Lady John (shrewdly). I know we mustn't admit it.
Miss L. For fear they'd call us fishes!
Lady John (evasively). They talk of our lack of self-control—but it's the last thing they want women to have.
Miss L. Oh, we know what they want us to have. So we make shift to have it. If we don't, we go without hope—sometimes we go without bread.
Lady John (shocked). Vida—do you mean to say that you——
Miss L. I mean to say that men's vanity won't let them see it, but the thing's largely a question of economics.
Lady John (shocked). You never loved him, then!
Miss L. Oh, yes, I loved him—once. It was my helplessness turned the best thing life can bring, into a curse for both of us.
Lady John. I don't understand you——
Miss L. Oh, being "understood!"—that's too much to expect. When people come to know I've joined the Union——