He looked at her:

"Yes," he said, "I know. That is my sin, my wickedness. The eternal problem of poverty doesn't affect me."

She looked at him contemptuously:

"You don't belong to your period," she said, coldly.

"No."

"Have you ever felt hungry?"

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Have you ever pictured yourself leading the life of a labourer, of a factory-girl who works until she's worn out and old and half-dead for a bare crust of bread?"

"Oh, those things are so horrible and so ugly: don't talk about them!" he entreated.

The expression of her eyes was cold; the corners of her lips were depressed as though by a sense of disgust; and she rose from her seat.