"May I ask what your property is of which you are not allowed to dispose?"
"Half of your's, old man! My dowry."
"The devil! Who taught you such rubbish?"
"It's not rubbish; it's the spirit of the age, my dear. The new law should read like this: 'When a woman marries she becomes the owner of half her husband's property, and of this half she can dispose as she likes.'"
"And when she has run through it, the husband will have to keep her! I should take jolly good care not to."
"Under the new law you would be forced to do so, or go to the poor-house. This would be the penalty for a man who doesn't keep his wife."
"Take care! You are going too far! But, have you any meetings? Who were the women present? Tell me?"
"We are still busy with the statutes, with the preliminaries."
"But who are the women?"
"At present only Mrs. Homan, the controller's wife, and Lady Rehnhjelm."