"It's not quite the same thing for me, is it? War is my profession, so to speak. There are no other claims, so I need not balance values. It's just plain-sailing—for me. And for most other men, I suppose."
"Do you mean that all the women who have been giving time and trouble to serious work, all the munition-makers, the nurses, the Government workers, ought to go home again because of the old plea that home is a woman's sphere?"
"No, I don't, and you know I don't. But I think that the question of degree enters into it, and that where some women can very well afford to give their whole time and strength, others—can't."
"I see. Then it's simply a matter of counting the cost, and if it comes too dear, hide behind the fact of being a woman!" said Char mockingly.
It was always easy to defeat Johnnie verbally.
He looked bewildered, and said: "You're too clever for me, Char, as you always were. I can't pretend to argue with you. And I do admire the work you're doing, more than I can say. Everybody says it's wonderful."
He looked at her wistfully, and Char felt glad that the conversation should end on a note that, on his part, was almost pleading.
She rose, smiling a little.
"It's all right, Johnnie. And you'll soothe Plessing for me, won't you?"
But Captain Trevellyan, also rising, shook his head and looked very uncompromising.