"Because. Also, it is my hour of freedom. You wouldn't take that away from me, would you?"
"What do you do in the evenings?"
"Sew, read, study, attend to the thousand wretched little details which concern my small household. And, sometimes, when I have wasted the day, I make it up at night. Because, whether I have enjoyed it or not, this day has been wasted."
"But sometimes you dine out and go to the theatre and to dances and things?"
"Yes," she said gravely. "But you know there is no meeting ground there for us, don't you?"
"Couldn't you ask me to something?"
"Yes—I could. But you wouldn't care for the people. You know it. They are not like the people to whom you are accustomed. They would only bore you."
"So do many people I know."
"Not in the same way. Why do you ask me? You know it is better not." She added smilingly: "There is neither wealth nor fashion nor intellectual nor social distinction to be expected among my friends——"