only know the woman as "Constance"; never saw her.'

'So that's Moxey? I begin to understand better.'

'Admirable fellow, but deplorably weak. I have an affection for him,
and have had from our first meeting.'

'Women!' mused Earwaker, and shook his head.

'You despise them?'

'On the whole, I'm afraid so.'

'Yes, but _what_ women?' cried the other with impatience. 'It would be
just as reasonable to say that you despise men. Can't you see that?'

'I doubt it.'

'Now look here; the stock objections to women are traditional. They
take no account of the vast change that is coming about. Because women
were once empty-headed, it is assumed they are all still so _en masse_.
The defect of the female mind? It is my belief that this is nothing
more nor less than the defect of the uneducated human mind. I believe
most men among the brutally ignorant exhibit the very faults which are
cried out upon as exclusively feminine. A woman has hitherto been an
ignorant human being; that explains everything.'

'Not everything; something, perhaps. Remember your evolutionism. The
preservation of the race demands in women many kinds of irrationality,
of obstinate instinct, which enrage a reasoning man. Don't suppose I
speak theoretically. Four or five years ago I had really made up my
mind to marry; I wasted much valuable time among women and girls, of
anything but low social standing. But my passions were choked by my
logical faculty. I foresaw a terrible possibility--that I might beat my
wife. One thing I learned with certainty was that the woman, _qua_
woman, hates abstract thought--hates it. Moreover (and of consequence)
she despises every ambition that has not a material end.'

He enlarged upon the subject, followed it into all its ramifications,
elaborated the inconsistencies with which it is rife. Peak's reply was
deliberate.

'Admitting that some of these faults are rooted in sex, I should only
find them intolerable when their expression took a vulgar form. Between
irrationality and coarseness of mind there is an enormous distinction.'

'With coarse minds I have nothing to do.'

'Forgive me if I ask you a blunt question,' said Peak, after
hesitating. 'Have you ever associated with women of the highest
refinement?'

Earwaker laughed.

'I don't know what that phrase means. It sounds rather odd on your
lips.'

'Well, women of the highest class of commoners. With peeresses we
needn't concern ourselves.'

'You imagin