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broth prepared by a servant. But Margaret Lorimer’s descriptions of her arguments with landlords and disinfectings of rooms indicated a more practical approach.
    â€˜It is a very particular interest,’ she told him. ‘I wish to see women give birth to healthy babies, and to watch those babies grow up to be healthy children. Do you know how many of our city children die before their first birthday, Mr Gregson? It is a number that shames us all.’
    â€˜We need more doctors, I suppose,’ he said. It was a casual conversational remark, but its effect startled him.
    â€˜Yes,’ she said with a sudden emphasis, stronger than any she had used before. When she repeated the word it was in a quieter manner, almost as though she were talkingto herself. ‘Yes. We need more doctors. I wish very much that I could become a doctor.’
    Now she had surprised him indeed. For the first time since his arrival he looked directly into her eyes. There was an earnestness in her expression which bore a family relationship to the determination to be seen in her father’s eyes at all times. But John Junius was a man who not only expected instant obedience to his orders: he was confident of obtaining it. His daughter’s opinions might be equally strong, but it seemed that she had accepted defeat so far as putting them into practice was concerned.
    â€˜And is this not possible?’ he asked cautiously. It was true that he was not acquainted with any women doctors, but he had assumed that this was because girls found the profession too unpleasant or too intellectually demanding for them to attempt entry into it. Even before he asked the question he guessed that he was wrong.
    â€˜There are obstacles on every side, so grave that any one by itself would be enough to make such a wish impossible of fulfilment. Here in Bristol, for example, a new College of Science is due to open in October. For the first time women will be admitted to the classes - in every subject except one. The exception is medicine.’
    â€˜You must go to London. There is a School of Medicine for Women, is there not?’
    â€˜Yes,’ she agreed; and she must have been pleased that he had troubled to remember the fact when he heard it, for her sudden smile was charming. ‘I suppose it is a great advance. Women are allowed to follow the same courses off study there as male students. But when the first women to enrol finish their studies, they will find that no university in England is prepared to examine them. Without a degree they cannot be admitted to the medical register. Without such registration they cannot practise.’
    â€˜Surely some women doctors do exist.’
    â€˜A handful, yes, but each of them has had to qualify inFrance or Switzerland or the United States. How can I ask my father to pay the expenses of a course which may prove to be entirely wasted, or else to allow me to live alone in a foreign country? Since he would disapprove even of the ambition, the means needed to achieve it would seem quite insupportable. And even if all these problems were to melt away - ’He saw her lips tighten in disapproval. ‘Three years ago a female physician was appointed to the staff of the Children’s Hospital in Bristol. Immediately the appointment was known, every other member of the staff resigned.’
    â€˜And so what happened?’
    â€˜Do you really need to ask, Mr Gregson?’
    Of course he did not. They were both silent for a moment, turning back from the parapet of the lower terrace without even pausing to admire the splendour of the view. David was sorry that he had allowed the subject to be discussed to a point which obviously caused his companion distress. He could tell that it was still on her mind, for she gave a sigh of hopelessness.
    â€˜It might be possible to oppose one’s family with the backing of society, I suppose,’ she said. ‘Or to oppose society with the