Mumma herself never loses her temper, but, even as she, once upon a time, allowed herself to speak of the Suffragettes as unsexed, hysterical idiots, so she now condemns as wicked, irreligious, and immoral, the increased scope of the Divorce Laws and the new independence of Domestic Servants. Since the thirtieth birthday of the twins, Mrs. Kendal has allowed herself more latitude in mentioning such subjects in their presence. She quite believes, and often proclaims, that she has the complete confidence of all her children.
Dolly and Aileen are affectionately regarded by the whole family as being the emancipated members of it.
“No one ever allowed us to read the books they read,” Blanche told me, after Mumma had actually left a library copy of “Women Napoleon Loved” lying about the drawing-room, without troubling to shroud it in a brown paper cover.
And Amy pointed out, quite unresentfully, that she and Blanche had always been made to dress alike, at the twins’ age. This was when Dolly boldly appeared in a tailor-made shirt with pink stripes, although Aileen had not yet discarded her winter “everyday” cream-colored flannel.
Variegated sweaters and low-necked silk jumpers, such as Sallie Ambrey wears, Mumma has pronounced to be in bad style.
Dolly, who was my informant upon this point, seemed to think that I might get a false impression of Mumma and her ideals from it, for she added at once:
“Not that Mumma is in the least narrow-minded about things of that sort, or indeed of any sort. Long before the days of women’s suffrage—although of course she disapproved utterly of the militant ones—Mumma always said that she saw no harm whatever in a woman having a vote, so long as she could find a good wise man to tell her how to use it.”
I could only feel thankful that neither Sallie nor Martyn was present to hear this remarkable testimony to Mumma’s catholicity of outlook.
It was the summer that Christopher Ambrey spent at the Manor House with us, that Puppa acquired a motor car.
The girls were not allowed to drive it. Two of them sat on the back of the car, poised upon the extreme edge of the seat, while Mumma sat in front and Puppa drove. Christopher once told me that it took General Kendal five-and-twenty minutes to drive from “Dheera Dhoon” to Miss Applebee’s shop—a distance of perhaps half a mile. Mumma, sitting beside him, and diffusing a general sense of tension, adopted the role of look-out.