“Sit down,” he suggested. “You mustn’t do anything till you’ve thought this over coolly. In the first place, what do you know of the girl? She’s broken down completely in what most men consider to be woman’s first essential.”
“She’s a child,” cried Eric, wrestling free from the numbing bondage of Gaisford’s sedative voice. “If you told me that he’d made her drunk... or doped her... I shouldn’t be surprised. This is a thing that touched her body and not her spirit.”
The doctor grimaced unconsciously at the romantic phrasing:
“I see. She’s a child, and you think you’re going to form her mind and character... Don’t interrupt, Eric; every man thinks that of every woman mentally less mature than himself. Is she going to be an intelligent companion or a pathetic doll? Is she honest? Is she honourable? Is she unselfish? Is she loyal? Has she grit—under the pink and white of the child? Those are qualities that every wife must have. In other words,” he continued with prosaic mockery, “d’you know a—single—dam’—thing about her? Is she clever enough, Eric, to know how to live with you? I don’t doubt your patience, affection, self-effacement and the rest, but you’re a queer customer, you know; an idealist... you’d hit me if I said she deserved all she’d got...; too many nerves, much too sensitive; if I tell you you’ve a smut on your nose, you’ll probably forswear human society and run away for ten years to a desert island. Can she live with you without getting on your nerves? And—remember I’ve seen her for three seconds, at a distance—are you man enough to control her? I don’t gather she’s learnt much self-discipline; can you lick her into shape, or will you go flabby every time she cries?”
He waited for an answer, but Eric only murmured:
“Go on.”
“Marriage is a long and intimate business. You’re not marrying her for passion—or money—or social advantage; you’ve to start right away with what most people come to when passion’s worn out; you’ve to be companions from the beginning. And you know as little of her as I do. You must wait, therefore—”
Eric interrupted him with a quick gesture:
“If I’m to be of any use, I must act at once. The girl’s nearly out of her mind.”
“I’m sorry for her. That doesn’t justify you in doing something that may send both of you nearly out of your minds before you’ve been married six months. After all, something can be done to avoid a scandal. And you must study her... And study yourself. I mean, have you considered how you’ll like to have another man’s child always with you and to pretend it’s yours? Are you strong enough never to patronize? And do you want a wife who marries you out of gratitude or one who marries you because she loves you?”