"Certainly I can. All men are men first, last, all the time. That Serbian married Draga; any man will do as much for any drab if he can't have her otherwise. I've seen enough of men, I tell you. Royal, noble, landed gentry, bourgeoisie, peasantry—all are men first, last, all the time; and all are exactly alike!"
She clenched her hand and confronted me with scornful eyes:
"And why any honest woman should ever fall in love with one of them is one of those ignoble mysteries which I have never cared to fathom!"
Her contempt and my own fury almost paralyzed me.
I said, finally, in a very quiet voice, not my own:
"Very well, Thusis, expect nothing more of me than you expect of any man—including those royal gentlemen out yonder. And I'll not disappoint you."
I stepped nearer, forcing a smile:
"You've succeeded in slaying any consideration I entertained for your sex. You've enlightened me. In future I'll take them as I find them, easily, lightly, good-humoredly, with gaiety, with gratitude to the old time gods when they send a pretty one my way."
And I smiled at Thusis who looked darkly back at me with the faintest hint of uncertainty in her eyes.
"It is wonderful," said I, "how a word or two from a woman sometimes clears up the most serious situations. Your revelations concerning my sex in general have opened my eyes. I take your word for it that man is always man, as you explain so convincingly, and that he is, first, last, and all the time, merely a jackass endowed with speech."