‘Where else?’
‘I shall go away.’
‘As you please.’
‘Stephen——’
‘Yes, mother?’
But without waiting to hear what she was going to say he went on: ‘I have mismanaged this whole business. I have adopted a line with Virginia which cannot be continued, for it makes her unhappy and ill. Except for that night they spent together, which has now been expiated, what is there after all in their marriage different from Virginia’s and mine?’
‘Stephen!’
‘The sexes are reversed; the ages are the same—or rather the balance is on her side. She is eight years nearer his age than I am to Virginia’s.’
‘Stephen!’
‘It’s a mere prejudice, in any case.’