“Their suitors, not their lovers,” he replied.
“You make a curious distinction!” said I.
“Women sometimes marry their suitors, never their lovers,—any more than men marry their mistresses.”
“Great heavens, Severnius!” I felt the blood rush to my face and then recede, and a cold perspiration broke out all over me. There was a question in my mind which I did not dare to ask, but Severnius divined it.
“Is it a new idea to you?” said he. “Have you no houses of prostitution in your country, licensed by law, as this is?”
“For men, not for women,” said I.
“Ah! another of your peculiar discriminations!” he returned.
“Well, surely you will agree with me that in this matter, at least, there should be discrimination?” I urged.
He shook his head with that exasperating stubbornness one occasionally finds in sweet-tempered people.
“No, I cannot agree with you, even in this,” he replied. “What possible reason is there why men, more than women, should be privileged to indulge in vice?”