I think I _was_ one, as a boy,
watching what my mother suffered from my father, and how he collared
all her money--I suppose it was before the Married Woman's Property
Act--and grudged her any for her dress, her little comforts, her
books, or even for proper medical advice. And to hear these Liberal
Cabinet Ministers--_Liberal_, mind you--talk about women, often with
the filthy phrases of the street--Well: he got a smack on the jaw
and decided to treat the incident as a trifling one ... his private
secretary patched it up somehow, but I expressed no regret....
"Well, darling, I'll try to do as you wish. I'll try to shut you out
of my thoughts and return to my experiments, when I'm not on
platforms or in the House. I think I shall get in again--it's a mere
matter of money, and thanks to Linda that isn't wanting. I'm not
going to withdraw from politics, you bet, however disenchanted I may
be. It's because the decent, honest, educated men withdraw that
legislation and administration are left to the case-hardened rogues
... and the uneducated ... and the cranks. But don't make things
_too_ hard for me. Keep out of prison ... keep off hunger
strikes--If you're going to be man-handled by the police--Ah! _why_
wasn't _I_ there, instead of in the House? Gardner had all the
luck.... I was glad to hear he was married."
_Vivie_: "Oh you needn't be jealous of poor Frank.
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