not sure that there’ll be a job for me at the school. I’ve missed the best part of a week.’

  ‘You may not have too much of a problem there, Miss Robson. I took the liberty of telephoning Miss Brockles and telling her you had been taken ill with a gastric problem whilst on a visit to my cousin in London. It was not too far from the truth and your present emaciated appearance will give credence to the deception. But, Lizzy, whilst I support your cause, please don’t ever ask me to lie for you again. Now, if there is nothing more you require of me, my love, I shall catch the next train back to Portsmouth. I have been neglecting my duties a little this past week, but fortunately Commodore Keyes is too polite to pry into my personal affairs.’

  Chapter 14

  November 1913

  Most women would have thought it unusual to be standing over a dry dock watching riveters at work. Elizabeth Miller, however, was not like most women of 1913. She was fascinated by the skill of the men working in teams of four. The heater boy would insert the rivet into a coke brazier using long tongs to heat it until it was red hot. He would then toss the red-hot piece of metal to the catch boy, who would catch the rivet in a wooden bowl, before using another pair of tongs to place the rivet into a pre-drilled hole of two overlapping steel sheets. However, she knew that these ‘boys’ could in fact be of any age these days, and were generally strong, tough and wiry, due to the physical nature of the work. Each red-hot rivet could weigh a pound and if the heater and catch boys were clumsy, it could easily fall on a worker below and cause serious injury or death. The third man, and she was acutely aware riveters were always men, was called the holder up. It was his job to place a hammer over the head of the rivet. Finally, the fourth member of the team, the basher, would work from inside the ship or submarine to hammer the end of the rivet flat and in this way, bind the two steel plates tightly together. The team had to work quickly, not just to insert each rivet whilst it was still molten, but because they were on piece work. In her brother’s shipyard one team of riveters was known to have driven over 2,000 rivets in a single shift of twelve hours. It was extremely hard and often dangerous work, and it was no wonder the shipyard workers were a close-knit bunch. Like her brother and late father, Elizabeth had enormous respect for these men and, unlike some employers, paid much attention to their safety and welfare.

  On this unusually lovely November day it was not the riveters of the family yard she was observing, but those of the Naval Construction Yard in Barrow, belonging to recently renamed Vickers Limited. Richard had persuaded her to make the visit. He was now proudly sporting an additional thin ring between the two thick gold stripes on his sleeves.

 
‘Come on, Lizzy, that’s not her. She’s in the next dock.’

  Elizabeth could see that Richard was clearly impatient to show off his new command, HMS E9, laid down just five months earlier and now being fitted out for commissioning the following year. Even so, she thought he seemed to appreciate the genuine interest she was showing in the build of this other E-boat, recently laid down for the Royal Australian Navy.

  ‘You should be glad I’m interested. Visiting a shipyard isn’t exactly most girls’ idea of a birthday treat after all.’ She had obtained her majority just a few days earlier.

  ‘Forgive me, Lizzy, but just look this way. Isn’t she beautiful?’ Richard’s eyes gleamed with pride. ‘She’s the first of a new improved design, with more powerful engines and an extra bow tube. I’m even working on the builders to fit her with a gun, but their Lordships are frustrating me on that at present.’

  ‘I wouldn’t describe £100,000 of metal as beautiful, but I can see you are bursting with pride over her, Dick. I am so pleased for you, although you wouldn’t catch me going to sea in her, especially after your experience in D2 last year.’

  Richard visibly shuddered at the mention of the experience. Elizabeth immediately regretted bringing up the painful subject and mentally kicked herself. He had once told her that it was the closest he had ever come to death and she knew he had lost several of his shipmates. Most regrettable of all, he had lost his mentor, Johnson. The shock of his death had completely overshadowed the joy his widow had felt on the birth of their child. Richard assumed a far-off look and seemed completely unconscious of his surroundings and his cousin’s presence.

  Elizabeth laid a tender gloved hand on his forehead, softly touching the scar he had sustained during his escape from the sunken submarine, and gently brought him back to the present.

  ‘Dearest Dick, I’m sorry. Let’s look forwards not backwards. Now we’ll have a look at my rival for your affection.’

  There had not been much to see of Richard’s submarine. The builders had been unwilling to allow a woman down into the dock, whether through prejudice or a genuine concern about safety, Elizabeth was unable to judge. But on reflection, she could see their point. The boat was still only partially built and a hive of activity with several different trades represented, fitting cabling, pipework, machinery and all the other essential materiel of a modern warship. It would have been the same in Birkenhead. Visitors of any form were an unwelcome nuisance.

  As they took afternoon tea in the nearby Majestic Hotel, she quizzed her cousin on the principles of battery propulsion and the benefits of twin propellers. She also asked some very searching questions on the changes of metacentric height on diving beneath the surface.

  ‘Gosh, Lizzy, you seem very well up on technical matters.’

  ‘And just why should that surprise you, Dick? Father and I often discussed the work in the yard. He always treated me as Charles’s equal. We both recognised that he had to groom Charles to take over the running of the yard. There was no way the men would accept a woman in charge and I am the younger sibling, in any case. But Charles has always been more interested in commerce than engineering. Now, with dear Father gone, Charles quite often relies on me to oversee the drawing office. Maybe within twenty years we will have women naval architects. It doesn’t take brawn to design a triple-expansion engine.’

  ‘I take your point, Lizzy, but wonder whether twenty years might be a little optimistic.’

  ‘Who can say, but first we have to obtain the vote.’

  ‘I wish you well with that, too, dear Lizzy, but let’s not discuss that now. I want to talk about our future.’

  Elizabeth affected not to notice, but a surge of emotion passed through her bloodstream. ‘Golly, this is more like a birthday treat, Dick. These cakes are lovely. Thank you for inviting me up here.’ She squeezed his hand fondly.

  ‘I’m just glad you were able to drag yourself away from your suffragette friends for a day, Lizzy. I hope you had nothing to do with the burning down of Lloyd-George’s house. I rather fear the public are tiring of Mrs Pankhurst’s attacks.’

  ‘As it happens, I wasn’t involved, but I don’t condemn the act. Lloyd-George had it coming to him.’

  ‘But I rather thought he is considered in favour of your cause. He has certainly given enough speeches supporting votes for women. Why turn against him now?’

  ‘Hah! Words not deeds. That was when he was in opposition. Now he’s in government he’s turned Asquith against the idea. He and Churchill are a devious pair. They have both promised our cause every assistance possible, short of actual help. But for them, Asquith would have given sufficient parliamentary time for the Second Conciliation Bill to have been passed two years ago. As it is, the latest bill has been voted down by the Irish and there are no further plans to offer us the vote.’ She banged the table in frustration.

  ‘Hush, old girl. I can understand your vexation. You know I support your cause. I don’t understand why the Irish thought votes for women would be used to prevent Irish home rule, but then I don’t understand politics. I also don’t understand why your WSPU would bomb the Chancellor’s second home when he is seen as a prominent supporter of votes for women.’

  ‘But that’s just my point, Dick. He says one thing and does another,’ Elizabeth replied in a hushed tone and with gritted teeth. ‘He and the wobbler, Churchill, worked out that if middle class women were to be given the vote, then it could potentially add hundreds of thousands of votes to the strength of the Tory Party. So they persuaded Asquith to introduce a bill to extend the franchise to the four million working men not entitled to vote and their widows. Of course, the beauty of this measure is that it not only appears more democratic, but attracts the working class vote to the Liberal Party. As a politician you can’t argue against it, but in the meantime we are left nowhere.’

  ‘I sympathise, but let’s leave the subject of politics alone for a while. I’m sorry I raised it. More happily, I received a rare letter from my brother, Peter, last week. He seems happier in Tehran than in Paris.’

  ‘He may not be the most constant of correspondents, but he has found time to pen a few epistles to a certain young lady in Marton, I hear. Alice seems quite smitten with him, but like all of us, complains about the length of time between each of his letters.’

  ‘I had not forgotten you and Alice had become such chums. She’s a pretty lass, but I had hoped that after your brief stay earlier in the year at His Majesty’s pleasure, she at least might have cooled her support for the suffragette cause.’

  Elizabeth blushed at the memory and shame. At least Dick had been as good as his word and not mentioned the incident either to his father or her brother.

  ‘You need have no worries there, Dick. We both learned our lessons and Alice is still grateful to you for covering for her so that she could keep her job at the school.’

  ‘Don’t mention it. I was pleased to help and cannot help but worry for you both, that’s all. I regard it as my Christian duty. Do you think there may be a future in this relationship with my brother?’

  ‘I think it too early to say. They seem close enough, but absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. Moreover, I sense that Peter has still to find himself in some way or other. Latterly, before this latest posting, I thought him dissatisfied within himself. He appears to be seeking something. He may yet return from Tehran a changed man. And, of course, one hears so many tales of the harems of Arabia.’

  ‘You know very well he’s in Persia, not Arabia, you goose. I cannot say that I have your perception. I just miss him and long for his safe return. I know Mutti is worried about him, but then she frets about all her sons, including me for some reason.’

  ‘Perhaps last year demonstrated just cause for her concern for you, Dick. It came as a shock to us all. I couldn’t have borne it if you had died.’ Elizabeth’s eyes watered up and a tear escaped down her cheek. She looked away and reached into her handbag for a handkerchief. Richard took hol
d of her hand tenderly.

  ‘Don’t worry about me, old girl. I don’t think God’s quite ready for my company yet.’

  ‘Oh, Dick, you really can be an idiot sometimes.’ She did not elaborate, but dabbed her eyes with the handkerchief and composed herself once more.

  ‘But tell me more of your beloved E-boats. Note my use of the word “boat”, mind, and not “ship”, dear cousin. I know that in the RN, submarines are referred to as boats by the cognoscenti, in that ships carry boats and submarines do not. You see, I’m picking up the naval slang. How does the speed and endurance compare with the D-Class, or even your old rust bucket, B3?’

  Richard appeared frustrated by the change of subject. ‘Lizzy, you know I cannot give away the technical details. Who knows what use your suffragette friends might put to the knowledge? And don’t remind me of B3. Suffice to say, they are faster and have a longer range, as the boats have been designed to operate overseas rather than confined to the waters off our own coastline. I will have a bigger crew and even a Third Hand to act as Navigating Officer. However, neither of my officers, nor many of the crew will join much before the Commissioning next summer. But I didn’t invite you up here to talk about them. I want to talk about us. You know I love you and you say you love me.’

  ‘Don’t talk rot, my darling. Of course I love you. I have long held men as a sex in pretty low esteem, but not you, Dick darling. You are kind, decent and gentle. I love you with all my heart and always have.’ Elizabeth held up her hand to Richard’s lips to kiss.

  ‘Dearest Lizzy. I must speak with you and beg you will not interrupt. To be parted from you is like ripping my heart in two. It hurts. I have never been a passionate man as a rule, but in your presence my ardour for you becomes all consuming. I have never cared for anyone else so much in all my life and I just know that I could not live without you.’

  Richard paused to stretch his starched collar and Elizabeth noted beads of sweat forming on his temples. Her heart began to beat in anticipation of what he might be about to say. It was indeed not like him to be sentimental. He took hold of both her hands tightly.