Two Coins: A Biographical Novel (Women of Determination and Courage)

“Miss Pigot drove into the College compound to visit one of my colleagues.” I say the first incident I think of. “I don’t consider this external propriety. Sometimes she came alone, and sometimes she left a girl in the gharry.”

“Who was this colleague?” Mr. Gasper asks.

“Mr. Wilson, our senior lay missionary.” I didn’t mean to drag him into this, but Mr. Gasper grabs the opening to discuss my colleague.

“Is Mr. Wilson still employed by the mission?” Mr. Gasper asks.

“He is at the moment,” I reply. “Look here, I made no complaint about him.”

“And you found it inappropriate for Miss Pigot to visit him,” Mr. Gasper says.

“I don’t say she went to him for an immoral purpose,” I say. “Far be it from me to say so. Merely that she should not have called on him.”

“What was the duration of her visits?” Mr. Gasper asks.

“I can’t say exactly. I observed the gharry waiting for a considerable time.”

Justice Norris interrupts. “A lady of her age visiting a person—you wish to know the duration of the visit?” Justice Norris asks. “Where’s the impropriety?”

“My Lord,” I answer, “I find it unseemly for a lady of any age to visit a gentleman without a chaperone.”