"Joan of Arc rode astride," I pointed out.
"Florence Nightingale didn't break windows to impress the War Office."
"As an academic question," I said, "how's your woman of personality going to make her influence effective in twentieth-century England?"
"Have you met many women of personality?"
"A fair sprinkling."
"So I have; you could feel it as if they were mesmerising you, you had to do anything they told you. But they'd none of them votes."
The arrival of tea turned our thoughts from politics, and at the end of my second cup I advanced delicately towards the purpose of my call.
"You like plain speaking, don't you, Sylvia?" I began.
"As plain as you like."
"Well, you're not treating the Seraph fairly."