[Exeunt.
SCENE 3.—The same room. Evening.
KATE alone.
Kate. Not let me in! We'll see. I'll beat 'em yet.
To think that down in Canterbury, girls,
Like my poor self, have had the badge bestowed
That I so fondly covet. To think that they
Enjoy the rights I ask, and have received
The Cambridge University degree, B.A.
Not only wear the gown and cap
As college students, but the hood. The hood!
And shall Macaulay's proud New Zealander
Thus sit on me? Not if I know it. No!
I'll don the dreadful clothes, and cheat the Dons.
[She goes to the window.
The blinds are down, the shutters closed, the slats
As well, surely no one can see.
[She takes up a man's coat and looks at it, then the vest, then the pants.
I'll do't!
[Invests herself in the masculine apparel. A knock at the door. She starts and turns pale.