"Oh! they were men. Of course it isn't men's tongues a woman has to fear in society. They will make love to her, and praise her before and behind her back, if she amuses them—and encourages them just a little. It is the wives and the mothers, they are the Areopagus which sits in judgment upon the woman who attracts men."
"You must have suffered severely at their hands," said Sir Mordaunt, as he looked up into her face with an amused expression.
"I don't know about suffered. We are all arraigned, we married women, who amuse ourselves, and who have inspired perhaps a grande passion—is it not true, Mrs. Courtly? But they are a little afraid of me. When a gifted woman has social position and fortune she is comparatively safe. She may follow her own course, and is only accused of the eccentricities of genius—or, at worst, of being a little mad. I know," she added, complacently, as she bit a cake with her small white teeth, "that is what they say of me."
Mrs. Courtly felt rather uncomfortable at the turn the conversation had taken. She was not quite sure how far Miss Ballinger might be amused or scared by Mrs. Van Winkle's utterances. It was necessary to make a diversion before one of the men should throw back the ball; so she said, quickly,
"Isn't it Marcus Aurelius—or somebody—who says, 'It is a good thing to be abused'? And, as you say, your position is so well established! You will look after Miss Ballinger and her brother in New York, I know, and see that they get invitations to anything that is going on. How long do you remain there, Miss Ballinger?"
"You must ask my brother. He has some business in New York. The length of our stay depends entirely on him."
"I shall do all that lies in my power to make it agreeable to you," said Mrs. Van Winkle, with cordiality. Her glance, which was at first directed to Grace, revolved slowly, till it rested on Sir Mordaunt.
"I am glad to hear you have business," said Ferrars, addressing the latter directly for the first time. "With an object—a direct interest—your visit to the United States may repay you. I was telling Miss Ballinger that if she expected either picturesque beauty or art, she would be disappointed, but she declares, like Pope, that 'the proper study of mankind is man,' and she comes among us, wishing to see something of our society. You will show her the most costly samples of our social fabrics, Mrs. Van Winkle, but how about brains? You who are such a decorative ornament of literature, I hope you will get together some clever people for Miss Ballinger."
"Oh! brains are of no account in our New York society. I might pick up a brain or two, if I were to sweep around very diligently, perhaps, but the world I live in is intensely frivolous, and whenever I meet a clever man I feel like putting him under a glass case, he's too good for daily use. Miss Ballinger will have to get Mr. Barham to show her the brains of society at Cambridge."
Here she smiled sweetly at the young man; and he spoke for the first time, laughing lightly, as he said,