This would be
part of the scheme of the wild women to get themselves all married;
that and _the legalisation of Polygamy_ which would follow the Vote
_as surely as the night the day_. Linda had an undefined terror that
her Michael might take advantage of such licentiousness to depose
her, like the Empress Josephine was put aside in favour of a
child-producing rival; or if polygamy came into force, that Miss
Warren might lawfully share the Professor's affections.
She was therefore greatly perturbed in the course of 1916 at the
sudden throwing up of the sponge by the Anti-suffragists. However,
there it was. The long struggle drew to a victorious close. Example
as well as precept pointed to what women could do and were worth;
sound arguments followed the inconveniences of militancy, and the
men were convinced. Or rather, the men in the mass and the fighting,
working men had for some time been convinced, but the great
statesmen who had so obstinately opposed the measures were now
weakening at the knees before the results of their own mismanagement
in the conduct of the War.
A further perplexity and anxiety for Mrs. Rossiter arose over the
German spy mania. She had been to one of Lady Towcester's afternoon
parties "to keep up our spirits." Lady Towcester collected for at
least six different charities and funds, and Mrs. Rossiter was a
generous subscriber to all six.
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