(Stonor motionless; his look is the look of a man who sees happiness slipping away.)
Miss L. I know what it is that men fear. It even seems as if it must be through fear that your enlightenment will come. That is why I see a value in Jean Dunbarton far beyond her fortune.
(Stonor lifts his eyes dully and fixes them on Vida's face.)
Miss L. More than any girl I know—if I keep her from you—that gentle, inflexible creature could rouse in men the old half-superstitious fear——
Stonor. "Fear?" I believe you are mad.
Miss L. "Mad." "Unsexed." These are the words to-day. In the Middle Ages men cried out "Witch!" and burnt her—the woman who served no man's bed or board.
Stonor. You want to make that poor child believe——
Miss L. She sees for herself we've come to a place where we find there's a value in women apart from the value men see in them. You teach us not to look to you for some of the things we need most. If women must be freed by women, we have need of such as—(her eyes go to Jean's door)—who knows? She may be the new Joan of Arc.
Stonor (aghast). That she should be the sacrifice!