PHOEBE. I don’t know anything, except that I had an urgent telegram from mamma this morning to call a meeting of the entire Council here at three o’clock. She’s coming up from Manchester on purpose. (_To_ HAKE.) Mrs. Chilvers hasn’t returned yet, has she? HAKE. Not yet, miss. Shall I telephone— PHOEBE. (_Shakes her head_.) No; it’s all right. I have seen her. Let her know we are here the moment she comes in. HAKE. Yes, miss. (_He has finished the arrangements_. _The table has been placed in the centre of the room_, _six chairs round it_, _one of them being a large armchair_. _He has placed writing materials and a large silver gravy spoon_. _He is going_.) PHOEBE. Why aren’t you sure your wife wasn’t at the meeting last night? Didn’t she say anything? HAKE. Well, miss, unfortunately, just as she was starting, Mrs. Comerford—that’s the wife of the party that keeps the shop downstairs—looked in with an order for the theatre. PHOEBE. Oh! HAKE. So I thought it best to ask no questions. PHOEBE. Thank you. HAKE. Thank you, miss. (_He goes out_.) ELIZABETH. Can nothing be done to rouse the working-class woman out of her apathy? PHOEBE. Well, if you ask me, I think a good deal has been done. ELIZABETH. Oh, what’s the use of our deceiving ourselves? The great mass are utterly indifferent. JANET (_She is seated in an easy-chair near the fire_.) I was talking to a woman only yesterday—in Bethnal Green. She keeps a husband and three children by taking in washing. “Lord, miss,” she laughed, “what would we do with the vote if we did have it? Only one thing more to give to the men.” PHOEBE. That’s rather good. ELIZABETH. The curse of it is that it’s true. Why should they put themselves out merely that one man instead of another should dictate their laws to them? PHOEBE. My dear girl, precisely the same argument was used against the Second Reform Bill. What earthly difference could it make to the working men whether Tory Squire or Liberal capitalist ruled over them? That was in 1868. To-day, fifty-four Labour Members sit in Parliament. At the next election they will hold the balance. ELIZABETH. Ah, if we could only hold out _that_ sort of hope to them! (ANNYS _enters_. _She is in outdoor costume_. _She kisses_ PHOEBE, _shakes hands with the other two_. ANNYS’S _age is about twenty-five_. _She is a beautiful_, _spiritual-looking creature_, _tall and graceful_, _with a manner that is at the same time appealing and commanding_. _Her voice is soft and caressing_, _but capable of expressing all the emotions_. _Her likeness to her younger sister_ PHOEBE _is of the slightest_: _the colouring is the same_, _and the eyes that can flash_, _but there the similarity ends_. _She is simply but well dressed_. _Her soft hair makes a quiet but wonderfully effective frame to her face_.)