Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/96

 "I think you are wrong. It seems to be necessary for women to marry for the full development of their minds. After thirty an unmarried woman's brain rarely gets any new creases." Mrs. Harden spoke with an air of conviction, and rumpled her pretty yellow hair in a distracting fashion, as was her habit on those rare occasions when by some accident she fell into talking seriously, if not sensibly. "You see," she continued, "you can't get something for nothing. Of course, men are inferior creatures, and I quite agree with you in thinking that there is not one born who is good enough for Margaret. But what will you have? There is certainly more badness than goodness in the world. If you want to live in the world, the better you know it the more easily you get along in it. Men are bad; argal, to know the world you must understand men. You must regard your future son-in-law"—the General winced—"you must regard your son-in-law, I say," she repeated maliciously, "as a sort of necessary evil for the education of your daughter."

"Your views respecting us men are rather harsh."

"Of course I am,—at least I mean they are; but my practice is so different from my views. I think that man is a degree below woman in evolution, that he is an inferior animal, that