

They stared at each other and he asked her why she was in the office. While she dolefully reflected on being miserable during Christmas, the door to her office suddenly opened, revealing Rikkard Ambrose standing in the doorway. She decided to retreat to Empire House, snacking on food she had saved in her office– the selection including an orange, slice of ham, bowl of nuts and bar of chocolate. Deciding to put an end to it, she told the suitor she was going to grab a drink, using the opportunity to leave the house. The suitors tried to unsuccessfully converse with her during dinner and afterwards, she had no choice but to dance with one of them– an unpleasant experience for her as her foot was stepped on repeatedly. Her aunt had invited three suitors over for the occasion, forcing Lilly to entertain them.

Her other siblings had gone to visit their relatives while as usual, her uncle had holed himself up in his study. On Christmas Eve of 1839, Lilly was at her house, left with her aunt and twin sisters, Anne and Maria. At some point, Lilly became close friends with Patsy Cusack, Eve Sanders and Flora Milton- with the four girls forming a Suffragette's group and organising and participating in protests. Her aunt, on the other hand, home schooled them and tried for many years to marry them off to prospective suitors in hopes of entering higher society and cutting expenses. Her uncle, being quite stingy, gave her sisters two dresses each, and had all meals consisting only of porridge and salted herrings to save costs. Lilly and her youngest sister, Ella, shared a room on the first floor, with a window overlooking Green Park. However, after her parents died, her and her siblings moved in with their uncle and his wife into their simple brick home on St.


For the first few years of her life, she lived with her sisters and her parents on an estate in the country. Lilly is the second-youngest of six daughters, born to a gentleman.
