“How are you?” she began.
“Thank you, I’m not up to very much. How are you?”
“Oh! I’m not at all well. Married life is a misery if one has to be constantly on one’s guard.”
“Do you think you are the only one?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know what my husband said to me the other day? One ought to spare the draught cattle! And I suffer under it all, I can tell you. No, there’s no happiness in marriage. Either husband or wife is bound to suffer. It’s one or the other!”
“Or both!”
“But what about the men of science who grow fat at the expense of the Government?”
“They have to think of so many things, and moreover, it is improper to write about such problems; they must not be discussed openly.”
“But that would be the first necessity!” And the two women fell to discussing their bitter experiences.