by Val Wood
‘Strange, isn’t it?’ Lucy murmured, toying with a fork. ‘We both had a bad start in life and yet here we are on the cusp of a much better one. We’re lucky, aren’t we?’
Oswald raised his glass. ‘Let’s drink a toast to those who made it happen.’
It was almost ten o’clock when arm in arm they strolled back to the hotel. It was a lovely evening, warm and rather sultry. ‘I’m so pleased you came with me, Oswald,’ she told him. ‘I’ve enjoyed this evening and I don’t feel nervous now, but rather looking forward to tomorrow.’
He squeezed her arm. ‘Good. We’ll leave plenty of time to walk there. It’s not far – I looked it up on the map.’
They collected their room keys and walked up the stairs together. Lucy was on the first floor and Oswald on the second. He escorted her to her door and kissed her cheek. ‘Good night, Lucy. Sleep well.’
‘Thank you, Oswald. I hope you do too.’ She smiled. ‘I’ll see you at breakfast.’
She closed her door behind her and he walked on up the next flight of stairs, unlocked his door, took off his jacket and shoes and stretched out on the bed, his arms behind his head. ‘Well, well,’ he murmured. ‘Little Lucy.’ He lay there for a few more minutes and then heaved out a breath. ‘Now there’s a thing.’
The next morning they made their way to the hospital and Lucy was collected by a female clerk who escorted her to the interview room and asked her to wait. After a few minutes the door opened again and two women came in, one of whom, slightly senior and of a serious countenance, introduced herself as Dr Anna Cavendish and her colleague as Dr Olga Schultz.
The interview lasted about thirty minutes and although not gruelling was intensive as they asked about her aspirations and ambitions as well as her education. She felt exhausted at the end of it but thought she had answered as truthfully as possible.
Dr Cavendish closed up her folder and said, ‘Your examination results have been excellent, Miss Thornbury, and I think we have everything.’
Dr Schultz thanked Lucy for coming and gave her a complicit smile as she rose to indicate the interview was over.
‘I’ll see Miss Thornbury out,’ Dr Cavendish said. ‘This place is quite a warren.’
Lucy noticed the look of surprise on Dr Schultz’s face, though the other woman said nothing except goodbye, and then Dr Cavendish was opening the door and they stepped outside into the long corridor. As they walked along it towards the stairs Dr Cavendish cleared her throat and said, ‘I remember your father, Miss Thornbury.’
A small gasp escaped Lucy’s lips and she turned her gaze to Dr Cavendish. ‘Really?’
‘Yes. He was in his final year, I believe, and I in my third. Female students rarely had the chance of meeting young men in those days, and many of them were hostile to us, but just occasionally there were social events where we were given the opportunity to mix. Sounds so archaic, doesn’t it, and yet it wasn’t so long ago.’
Lucy felt very emotional; it seemed that lately a picture of her father was building up, but not of her mother.
‘We were very serious young women, determined to overcome any obstacles and moreover to prove ourselves.’ Dr Cavendish gave a swift smile. ‘But that didn’t mean that we didn’t recognize a handsome young man when we saw one. Your father was at King’s, wasn’t he?’ Without waiting for a reply, she went on, ‘He had a good friend there too – erm – Matthew Warrington. They were the idols of many a young woman and not only because they supported the rights of female students! However, I seem to recall your father only had eyes for one female student. What happened to him?’ she asked abruptly. ‘You said in your letter he was a doctor.’
Lucy’s mouth trembled and her voice shook slightly as she spoke. ‘He and my mother were both killed in a train crash when I was very young. They – we – were coming to London to visit his brother – my uncle, now my guardian. I was one of the survivors; concussion and a broken arm. I – I don’t – I hardly remember them.’
‘I’m so sorry, my dear.’ Dr Cavendish paused in her stride. ‘So very sorry. Such a loss. What was your mother’s name?’
‘Alice,’ she said softly.
‘Alice!’ Dr Cavendish gave a winsome smile that lit up her plain features. ‘That was it. Many of the young women used to say that he would marry Alice one day.’
‘My mother was here?’ Lucy was astonished. ‘As a student? Training to be a doctor? I didn’t know!’ As they continued down the stairs to the floor below she saw Oswald sitting on a chair, absorbed in a magazine.
‘I don’t recall seeing her more than a few times and I didn’t know her,’ the doctor was saying. ‘I think she was in her first or second year, and we were all very engrossed in our studies. Determined to do well.’ She seemed pensive. ‘Such a waste,’ she said. ‘They would have had good professional lives ahead of them.’
‘My father was a doctor at the Hull Infirmary,’ Lucy told her. ‘As is Dr Warrington. I saw him just before I came here. No one has ever told me that my mother was also a doctor.’
Dr Cavendish heaved out a breath. ‘Perhaps she didn’t continue. It was very hard then, particularly for women; as it still is,’ she added. ‘Please give Dr Warrington my kindest regards, although I don’t think for a moment he will remember me – Anna Cavendish.’
Oswald looked up as they approached. He rose to his feet and gave Lucy a questioning look.
‘Dr Cavendish,’ Lucy said, ‘may I introduce my cousin Oswald Thornbury? Oswald, this is Dr Cavendish.’
They shook hands, and Dr Cavendish glanced at the magazine that he was still holding. ‘Are you also interested in the medical profession, Mr Thornbury?’
‘Erm, no, at least, yes, very interested, because of Lucy, not as a profession for myself.’
‘Ah, and so you are – where?’
‘Cambridge, doctor. Reading science – maths and physics.’
‘Most impressive,’ she said, before turning to Lucy. ‘We are always interested to hear about our students’ friends and relatives,’ she said. ‘It helps to build up a broader picture.’
‘I see.’ Lucy was beginning to feel overwhelmed. ‘Of course.’
Dr Cavendish smiled and held out her hand. ‘I look forward to seeing you again at your next interview, Miss Thornbury, when you will also meet the dean. Thank you for coming.’
Lucy shook her hand and they went their separate ways. ‘May I hold on to your arm, Oswald?’ she said breathlessly. ‘I think I might fall over after all.’
They stepped outside into the sunshine and walked a few steps away from the door, then Oswald let out a whoop, picked Lucy up and swung her off her feet.
‘Oh, how clever you are!’ he exclaimed.
‘What?’ she said, holding on to her hat. ‘Didn’t you hear what she said? I’ve to come back for another interview.’
‘Yes, I did, and I also heard her say that they liked to hear about their students’ friends and relatives, not prospective students!’
‘Oh!’ Lucy said. ‘She knew my father, Oswald, can you believe it? And she told me that my mother was also a student here!’
It was his turn to be astonished. ‘Really? Come on, I’m going to buy you lunch, out of my own pocket, not the money Pa gave us to spend, and you can tell me all about it.’
She laughed and took his arm again and they walked away from the building. Dr Cavendish, looking out from a window which she always did after an interview when the students were not aware of her presence, watched with an intent and questioning gaze.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Lucy’s aunt and uncle were delighted with what she told them and both were enthusiastic about her almost certain acceptance at the next interview. Later, Lucy asked William how much he knew about her mother.
‘I was astonished to hear that Mama had been a medical student at the same time as my father,’ she said. ‘Dr Cavendish, who interviewed me, said that she remembered her being there although she didn’t know her.’
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p; William drew in a breath. ‘I hadn’t met her in those early days, and we were all very surprised when Joseph announced that he was getting married. Our parents were worried that he would find it difficult financially to begin a medical career and maintain a wife.’
‘And my mother wouldn’t have been allowed to continue her medical training once she was married,’ Lucy said thoughtfully. ‘It seems to me that a woman has to be very determined in order to join the profession.’
He smiled. ‘Indeed. It has to be a very special woman with perseverance and passion to be able to succeed.’
It was a week later when Lucy received an official letter inviting her to return for a final interview when she would be considered as a possible candidate to study medicine. She shook with nerves; she was on the cusp of her eighteenth birthday and wondered if they would think her too young. Still, she pondered. They know my age already so surely they would have said so at the first interview.
She wrote again to Dr Warrington, telling him of the letter and asking him if he would be kind enough to write to Dr Mary Murdoch as he had offered, in the hope that she might meet her before she was due to go back for the final interview.
As good as his word, he had written to Dr Murdoch offering, if she agreed, to take Lucy to see her, and very soon he was able to tell Lucy that a meeting had been arranged for the following week.
‘We can walk if you like,’ he suggested. ‘She only lives on Beverley Road so it’s not very far at all.’ He called for her and they talked as they walked, he telling her of his admiration for Dr Murdoch, who had campaigned so hard for women in the medical profession and for women’s suffrage in particular.
‘I’ll join the campaign,’ Lucy said emphatically. ‘I read about it whilst at school and also when I was at Cheltenham, but my excuse was that there was such a lot of study that I never had time to do anything about it.’
‘There will be even more if your application is successful,’ he told her. ‘If you thought study hard then, you will find it even harder once you begin medical school. Yet those pioneering women fought to become doctors on an equal footing with men and campaigned for the rights of women at the same time. Alas,’ he added, ‘they are still lagging behind in medicine and it is the hostile men who are holding them back: some older men, my age, who won’t relinquish their power and even some younger men who really should know better.’
She nodded. She had read accounts of the hostility of some of the male students and even of a riot in Scotland when seven women were once excluded from a final exam.
She mentioned this to Dr Warrington and he answered, ‘Yes, they were known as the Edinburgh Seven and became quite famous. But that was over forty years ago and there has been much improvement since then. Here we are,’ he said, opening a gate to the footpath of a house. ‘Don’t be nervous. She’ll be delighted to meet you.’
A housekeeper showed them into a small sitting room and told them that Dr Murdoch would be along shortly and asked would they like tea. Both refused, Lucy because she thought she would be too nervous to drink it and would spill it all over herself and the carpet. But her nerves disappeared when the doctor appeared followed by another younger woman, and she stood up to greet them.
Dr Murdoch shook hands with Lucy and Dr Warrington and then introduced them to Dr Louisa Martindale, who also shook hands and said, ‘I’m afraid I can’t stay as I must get back to the hospital, but I wanted to meet you, Miss Thornbury, and wish you every success.’
Lucy thanked her and said how nice it was to meet her too.
Louisa Martindale gazed at her for a moment. ‘How young you are. And yet I was just as young when I decided I wanted to be a doctor. It is a long, hard road, but opportunities are opening up for women in medicine, thanks to people like Dr Murdoch.’ She shook hands again with Lucy, and wished her good luck.
They were asked to be seated and Dr Murdoch explained that she had brought Dr Martindale to work alongside her at the children’s hospital as she had exceptional talent, but that she would eventually go on to carve her own career.
‘You need to have stamina, Miss Thornbury,’ she said. ‘Trust in what you believe in, and more than anything believe in yourself. I must warn you, however, that medicine is not for the faint-hearted. Dr Warrington has perhaps warned you of that already?’
Lucy nodded. ‘He has explained how much more study I can expect, more than I have already experienced.’
‘Indeed,’ Dr Murdoch said. ‘It is hard, and although I say it again, you must have exceptional talent to succeed. You must be better than you think you are and you must expect, no matter how clever, to be marked down as lower academically than your male colleagues.’ She smiled at Lucy’s astonished expression and added, ‘Even if you know you are superior.’
After more discussion, Lucy left the house, giving Dr Murdoch her grateful thanks. Her thoughts were whirling. She had answered the doctor’s questions as honestly as she could and had asked many herself, although as she walked back with Dr Warrington she thought of many more that she might have asked.
Dr Warrington swung his cane as they walked back to town. ‘Well, are you of the same mind? Do you still want to enter the profession, given what you have heard?’
Lucy paused for a second before answering. ‘I do. I might not succeed, though I won’t know that unless I try. But first of all I have to get through the next interview.’
She discussed everything she had learned from Dr Murdoch with her aunt, her uncle and Oswald, but didn’t tell them the full extent of the amount of study she would have to do. She knew that she wouldn’t have to explain to Oswald, as he would know already how much work lay ahead of her, and William had studied mathematics at university before going into banking, but Nora had not had a university education, or any education worth mentioning.
William had drawn her to one side and said that if she succeeded in the interview and was accepted, then he would like to speak to her about finances. It wasn’t something she had considered, but he assured her that everything was in hand and that there were no monetary worries.
This time she travelled alone to London. She had said that if she was going to be independent then the time to start was now. Her aunt saw her off at the railway station; her uncle had reserved a seat in the ladies’ carriage from Hull and there would be a change of trains in York.
She was nervous as always, but in the carriage there were two other young women travelling alone and one travelling with her mother. The mother looked at the three unaccompanied young women and sniffed rather disparagingly, but her daughter, who was probably about Lucy’s age, seemed to be gazing enviously at all three of them.
When they arrived in York, the mother and daughter left the station and the daughter turned round to watch them; Lucy gave her a little wave and followed the others towards the London train.
‘That poor girl,’ one of the others said as together they entered the ladies’ carriage. She was a tall broad-shouldered young woman, probably in her late twenties. ‘Imagine having to have your mama with you all the time.’ She smiled brightly at Lucy and the other young woman. ‘Are you going to the rally?’
‘Which rally is that?’ Lucy asked.
‘The suffragettes, of course. I thought as you were travelling alone …’
‘I’m visiting relatives in London,’ the other girl said. ‘I didn’t know there was a rally.’
‘Really? Don’t you keep up with the news?’ the first young woman said patronizingly, then turned her attention to Lucy.
‘I’m attending an interview,’ Lucy said quietly, adding, ‘Do you have to go as far as London for a rally? Don’t you support the Hull suffragist movement?’ She gave a questioning lift of her eyebrows. ‘Or perhaps you are more militant than your Hull compatriots?’
The woman looked taken aback. ‘I, erm, I don’t know if there is a rally in Hull. I haven’t read about there being one.’
‘So you don’t belong to the national women’s union? The
one headed by Dr Mary Murdoch?’ Lucy was annoyed by the other woman’s condescending manner and was determined to bring her down a peg. She succeeded, as the woman muttered something to the effect that she hadn’t had time to join as yet, and opened up a magazine to read.
The other girl came across and sat next to her. ‘My name’s Millicent Thomas,’ she whispered. ‘Milly, my friends call me. Are you going to be a teacher? That’s what I want to be eventually, or a governess if I don’t pass the examination.’
Lucy shook her head. ‘No,’ she whispered back. ‘A doctor.’ She smiled. ‘And I’ll have to pass examinations too.’
Milly Thomas gazed at her in awe and heaved a breath. ‘Goodness,’ she murmured. ‘How wonderful; how very clever of you.’ She clasped her hands together. ‘I’ll mention you in my prayers and wish you good luck too.’ She bent towards Lucy and lowered her voice further. ‘I have to work; otherwise I’ll be dependent on my brother, poor lamb, who is struggling to support our mother and me until I’m old enough to earn a living. I’m only just seventeen, you see, and I’m visiting our uncle, my mother’s brother, to ask if he can increase Mother’s allowance until then.’ She sighed. ‘I’ve written to him but he doesn’t seem to understand how difficult it has been since Father died, so I’m going to ask him to his face. I think he will help, providing his wife doesn’t object.’ She sighed again as she sat back against the seat and sadly shook her head.
Lucy felt very sorry for her and thought how hard it must be for someone so young, a year younger than she was, to be beset with worries over money, and how lucky she was to be so well provided for. Then her cogitations moved on to her uncle William, who had been so kind and thoughtful, becoming a surrogate father and guardian of her assets.
She wondered if he struggled at all with his own finances; he was providing for Oswald as well as his wife and daughter and she decided that, when they discussed her finances as he had said he wanted to on her return, she would ask if it would be possible for her to assist Oswald with his university fees.