“Oh, ofttimes!—and ofttimes unwisely! But whatever and however he does they lie in his hand. Utterly, utterly they lie in his hand! He makes all the laws for them. He puts them to death when he wills. O earth! The mother is in his hand and the child is in his hand, and we bow our heads and worship where he bids!”
“What ails thee, Valeria? Do not I, Valerian, love thee and love Flavia?”
“Yes, Valerian, yes!”
“Then—”
“There is much cause for wonder in this world.... How did it ever come that men made men fight with beasts upon the sands of an arena for show? How did it ever come that men have over women the whole power of law and the state? Oh, I answer myself! It came in many ways, here a little and there a little—”
“Nature and the gods—”
“Valerian, do you believe that?”
“Yes, I believe it.”
“It flatters your pride to believe it, and so you believe!... But I say, too, that women must have erred and erred.... Both you and I stray in a vast wood!”
“Rome and the parting with the child have fevered you.... But you were always subtle and thinking, thinking—”