Will and Testament // Sequel to the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Twenty

"How are we supposed to decide what's important for a debate?" I asked, collapsing onto the sofa in the parlour and dropping my satchel onto the floor.

"I guess it will be all of the major points, the ones that have the most value in answering the question." She shrugged and pulled a stack of paper from her bag.

"So the main one would be that we have to obey the laws and should have the right to vote for them too."

"That sounds right."

Evelyn scribbled it down onto the paper. I readjusted my position on the sofa so I sat cross-legged and could see her paper a little easier. We spent the car ride back to the house trying to come up with as many possible arguments as we could with Marsh even throwing in a few options that we could use. However, we had far too many ideas and we knew there would be a time limit on how long I had to present my argument so we decided to break it down into more important arguments.

Upstairs, I could hear the creak of the floorboards and someone moving around, but I had no idea who it was or whether Mother had even emerged from her room. In all fairness, I didn't mind all that much since it meant I didn't have to face and I knew that seeing her would only make things awkward and have Evelyn asking too many questions. Not seeing her for the entire day would be perfect for me.

On the floor, I could just make out the stains left behind from me flipping my plate onto the floor. Most of it had gone onto the wood, but the jam tart that fell onto the rug had left a small, almost unnoticeable stain. If Evelyn did notice it, she didn't say anything.

"What would be the other important points?" Evelyn asked.

"Women's freedom? Giving women more agency over themselves and it would also be that first step into more opportunities for women."

"That's a good one, but Mildred would be able to spin it and talk about how it's a woman's duty to look after her husband and household. If you go for that route along with the fact that women have to obey laws so should vote for them, then it'll have to be pretty concrete."

"Which is why you're here. I'm going to need all the help I can get with this."

She smiled. "I think you could handle this one on your own."

"I thought I heard voices," Mrs Smith said, appearing in the doorway. "Your giggling can be heard in the kitchen."

"Sorry. Mrs Smith, this is Evelyn Davison. Evelyn, this is Mrs Smith, the housekeeper here."

"Nice to meet you, Evelyn. Why don't I get you both some biscuits or something? You can keep your energy up when you complete your schoolwork."

"Thank you."

Mrs Smith nodded before leaving the room. She returned a short while later with a plate of biscuits and some glasses of orange juice which we both drank when we worked. I nibbled on the edge of the biscuits but I still didn't feel all that hungry even though it had been over a day since I last ate anything substantial. Usually, I would have devoured the entire plate in a matter of seconds, but I just didn't feel like I could stomach any food.

We worked for an hour, the two of us coming up with a list of different points I could make for my argument. Although we would need to put them into a more cohesive format when it came to the debate itself, the list would have to be a start since Evelyn would be due home. I didn't want her to go since she offered me a buffer to protect myself from having to talk to Mother, but I knew she only had permission to stay for a little while.

Throughout the afternoon, Evelyn would occasionally look up at the portrait of Grandfather on the wall and I knew she wanted to talk about him. Part of me wished she would mention him, especially since no one else in the family wanted to, but the other part couldn't find the words to talk about him. That overwhelming feeling of grief would reappear inside of me at the thought of talking about him and I knew I would struggle to get the words out had she mentioned him. How could Uncle Matthew expect me to talk about it when I couldn't find the words?