Her Faithful Knight — page 165: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Home Again. 161 “Tt would certainly be conducive to her recovery. It is not only her body but her mind that is in need of physic. I have seldom seen a woman more utterly hopeless. May I ask if you have had any news of her husband?” “Ves,” she answered fiercely ; “I have had news of him. He is in America traveling about and enjoying himself, while my poor darling is lying there more dead than alive through his callous wickedness. Oh, what nonsense it is to talk about the rights of women and any possible equal- ity between women and men, while Nature herself is so cruelly unjust and unfair! For the man, all the pleasure in life ; for the woman, all the pains and punishment!” “You are arguing from an altogether exceptional case,” observed Dr. Morgan gently. “In a right and natural order of things it is the man who bears the buffeting and the anxieties out in the world, while the woman remains sheltered in the home that he has provided for her. You must not let your sister’s sad experiences make you bitter. Women are not all angels any more than men are all devils, believe me.” “T dare say not,’ she returned. “But, Dr. Morgan, all those set phrases about the male bird fighting for food while the female bird stays warm in the nest don’t apply to us women who have to work and work harder than men, competing with them at a disadvantage.” “Tt is a state of affairs which is not right,” he said. “Woman’s place is the home, and she is happiest there.” “But woman’s place will have to be wherever she can make a living, while England remains overstocked with women, and while English parents are too selfish to borrow a hint from France and save up dots for their daughters.” He laid his hand kindly on her shoulder. f4 vs i “ tt You are too young to argue,” he said, “and too pretty, _