the one who always complains about being stuck in boring old Croton-on hudson."
"I know I do, and I love being here, but it's not just the social life I want. I want something important to happen in my life too. I want to make a difference in the world. I want to stand for some thing more than just being Edward Henderson's daughter." She looked so intense and alive as she said it.
"It sounds so noble when you talk about it that way." Olivia smiled at her twin. Victoria had such grandiose ideas sometimes, and yet Olivia knew she really meant them. But still, she was a child in a way, and sometimes a very spoiled one. She wanted everything, people and fun and parties and New York, and there was a serious side to her too, that wanted to fight all the battles, right all the injustices, and make a difference in the world. She didn't know exactly what she wanted yet, but Olivia sensed sometimes that Victoria would do a lot more with her life than just live in Croton.
"What about being someone's wife? " Olivia asked her quietly, it was something she thought about once in a while, although she couldn't really imagine ever leaving her father. He needed her too badly.
"That's not what I want, " Victoria said firmly. "I don't want to belong to anyone, like a table or a chair, or a motorcar. This is my wife, it's like saying this is my hat, or my overcoat, or my dog. I don't want to belong' to anyone, like an object."
"You've been spending too much time with those ridiculous suffragettes, " Olivia growled at her. She disagreed with almost everything they said, except maybe about voting. But all their ideas about freedom and independence seemed to be at the expense of values that Olivia cherished more, like family and children, and being respectful of one's father or husband.
She didn't believe in the kind of anarchy they were preaching, although Victoria said she did, but Olivia sometimes wondered. Victoria liked smoking and stealing her father's car, and going places by herself, and even risking arrest to stand up for something she believed in, but she loved their father as dearly as anyone, and Olivia had the feeling that if the right man came along, Victoria would fall for him as hard as any other woman would, possibly harder. She was filled with fire, and beliefs that she was almost willing to die for, and a kind of unbridled passion. How could she say she never wanted to "belong" to anyone, or be a man's wife? It just wasn't like her.
"I'm serious, " Victoria said quietly. "I made up my mind a long time ago. I don't want to get married." She looked incredibly beautiful as she said it, and Olivia smiled, thinking that she didn't believe her.
"When was a long time ago'? At the suffragettes' meeting you went to today, or the one last week? I don't think you know what you're saying."
"Yes, I do. I'm never going to get married." She said it calmly and firmly, with total conviction. "Actually, I don't think marriage would suit me."
"How can you possibly know that? Are you telling me that you're going to stay at home with Father and take care of him? " The idea of it was sounding more ridiculous by the moment.
Olivia might stay home and take care of him in his last years, but not Victoria. They both knew she didn't have it in her. Or at least Olivia knew it, she wondered if Victoria hadn't figured that out yet.
Could she really believe that she would be happy at home with him in Croton? Not likely.
"I didn't say that. But maybe I'll go to live in Europe one day, when we're older. Actually, I think I'd like living in England." The cause of women's freedom was a lot more developed there, though it was not any better received than in New York, or elsewhere in the United States. In the past few months alone, at least half a dozen major suffragettes had been arrested and sent to prison in England.
But Olivia was surprised by the things Victoria had said, particularly about never getting married, and living in Europe. It all sounded
"I know I do, and I love being here, but it's not just the social life I want. I want something important to happen in my life too. I want to make a difference in the world. I want to stand for some thing more than just being Edward Henderson's daughter." She looked so intense and alive as she said it.
"It sounds so noble when you talk about it that way." Olivia smiled at her twin. Victoria had such grandiose ideas sometimes, and yet Olivia knew she really meant them. But still, she was a child in a way, and sometimes a very spoiled one. She wanted everything, people and fun and parties and New York, and there was a serious side to her too, that wanted to fight all the battles, right all the injustices, and make a difference in the world. She didn't know exactly what she wanted yet, but Olivia sensed sometimes that Victoria would do a lot more with her life than just live in Croton.
"What about being someone's wife? " Olivia asked her quietly, it was something she thought about once in a while, although she couldn't really imagine ever leaving her father. He needed her too badly.
"That's not what I want, " Victoria said firmly. "I don't want to belong to anyone, like a table or a chair, or a motorcar. This is my wife, it's like saying this is my hat, or my overcoat, or my dog. I don't want to belong' to anyone, like an object."
"You've been spending too much time with those ridiculous suffragettes, " Olivia growled at her. She disagreed with almost everything they said, except maybe about voting. But all their ideas about freedom and independence seemed to be at the expense of values that Olivia cherished more, like family and children, and being respectful of one's father or husband.
She didn't believe in the kind of anarchy they were preaching, although Victoria said she did, but Olivia sometimes wondered. Victoria liked smoking and stealing her father's car, and going places by herself, and even risking arrest to stand up for something she believed in, but she loved their father as dearly as anyone, and Olivia had the feeling that if the right man came along, Victoria would fall for him as hard as any other woman would, possibly harder. She was filled with fire, and beliefs that she was almost willing to die for, and a kind of unbridled passion. How could she say she never wanted to "belong" to anyone, or be a man's wife? It just wasn't like her.
"I'm serious, " Victoria said quietly. "I made up my mind a long time ago. I don't want to get married." She looked incredibly beautiful as she said it, and Olivia smiled, thinking that she didn't believe her.
"When was a long time ago'? At the suffragettes' meeting you went to today, or the one last week? I don't think you know what you're saying."
"Yes, I do. I'm never going to get married." She said it calmly and firmly, with total conviction. "Actually, I don't think marriage would suit me."
"How can you possibly know that? Are you telling me that you're going to stay at home with Father and take care of him? " The idea of it was sounding more ridiculous by the moment.
Olivia might stay home and take care of him in his last years, but not Victoria. They both knew she didn't have it in her. Or at least Olivia knew it, she wondered if Victoria hadn't figured that out yet.
Could she really believe that she would be happy at home with him in Croton? Not likely.
"I didn't say that. But maybe I'll go to live in Europe one day, when we're older. Actually, I think I'd like living in England." The cause of women's freedom was a lot more developed there, though it was not any better received than in New York, or elsewhere in the United States. In the past few months alone, at least half a dozen major suffragettes had been arrested and sent to prison in England.
But Olivia was surprised by the things Victoria had said, particularly about never getting married, and living in Europe. It all sounded
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