She arose, gratefully, and took his hand. She and Cholli were old friends. Perhaps it was the sympathy of the handicapped for the handicapped: the man with only one arm for the woman with (perhaps?) too much stern pride.
"Tell me something, Cholli," said Lauria as they danced. "Is it true that many women deliberately allow men to invade their privacy?"
He looked at her blandly.
"That would be a violation of the Constitution, Lauria," he said.
"I know it would," she said impatiently. "But do they?"
"I've heard rumours."
"I've heard rumours, too, but I want the truth. You know the truth, Cholli. You conquered quite a few women before Fanni shot you in the arm."
He grinned.
"Fanni always was a poor shot," he said. "Or maybe she's a better shot than I think. Yes, Lauria, it's true. The Constitution is the law, and it's right in principle, but you have to face facts. If men and women adhered to the letter of the law in ... well, sex ... Pamplin would be depopulated by now. I thought everybody knew that."
"I didn't," said Lauria miserably. "I suspected.... I'd heard a lot of talk. But ... well, tell me, Cholli, how is it done? How do men know, I mean, when a woman is going to wink at the Constitution and let a man enter her home without fighting his way in?"