“If he had been a girl, he would have known that conditions do count hideously in one’s life. I think that there are more ‘destroyers’ to be carried about and pampered in this department of existence than in any other (material conditions being equal).”
“Do you mean that a girl would have more difficulty in bringing her power to maturity and getting it recognized than a man would have?” asked Fred.
“Yes; the odds are too heavy.”
“A second-rate talent perhaps,” Ernest admitted, “but not a really big one.”
“I should exactly reverse that statement,” said Hadria. “The greater the power and the finer its quality, the greater the inharmony between the nature and the conditions; therefore the more powerful the leverage against it. A small comfortable talent might hold its own, where a larger one would succumb. That is where I think you make your big mistake, in forgetting that the greatness of the power may serve to make the greatness of the obstacles.”
“So much the better for me then,” said Algitha, with a touch of satire; “for I have no idea of being beaten.” She folded her arms in a serene attitude of determination.
“Surely it only wants a little force of will to enable you to occupy your life in the manner you think best,” said Ernest.
“That is often impossible for a girl, because prejudice and custom are against her.”
“But she ought to despise prejudice and custom,” cried the brother, nobly.
“So she often would; but then she has to tear through so many living ties that restrain her freedom.”