|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 34
Jacob Worse now got up and joined the group. He had not been able to
help partly overhearing the conversation, and ruffled as he was by
Rachel's accusations, he could no longer keep silence. The Consul smiled
as he joined the others, and said in a low tone, "I will keep my eye
upon you, and if it gets too hot, will come to your assistance."
From the moment Jacob Worse began to take part in the conversation, the
_attach�_ felt that the reins were slipping out of his hands. Worse went
at it hammer and tongs; not that he raised his voice, or used unbecoming
expressions, but his views were so subversive and so original, that the
others were forthwith reduced to silence. At the first onset he brushed
aside all the nonsense about Norwegian women, and that sort of thing,
and went on boldly to consider the position of woman generally with
regard to man. The magistrate asked him superciliously if he meant them
to understand that he was in favour of emancipation; and when Worse
answered that he was, the magistrate asked him with a smile how he
thought he would be treated by an "emancipated wife." Worse, however,
maintained that it was not a question how a man was treated, but what
the relation really was which existed between the two. The time must be
drawing to a close when the sole consideration was, what a man found
most agreeable, and it was to be hoped that the young men of the future
would be ashamed to argue from that basis. This was plainly a hit, not
only at the magistrate, but at all married men of his generation. Aalbom
protested warmly against Worse's theory, and his wife could be heard
ejaculating in the distance. Pastor Martens now came and joined the
disputants.
Jacob Worse was becoming excited; he spoke hurriedly, and his tone
showed that he only restrained himself by an effort. On what absurd
principles, he maintained, was the education of women generally
conducted! How many thousands ended their career, worn out by the
drudgery of household duties! Their intellect was wasted, and their
strength exhausted for nothing. It was quite easy to talk so glibly of
purity in a state of society where man was to know everything and have a
right to everything, while woman was to be debarred from all
intellectual knowledge.
At the first pause in the conversation, Aalbom came to the front as
woman's champion, and the magistrate and Martens joined him. The
conversation now waxed warmer, and Delphin wandered off to Madeleine,
leaving Worse struggling alone against the arguments which both sides
brought to bear on him. The disputants became heated and excited, and
all went on talking at once, without giving time for the others to
finish their sentences.
The _attach�_ stood with his hands behind his back, regarding with
apprehension the storm he had raised, and which was now out of his power
to quell.
Mr. Johnsen made several attempts to join in the conversation, which
had, however, become so warm that no one could be got to listen to his
measured and carefully worded remarks. Rachel followed the arguments
with the greatest interest, but she could not help feeling annoyed. She
was annoyed when the others said anything stupid, and even still more so
when she was obliged to confess that Worse was in the right. Everything
seemed to irritate her. She could not bear to hear these men discussing
her and her position as if she were some strange animal, and without
ever having the grace to ask her opinion. The conversation had now gone
far beyond woman's position, although Jacob Worse tried in vain to keep
them to the point. Off they went through recent literature, foreign
politics, home politics, ever with increasing earnestness, and with the
same division of parties. Latterly the pastor had come more to the
front. Aalbom's voice began to fail him, and the magistrate was unable
any longer to get beyond the beginning of his sentences, and could do
little else than point to his decorations and say, "For God and the
King!" And before they knew where they were, they found themselves on
the subject of modern scepticism.
Jacob Worse protested against this digression; but Martens, whose voice
was just as calm as when he began, maintained that this lay at the
bottom of the whole question, and that modern unbelief formed, as it
were, a background to all the questions they had been discussing, and
that all the arguments that were adduced from a "certain point of view"
had their roots in this very principle.
The magistrate and Aalbom were agreed on this point, but Jacob Worse,
with a pale face and excited gestures, began, "Gentlemen--!"
The Consul here made a sign to Miss Cordsen, who opened the doors into
the dining-room, from whence the bright light shone suddenly into the
room. The disputants only now remarked that it had become quite dark as
they were talking. The company then adjourned to the dining-room,
thankful enough to have a little breathing-time, but the voices still
retained traces of the excitement.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|