“Not if judge and jury were women,” Miss McDonald interposed.
“And you remember Portia?” Mrs. Mavick continued.
“Portia,” said Evelyn; “yes, but that is poetry; and, McDonald, wasn't it a kind of catch? How beautifully she talked about mercy, but she turned the sharp edge of it towards the Jew. I didn't like that.”
“Yes,” Miss McDonald replied, “it was a kind of trick, a poet's law. What do you say, Mr. Burnett?”
“Why,” said Philip, hesitating, “usually it is understood when a man buys or wins anything that the appurtenances necessary to give him full possession go with it. Only in this case another law against the Jew was understood. It was very clever, nothing short of woman's wit.”
“Are there any women in your firm, Mr. Burnett?” asked Mrs. Mavick.
“Not yet, but I think there are plenty of lawyers who would be willing to take Portia for a partner.”
“Make her what you call a consulting partner. That is just the way with you men—as soon as you see women succeeding in doing anything independently, you head them off by matrimony.”
“Not against their wills,” said the governess, with some decision.
“Oh, the poor things are easily hypnotized. And I'm glad they are. The funniest thing is to hear the Woman's Rights women talk of it as a state of subjection,” and Mrs. Mavick laughed out of her deep experience.