"A minute ago I was a rhinoceros, now I am a serpent. A pretty swift evolution, isn't it? Of course, the 'Descent of Woman' would beat the 'Descent of Man' all hollow."
And she turned her back upon him contemptuously. Stung by her disdain, he moderated his temper somewhat and said:
"It is the trick of women to put men subtly in the wrong. You fight, but you never fight in the open. You send us into a devil of a temper, and slyly perpetuate the quarrel until you can make capital out of our degraded condition. Patient Griseldas, martyred angels, persecuted saints! If only you'd drop the pose of injured innocence!"
This impassioned speech was really a bid for a truce. But Janet, her heart hardened, lay quite still, the back of her head expressing defiance.
The silence maddened him more than a flood of reproaches, and he continued dressing fortissimo. Finally, he reached for his hat, sending her, at the same time, a parting shot.
"Keep it up," he said, "and you'll be a past mistress in the art of demoralizing a man."
He went out with a spectacular exhibition of bad manners.
Poor Claude! He did not feel entirely guiltless. But he was absolutely certain that the fault lay vastly more on her side than on his. In the breviary of love, he had pledged his soul to an eternity of devotion, but not his temper to a five minutes' trial.
III
The door had scarcely been closed before Janet turned out of bed and began to put on her stockings. She got no further than the first one before she heard returning footsteps. Quick as a flash she resumed her former position in bed, so that when the door opened, her face was buried in the pillows and the back of her head was one obstinate, unconciliatory curve.