A duller red overspread the face as the woman muttered, 'Nobody, no woman, wants to talk about it. And if we did they'd only say, "See! you're killing chivalry." Chivalry!' She laughed. It was not good to hear a laugh like that.
The figure on the sofa winced. 'I assure you people don't know,' said Vida.
'It's known well enough to those who've had to suffer it, and it's known to the brutes of men who——'
'Ah, but you must realize'—Miss Levering jumped to her feet—'you must admit that the great mass of men would be indignant if they knew.'
'You think so?' The question was insulting in its air of forbearance with a fairy-tale view of life.
'Think so? I know it. I should be sorry for my own powers of judgment if I believed the majority of men were like the worst specimens—like those you——'
'Oh, well, we don't dwell on that side. It's enough to remember that women without our incentive have to bear worse. It's part of a whole system.'
'I shall never believe that!' exclaimed Vida, thinking what was meant was an organized conspiracy against the Suffragettes.
'Yes, it's all part of the system we are in the world to overturn. Why should we suppose we'd gain anything by complaining? Don't hundreds, thousands of meek creatures who have never defied anybody, don't they have to bear worse ignominies? Every man knows that's true. Who troubles himself? What is the use, we say, of crying about individual pains and penalties? No. The thing is to work day and night to root out the system that makes such things possible.'