The life of Eve De La Cruz

Chapter Six

May 1914

In Ripon, Eve and Sybil stand among many in a crowd in the city hall courtyard listening to the speaker. Those in the horde were either cheering or booing.

"Last June saw Emily Davison crushed to death beneath the hooves of the King's horse! Will the summer of 1914 prove as fatal for the hopes of women? It cannot! This historic by-election can be the first step of the journey to women's equality!" He yelled.

"If you're so keen on women's rights, let a woman speak!" A woman yelled at the speaker.

"But why stop there? Let's get the dogs up and listen to them bark!" A man yelled in response. Some men in the crowd began to throw things at the speaker, and he dodged them as he continued to speak.

"Women! Women...are thrown out of jail...!"

Branson approaches Sybil and Eve to stand beside them in the crowd, "Are you all right, Miladies?"

"Isn't it exciting?" Sybil responded.

"This is what women have been waiting for, Tom," Eve told him.

"Only to be dragged back inside!"

Isobel sees Sybil and Eve in the crowd and pushes through to reach them, "Sybil, Eve, I think it's time for Branson to take you home!"

"Not yet," Sybil argued.

"We can't. We have to stay," Eve argued.

"I think so. I applaud your spirit in coming, and I will applaud your discretion when you leave!" She told them.

"But you agree with everything he says?" Sybil asked.

"I do, my dear, but I also know if anything happens to you, Branson will lose his place," Isobel answered.

"Better safe than sorry, Milady, "Branson spoke before putting an arm around Sybil, who grabbed Eve's hand and pushed a path for them through the jeering crowd.

"The car is just here," He informed.

"Women must get the vote, mustn't they, Branson? Why does the prime minister resist the inevitable?" Sybil questioned as they reached the car.

"Politicians can't often recognize the changes that are inevitable," Branson opens the car door for Sybil and Eve, and they step in.

After some time, the motor drove on country roads as they returned to Downton.

"I hope you do go into politics. It's a fine ambition," Sybil spoke to Branson.

"Ambition or dream? If I do, it's not all about women, and the vote for me, nor even freedom for Ireland. It's the gap between the aristocracy and the poor and..." He cuts himself off.

"And what?"

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to speak against His Lordship," Branson apologized.

"Why not?" Sybil asked, "You obviously don't approve of him."

"There are times when I don't approve of him," Eve spoke.

"Not as a representative of an oppressive class. But he's a good man and a decent employer."

"Spoken like a true politician. What do I look like?" Sybil looks at herself in the mirror.

"You look better than I do, Sybil," Eve told her.

"Could you sneak us around the back?" Sybil asked, "I should hate for Papa to see me like this."

Upon arriving at Downton, Sybil and Eve went through the back door. They run into William as he exits a room holding a candelabra.