A Little Knowledge (The Split Worlds #4) - Emma Newman Page 0,2

silenced.”

His voice dropped then, sinking into the cold anger that she still hadn’t got used to. “Perhaps you could muster a care about the fact that I didn’t agree to it, and the fact that all of those men now see you as a problem.”

They’d argued late into the night. It was still frosty between them the next morning, and Cathy had barely seen him since. Being a duke was demanding, it seemed, and while she missed the times they were together and not arguing, she couldn’t deny the fact she was relieved to be left to her own devices.

As frustrating and hollow as being Duchess was proving to be, Cathy hadn’t been idle. There was the pamphlet she’d created with Natasha. Just the thought of it made her smile. It contained everything she felt a woman should know about her own body, the rights for women that had been fought for and won in mundane England, and thoughts on how women living in the Nether were held back by not having the same opportunities as the men. Above all else, Cathy hoped it would educate, empower, and inspire the women in the Great Families, making them want more than the intellectually and emotionally impoverished existence they were permitted.

Natasha had agreed that keeping it secret from Charlotte, Margritte, and Will would give them plausible deniability—critical when a Truth Charm could be used by anyone opposed to the true education of women, which amounted to the majority of people in Society. Over a dozen letters from concerned women in Londinium had been sent to her, complaining about how they’d found their daughters reading facts about sex, contraception, and what life is like for women in Mundanus. Cathy wanted to frame every single one after highlighting the most hysterical terms. Dangerous, disgusting, and damaging were the three that appeared the most. She wanted to get a T-shirt printed with those words on it and wear it to the next Court with a pair of jeans.

Cathy was proud of what she’d written. Natasha had edited it, typed it on a computer in Mundanus, and arranged its printing and distribution via her network of secret feminists, some of whom Cathy had already met at the bookshop in Bath. People had tried to use magical means to trace the author to someone in Society and had failed, thanks to the involvement of the computer and printers. By the time furious husbands and fathers were casting their Charms on any copy, it had been passed between so many hands that it was impossible to determine even a source of the distribution, exactly as she and Natasha had planned it.

And it had done more than just upset people. Charlotte’s daughter, Emmeline, told her the pamphlet’s impact was evident at the end-of-season ball in Aquae Sulis just a few days ago. Young women were fired up, speaking in hushed whispers and passing the pamphlet between each other at great risk. Some had even arrived at the ball dressed as men! Even though the Censor of Aquae Sulis had laughed it all off as just the fun of a masquerade ball, traditionally more raucous and daring than most, Cathy knew there was more to it. Surely this was the beginning of something?

So why did she feel like she was getting absolutely nowhere?

“This court for Londinium women just doesn’t feel like a step forwards,” Cathy said with a sigh.

“I feel the same way,” Natasha said. “But we have to consider every man in that room hostile to any sort of equality. While I don’t relish the idea of a separate court, I can’t help but think that the majority of women need a social space in which they’re encouraged to raise issues and debate without fear of reprisal.”

“And my hope would be that it would give the gentlemen time to grow accustomed to the idea that women may hold and discuss opinions in topics outside of the domestic sphere,” Margritte said. “In time, we could hold formal debates and invite a speaker from the women’s court to present an opinion to—”

“Urgh!” Cathy rounded on them. “No! This isn’t the way to do this! The men will automatically disregard anything the women’s court proposes or raises and it will just entrench everyone on opposing sides.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Margritte asked.

“During a discussion I could ask a woman to speak, just like Will invites the gentlemen to share their thoughts on any topic.”

“Oh, no, Cathy,” Charlotte said, appalled. “No lady would