Page:The world set free.djvu/298

 be reckless of ourselves and wonderful, would our lives be anything more than the contentment of the stalled ox?"

"The key that opens the door," said Karenin, "is not the goal of the journey."

"But women!" cried Rachel. "Here we are! What is our future—as women? Is it only that we have unlocked the doors of the imagination for you men? Let us speak of this question now. It is a thing constantly in my thoughts, Karenin. What do you think of us? You who must have thought so much of these perplexities."

Karenin seemed to weigh his words. He spoke very deliberately. "I do not care a rap about your future—as women. I do not care a rap about the future of men—as males. I want to destroy these peculiar futures. I care for your future as intelligences, as parts of and contribution to the universal mind of the race. Humanity is not only naturally over-specialised in these matters, but all its institutions, its customs, everything, exaggerate, intensify this difference. I want to unspecialise women. No new idea. Plato wanted exactly that. I do not want to go on as we go now, emphasising this natural difference; I do not deny it, but I want to reduce it and overcome it."

"And—we remain women," said Rachel Borken.