Dear Diary
I have a lot to be grateful to Miss Charlesworth and Miss Lavender for – Miss C persuaded my father to let me stay on at school rather than send me out to work so when Dot told me that Miss L had died I of course had to go over and offer Miss C my condolences. They ran a magazine, 'Women's Choice', full of recipes, gardening tips, sewing patterns and embroidery projects – and the serial about fairies and a monitor lizard – Dot says she reads it to her nieces, her excuse, I think she's a bit embarrassed the sweet child. Not my kind of publication though Dot did say they ran an article on family planning and her mother was so offended she demanded her money back. Miss C said if she had to publish articles on running a perfect home just to get one small message about women's right in then she would continue to write them. Actually she has a team to write them, Mrs Opie for food, Miss Prout for fashion and social and John Bell (token male) for gardening but even he writes under a female pseudonym. Miss L was the agony aunt, Artemis, but she wrote awful advice – telling women suffering from birth blues to buck up and get on with making a home for her husband and children, or that a girl who's beau was a lowly man she could do better ...
Anyway, Jack was in charge of the case, I think he's been avoiding me since he kissed me at Anatole's the other week, I have no apology to make for kissing him back – what is a girl supposed to do in that situation – I mean being kissed not threatened by an ex-lover who abused her? Yes, I kissed him back, and I'd do it again!
Miss Prout was the second victim, she was doing a thing on migrants in Melbourne, Miss C allowed her to run with it, Miss L had said no – she could be a bit ... well she liked things her way. Miss P had found out that John Bell was Actually an Italian spy, he'd spied for the Germans during the war and I think she planned a little blackmail, he killed her and filled Miss L's music box with cyanide – she had done a little digging herself and confronted Bell, I suppose, otherwise why kill her?
Dot filled in for Artemis and Miss C actually offered her the job permanently, she turned it down but if she had taken it I would have wished her well, missed her like I can't imagine, but wished her well.
Lin came to see me, his wedding to his Shanghai bride was called off, his Granny wanted her to submit to an examination to check she was untouched – she refused – good for her! Anyway, Lin asked me to let her stay while he sorted things out, thinking she couldn't speak English. She can, but admitted she couldn't go home, she was the widow of a communist hero, her father would kill her, he didn't authorise the marriage! Why do parents insist on controlling their children? My father tried it with me and all it did was make me stronger –at least I hope it did – the idea of being under his, or any man's control makes me shiver. Anyway, I reminded Lin that I was not the marrying kind, and Camellia was strong and prepared to stand up to Granny she will make a smart and strong wife, I think we could become friends. Granny did try to ship her off to China but between the three of us we soon put a stop to that. I wish them well; Lin and I will not see each other again, except perhaps socially, and deep down I am relieved – I think he would have become quite possessive. When he visited me to tell me the wedding was off he gave me the impression he wanted me to be his wife, and I won't be his mistress.
Miss C still wanted to run the 'Migrant Melbourne' idea and Camellia is her first subject – I think it's a superb idea.