“And on such rocks,” said Kendrick, “I suppose they would build their church.”
“There are not enough, unfortunately,” replied Miss Delano, “for a grand cathedral, so we must build little altars here and there, wherever we can find a Frauenstein.”
“You do me a very gracious honor,” said the count, “but one I am far from deserving. I believe, though, I am always on the side of women as against men. I see very few really happy women; and they never can be happy, until they are pecuniarily independent. All fields should be freely opened to them. They are quite as capable of enterprise as men are, and of filling offices of trust. They should have the same education that men have. Men should give their daughters money, as they do their sons, and send them abroad to continue their education. Every man knows how culture and experience adds to the attractiveness of a woman.”
“For my part,” said Mrs. Burnham, petulantly, “I don’t see the use of bringing up our daughters to be modest and home-loving, if just the opposite qualities are to be most admired.”
“My dear madam,” replied the count, “do you suppose a woman is less a true woman and a devoted wife because of her culture and experience?”
This led Mrs. Burnham to say that every one was aware that Clara Forest was well educated, and “considered” very superior, intellectually, but that she had not certainly been a model wife.
“You are wrong,” said Miss Delano. “I find it very distasteful to me to discuss such a subject, but it is my duty to say that my brother, and not his wife, is at fault. The plain truth is, he did not show that he could appreciate her devotion.”
“Why can’t they make it up, then?” asked Burnham. “It looks bad to see wives cutting out in that way.”
“If women were independent, as I desire to see them,” said Von Frauenstein, “there would be much more ‘cutting out,’ as you call it, than you have any idea of. But, by the same token, it would make men more careful to carry the illusions of love into matrimony.”
Here Dr. Forest was announced, and the conversation took a different turn.