After their marriage, they published together a collection of essays and lectures. Mrs. Fawcett’s _Political Economy for Beginners_ appeared shortly after, and quickly won its way to popularity. Fawcett was always eager in acknowledging his wife’s help, and not only as his literary critic and editor. He valued her judgment in political matters more than his own, and would leave important questions unsettled until he had discussed them with her. He gave a touching proof of his devotion and belief in her ability when a sudden accident threatened Mrs. Fawcett’s life, and shook him out of his usual reserve. They had been riding together at Brighton, when Mrs. Fawcett was thrown violently from her horse. The fall knocked her senseless, and she did not regain consciousness for some time. The blind man could not be convinced that her stupor was not death, and that his friends, were not deceiving him. The grief and uncontrollable weeping of the big man were infinitely touching. He was so completely overcome that he had to give up an election meeting which he had expected to attend in the evening. On the following day, at a great assembly, he referred to his absence, and thanked the constituency for its previous support, saying that whatever difficulties he had met had been surmounted with the aid of others, and because he had ‘a help-mate whose political judgment was much less frequently at fault than his own.’ This was his attitude to his wife and her opinions throughout his life. Footnote 1: The above was given to the writer by the late Lord Avebury at his home in London in 1911; it is taken directly from the notes made at the time. CHAPTER XIV THE WOMAN AND THE VOTE The Home in London—Sympathy with Woman Suffrage—The Blind Gardener—Clubs—Hatred of Flunkeyism. [Sidenote: The Home in London.] His belief in Woman Suffrage probably began before he met his wife. It was but a month after his marriage that he voted for Mill’s motion in favour of extending the suffrage to women, the first time the question was introduced into the House of Commons. The hampered and restricted position of women industrially was a condition that stirred Fawcett strongly. He felt that to bring the necessary pressure upon legislation, women should have votes, and that much of the injustice from which they suffered was due to their political powerlessness.