I look upon
them like measles. Only you should have a doctor ready when the
disease shows itself.'
'What sort of doctor should I have?'
'Ah;--you must find that out for yourself. That sort of feeling
which makes you feel miserable;--that is a doctor itself.'
'Or a wife?'
'Or a wife,--if you can find a good one. There are wives, you know,
who aggravate the disease. If I had a fast husband I should make
him faster by being fast myself. There is nothing I envy so much
as the power of doing half-mad things.'
'Women can do that too.'
'But they go to the dogs. We are dreadfully restricted. If you
like champagne you can have a bucketful. I am obliged to pretend
that I only want a very little. You can bet thousands. I must
confine myself to gloves. You can flirt with any woman you please.
I must wait till somebody comes,--and put up with it if nobody does
come.'
'Plenty come no doubt.'
'But I want to pick and choose. A man turns the girls over one
after another as one does the papers when one if fitting up a
room, or rolls them out as one rolls out the carpets.
Pages:
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483