human
I think the impossible lesson to learn would be renouncement, said Hadria.
gpt
I cannot conceive how anyone could say to himself, while he had longings and life still in him, 'I will give up this that I might have learnt; I will stop short here where I might press forward; I will allow this or that to curtail me and rob me of my possible experience.'
human
Well, I confess that has been my feeling too, though I admire the spirit that can renounce.
gpt
Admire? Oh, yes, perhaps; though I am not so sure that the submissive nature has not been too much glorified--in theory. Nobody pays much attention to it in practice, by the way.
human
What an observant young woman you are.
gpt
Renunciation is always preached to girls, you know, said Hadria--
human
I fear you are indeed a still unchastened creature!
gpt
Certainly; there is no encouragement to chasten oneself. People don't stand by the docile members of Society. They commend their saints, but they drink to their sinners.
human
It is true, she admitted.
gpt
A woman must not renounce too much if she desires to retain her influence.
human
There is something truly unmanageable about you, my dear! cried Valeria, much amused.
gpt
Well, I too have had just that sort of instinct, just that imperious demand, just that impatience of restraint. I too regarded myself and my powers as mine to use as I would, responsible only to my own conscience. I decided to have freedom though the heavens should fall. I was unfitted by temperament to face the world, but I was equally unfitted to pay the price for protection--the blackmail that society levies on a woman: surrender of body and of soul. What could one expect, in such a case, but disaster? I often envy now the simple-minded woman who pays her price and has her reward--such as it is.
human
Ah! such as it is!
gpt
Who was it said, the other day, that she thought a wise woman always took things as they were, and made the best of them?
human
Some dull spirit.
gpt
And yet a practical spirit.
human
I am quite sure, said Hadria,
gpt
Your mother must have had her work cut out for her when she undertook to bring you up,
human
So she always insinuates,