“Fight! It must be good to be a man and able to fight. A woman’s just an onlooker—a silly, helpless onlooker. Oh! How I should love to be a man and to fight! It’s sickening,” she exclaimed, pacing angrily up and down the room, her fists clenched, her cheeks glowing, all for the moment forgotten except the fiery ambition which had been smoldering and not yet extinct. “It’s sickening to have one’s hands tied. A woman can’t _do_ anything, she’s not allowed. She’s just a doll, an ugly doll or a pretty doll, and she squeaks the words she’s expected to say.”
“You’re not like that, though,” West said, watching her with undisguised admiration.
Here for the first time he was in contact with a woman both beautiful and intellectually gifted. He envied Maddison, who, he felt assured, could never call forth all that Marian could give a man. Maddison did not deserve her, and if he could he would win her away from him. He thought of his wife, the pretty doll; he looked at Marian. This was the woman who could stir his pulse and who would spur him on to fight.
“You’re not like that,” he repeated; “you forget one thing. A man fights for himself; a woman may not be able to do that, but she can make a man fight for her as well as for himself. That’s the fight worth having. Often and often, do you know, when I’ve scored heavily, I’ve just dropped my hands and wondered what on earth I was working for. Ambition? That’s not worth a damn. Money? I’ve got more now than I know how to spend; I just spend it, risk it, for the sake of making more—a regular wild gambler’s risk very often. But—well, be a good soul, pop on a pretty frock and come along.”
“I’ll come. Would you like a drink? A B. and S., or anything—well, not anything, for my cellar’s jolly low at present.”
“Not for me, thanks. Appetizers spoil my appetite, and I’ve a rattling good one at the present moment. How long’ll you be—half an hour—or an hour—eh?”
“Half an hour, really not more. I won’t keep you waiting.”
“Right. Well, I’ll be back in half an hour, sharp.”
“No, thanks; I’ll go for a stroll and a cigarette. _Au revoir._”
They were both punctual, in fact, Marian was waiting for him.
“I went out to get you these—do wear them.”
She looked magnificent, he thought; a conqueror.