human
Oh yes,
gpt
And who came to the rescue?
human
Edwin did.
gpt
I see,
human
I believe you knew all about it,
gpt
Pardon me! Almost nothing.
human
Of course you take Edwin’s side.
gpt
Are we talking man to man?
human
Most decidedly!
gpt
Then I’ll tell you my leading theory, he said in a soft, polite voice.
human
The proper place for women is the harem.
gpt
Mr. Ingpen!
human
No, no! he soothed her, but firmly.
gpt
We’re talking man to man. I can whisper sweet nothings to you, if you prefer it, but I thought we were trying to be honest. I hold a belief. I state it. I may be wrong, but I hold that belief. You can persecute me for my belief if you like. That’s your affair. But surely you aren’t afraid of an idea! If you don’t like the mere word, let’s call it zenana. Call it the drawing-room and kitchen.
human
So we’re to be kept to our sphere!
gpt
Now don’t be resentful. Naturally you’re to be kept to your own sphere. If Edwin began dancing around in the kitchen, you’d soon begin to talk about _his_ sphere. You can’t have the advantages of married life for nothing--neither you nor he. But some of you women nowadays seem to expect them gratis. Let me tell you, everything has to be paid for on this particular planet. I’m a bachelor. I’ve often thought about marrying, of course. I might get married some day. You never know your luck. If I do----
human
You’ll keep your wife in the harem, no doubt! And she’ll have to accept without daring to say a word all the risks you choose to take.
gpt
There you are again! he said.
human
This notion that marriage ought to be the end of risks for a woman is astonishingly rife, I find. Very curious! Very curious! He seemed to address the wall.
gpt
Why, it’s the beginning of them. Doesn’t the husband take risks?
human
He chooses his own. He doesn’t have business risks thrust upon him by his wife.
gpt
Doesn’t he? What about the risk of finding himself tied for life to an inefficient housekeeper? That’s a bit of a business risk, isn’t it? I’ve known more than one man let in for it.
human
And you’ve felt so sorry for him!
gpt
No, not specially. You must run risks. When you’ve finished running risks you’re dead and you ought to be buried. If I was a wife I should enjoy running a risk with my husband. I swear I shouldn’t want to shut myself up in a glass case with him out of all the draughts! Why, what are we all alive for?
human
Yes, she murmured.
gpt
So you sleep at the office sometimes?
human
A certain elasticity in one’s domestic arrangements.