human
You are in a mixed condition of feeling, I see, Hadria said.
gpt
I am not surprised. Our whole scheme of things indeed is so mixed, that the wonder only is we are not all in a state of chronic lunacy. I believe, as a matter of fact, that we _are_; but as we are all lunatics together, there is no one left to put us into asylums.
human
The present age is truly a strange one,
gpt
Do you think so? It always seems to me that the present age is finding out for the first time how very strange all the _other_ ages have been.
human
However that may be, it seems to me, that a sort of shiver is going through all Society, as if it had suddenly become very much aware of things and couldn't make them out--nor itself.
gpt
Like a creature beginning to struggle through a bad illness. I do think it is all extremely remarkable, especially the bad illness.
human
You are as strange as your epoch,
gpt
It is a sorry sign when one remarks health instead of disease.
human
Upon my word, you have a wholesome confidence in yourself!
gpt
I do not, in that respect, differ from my kind,
human
It is that which _was_ that seems to you astonishing, not that which is to be, Lady Engleton commented, pensively.
gpt
For my part I confess I am frightened, almost terrified at times, at that which is to be.
human
I am frightened, terrified, so that the thought becomes unbearable, at that which _is_,
gpt
The maternal instinct--yes; it seems to be round that unacknowledged centre that the whole storm is raging.
human
A desperate question that Society shrinks from in terror: whether women shall be expected to conduct themselves as if the instinct had been weighed out accurately, like weekly stores, and given to all alike, or whether choice and individual feeling is to be held lawful in this matter--_there_ is the red-hot heart of the battle.
gpt
Remember men of science are against freedom in this respect. (I do wish _our_ man of science would make haste.)
human
They rush to the rescue when they see the sentimental defences giving way, said Hadria.
gpt
If the 'sacred privilege' and 'noblest vocation' safeguards won't hold, science must throw up entrenchments.
human
I prefer the more romantic and sentimental presentment of the matter,
gpt
Naturally. Ah! it is pathetic, the way we have tried to make things decorative; but it won't hold out much longer. Women are driving their masters to plain speaking--the ornaments are being dragged down. And what do we find? Bare and very ugly fact. And if we venture to hint that this unsatisfactory skeleton may be modified in form, science becomes stern. She wishes things, in this department, left as they are. Women are made for purposes of reproduction; let them clearly understand that. No picking and choosing.
human
Men pick and choose, it is true,
gpt
Ah, but that's different--a real scientific argument, though a superficial observer might not credit it. At any rate, it is quite sufficiently scientific for this particular subject. Our leaders of thought don't bring out their Sunday-best logic on this question. They lounge in dressing-gown and slippers. One gets to know the oriental pattern of that dressing-gown and the worn-down heels of those old slippers.
human
They may be right though, notwithstanding their logic,
gpt
By good luck, not good guidance. I wonder what her Serene Highness Science would say if she heard us?
human
That we two ignorant creatures are very presumptuous.
gpt
Yes, people always fall back on that, when they can't refute you.
human
I should like to hear the question discussed by really competent persons. (Well, if luncheon is dead cold it will be his own fault.)
gpt
Oh, really competent persons will tell us all about the possibilities of woman: her feelings, desires, capabilities, and limitations, now and for all time to come. And the wildly funny thing is that women are ready, with open mouths, to reverently swallow this male verdict on their inherent nature, as if it were gospel divinely inspired. I may appear a little inconsistent, Hadria added with a laugh,