Ladies' Gallery and something like rioting in
Parliament Square before ever it occurred to Sir Isaac that this was a
disturbance that touched his home. He had supposed suffragettes were
ladies of all too certain an age with red noses and spectacles and a
masculine style of costume, who wished to be hugged by policemen. He
said as much rather knowingly and wickedly to Charterson. He could not
understand any woman not coveting the privileges of Lady Harman. And
then one day while Georgina and her mother were visiting them, as he was
looking over the letters at the breakfast table according to his custom
before giving them out, he discovered two identical newspaper packets
addressed to his wife and his sister-in-law, and upon them were these
words printed very plainly, "Votes for Women."

"Good Lord!" he cried. "What's this? It oughtn't to be allowed." And he
pitched the papers at the wastepaper basket under the sideboard.

"I'll thank you," said Georgina, "not to throw away our _Votes for
Women_. We subscribe to that."

"Eh?" cried Sir Isaac.

"We're subscribers. Snagsby, just give us those papers." (A difficult
moment for Snagsby.) He picked up the papers and looked at Sir Isaac.

"Put 'em down there," said Sir Isaac, waving to the sideboard and then
in an ensuing silence handed two letters of no importance to his
mother-in-law. His face was pale and he was breathless. Snagsby with an
obvious tactfulness retired.

Sir Isaac watched the door close.

His remark pointedly ignored Georgina.

"What you been thinking about, Elly," he asked, "subscribing to _that_
thing?"

"I wanted to read it."

"But you don't hold with all that Rubbish----"

"_Rubbish!_" said Georgina, helping herself to marmalade.

"Well, rot then, if you like," said Sir Isaac, unamiably and panting.

With that as Snagsby afterwards put it--for the battle raged so fiercely
as to go on even when he presently returned to the room--"the fat was in
the fire." The Harman breakfast-table was caught up into the Great
Controversy with heat and fury like a tree that is overtaken by a forest
fire. It burnt for weeks, and smouldered still when the first white
heats had abated. I will not record the arguments of either side, they
were abominably bad and you have heard them all time after time; I do
not think that whatever side you have taken in this matter you would
find much to please you in Sir Isaac's goadings or Georgina's repartees.
Sir Isaac would