Shewasinastateofgreatexcitement，andthemusclesofherarmsweretwitchingnervously。ItwasevidentthatshewasonlywaitingforthedoortoshuttotellRachelallaboutit。Indeed，directlytheywereinsideherroom，shesatontheendofthebedandsaid，“IsupposeyouthinkI’mmad？“
Rachelwasnotinthemoodtothinkclearlyaboutanyone’sstateofmind。Shewashoweverinthemoodtosaystraightoutwhateveroccurredtoherwithoutfearoftheconsequences。
“Somebody’sproposedtoyou，“sheremarked。
“Howonearthdidyouguessthat？“Evelynexclaimed，somepleasureminglingwithhersurprise。“DoasIlookasifI’djusthadaproposal？“
“Youlookasifyouhadthemeveryday，“Rachelreplied。
“ButIdon’tsupposeI’vehadmorethanyou’vehad，“Evelynlaughedratherinsincerely。
“I’veneverhadone。“
“Butyouwill——lots——it’stheeasiestthingintheworld——Butthat’snotwhat’shappenedthisafternoonexactly。It’s——Oh，it’samuddle，adetestable，horrible，disgustingmuddle！“
Shewenttothewash-standandbegansponginghercheekswithcoldwater；
fortheywereburninghot。Stillspongingthemandtremblingslightlysheturnedandexplainedinthehighpitchedvoiceofnervousexcitement:
“AlfredPerrottsaysI’vepromisedtomarryhim，andIsayIneverdid。
Sinclairsayshe’llshoothimselfifIdon’tmarryhim，andIsay，’Well，shootyourself！’Butofcoursehedoesn’t——theyneverdo。
AndSinclairgotholdofmethisafternoonandbeganbotheringmetogiveananswer，andaccusingmeofflirtingwithAlfredPerrott，andtoldmeI’dnoheart，andwasmerelyaSiren，oh，andquantitiesofpleasantthingslikethat。SoatlastIsaidtohim，’Well，Sinclair，you’vesaidenoughnow。Youcanjustletmego。’
Andthenhecaughtmeandkissedme——thedisgustingbrute——Icanstillfeelhisnastyhairyfacejustthere——asifhe’danyrightto，afterwhathe’dsaid！“
Shespongedaspotonherleftcheekenergetically。
“I’venevermetamanthatwasfittocomparewithawoman！“
shecried；“they’venodignity，they’venocourage，they’venothingbuttheirbeastlypassionsandtheirbrutestrength！Wouldanywomanhavebehavedlikethat——ifamanhadsaidhedidn’twanther？
We’vetoomuchself-respect；we’reinfinitelyfinerthantheyare。“
Shewalkedabouttheroom，dabbingherwetcheekswithatowel。
Tearswerenowrunningdownwiththedropsofcoldwater。
“Itmakesmeangry，“sheexplained，dryinghereyes。
Rachelsatwatchingher。ShedidnotthinkofEvelyn’sposition；
sheonlythoughtthattheworldwasfullorpeopleintorment。
“There’sonlyonemanhereIreallylike，“Evelyncontinued；
“TerenceHewet。Onefeelsasifonecouldtrusthim。“
AtthesewordsRachelsufferedanindescribablechill；herheartseemedtobepressedtogetherbycoldhands。
“Why？“sheasked。“Whycanyoutrusthim？“
“Idon’tknow，“saidEvelyn。“Don’tyouhavefeelingsaboutpeople？
Feelingsyou’reabsolutelycertainareright？IhadalongtalkwithTerencetheothernight。Ifeltwewerereallyfriendsafterthat。
There’ssomethingofawomaninhim——“ShepausedasthoughshewerethinkingofveryintimatethingsthatTerencehadtoldher，soatleastRachelinterpretedhergaze。
Shetriedtoforceherselftosay，“Hastobeproposedtoyou？“
butthequestionwastootremendous，andinanothermomentEvelynwassayingthatthefinestmenwerelikewomen，andwomenwerenoblerthanmen——forexample，onecouldn’timagineawomanlikeLillahHarrisonthinkingameanthingorhavinganythingbaseabouther。
“HowI’dlikeyoutoknowher！“sheexclaimed。
Shewasbecomingmuchcalmer，andhercheekswerenowquitedry。
Hereyeshadregainedtheirusualexpressionofkeenvitality，andsheseemedtohaveforgottenAlfredandSinclairandheremotion。
“LillahrunsahomeforinebriatewomenintheDeptfordRoad，“
shecontinued。“Shestartedit，managedit，dideverythingoffherownbat，andit’snowthebiggestofitskindinEngland。
Youcan’tthinkwhatthosewomenarelike——andtheirhomes。
Butshegoesamongthematallhoursofthedayandnight。
I’veoftenbeenwithher……That’swhat’sthematterwithus……Wedon’t_do_things。Whatdoyou_do_？“shedemanded，lookingatRachelwithaslightlyironicalsmile。Rachelhadscarcelylistenedtoanyofthis，andherexpressionwasvacantandunhappy。
ShehadconceivedanequaldislikeforLillahHarrisonandherworkintheDeptfordRoad，andforEvelynM。andherprofusionofloveaffairs。
“Iplay，“shesaidwithanaffectionofstolidcomposure。
“That’saboutit！“Evelynlaughed。“Wenoneofusdoanythingbutplay。Andthat’swhywomenlikeLillahHarrison，who’sworthtwentyofyouandme，havetoworkthemselvestothebone。
ButI’mtiredofplaying，“shewenton，lyingflatonthebed，andraisingherarmsaboveherhead。Thusstretchedout，shelookedmorediminutivethanever。
“I’mgoingtodosomething。I’vegotasplendididea。Lookhere，youmustjoin。I’msureyou’vegotanyamountofstuffinyou，thoughyoulook——well，asifyou’dlivedallyourlifeinagarden。“
Shesatup，andbegantoexplainwithanimation。“IbelongtoaclubinLondon。ItmeetseverySaturday，soit’scalledtheSaturdayClub。
We’resupposedtotalkaboutart，butI’msickoftalkingaboutart——
what’sthegoodofit？Withallkindsofrealthingsgoingonroundone？
Itisn’tasifthey’dgotanythingtosayaboutart，either。
SowhatI’mgoingtotell’emisthatwe’vetalkedenoughaboutart，andwe’dbettertalkaboutlifeforachange。Questionsthatreallymattertopeople’slives，theWhiteSlaveTraffic，WomenSuffrage，theInsuranceBill，andsoon。Andwhenwe’vemadeupourmindwhatwewanttodowecouldformourselvesintoasocietyfordoingit……I’mcertainthatifpeoplelikeourselvesweretotakethingsinhandinsteadofleavingittopolicemenandmagistrates，wecouldputastopto——prostitution“——sheloweredhervoiceattheuglyword——“insixmonths。Myideaisthatmenandwomenoughttojoininthesematters。WeoughttogointoPiccadillyandstoponeofthesepoorwretchesandsay:’Now，lookhere，I’mnobetterthanyouare，andIdon’tpretendtobeanybetter，butyou’redoingwhatyouknowtobebeastly，andIwon’thaveyoudoingbeastlythings，becausewe’reallthesameunderourskins，andifyoudoabeastlythingitdoesmattertome。’
That’swhatMr。Baxwassayingthismorning，andit’strue，thoughyoucleverpeople——you’reclevertoo，aren’tyou？——
don’tbelieveit。“
WhenEvelynbegantalking——itwasafactsheoftenregretted——
herthoughtscamesoquicklythatsheneverhadanytimetolistentootherpeople’sthoughts。Shecontinuedwithoutmorepausethanwasneededfortakingbreath。
“Idon’tseewhytheSaturdayclubpeopleshouldn’tdoareallygreatworkinthatway，“shewenton。“Ofcourseitwouldwantorganisation，someonetogivetheirlifetoit，butI’mreadytodothat。Mynotion’stothinkofthehumanbeingsfirstandlettheabstractideastakecareofthemselves。What’swrongwithLillah——ifthereisanythingwrong——
isthatshethinksofTemperancefirstandthewomenafterwards。
Nowthere’sonethingI’llsaytomycredit，“shecontinued；
“I’mnotintellectualorartisticoranythingofthatsort，butI’mjollyhuman。“Sheslippedoffthebedandsatonthefloor，lookingupatRachel。Shesearchedupintoherfaceasifsheweretryingtoreadwhatkindofcharacterwasconcealedbehindtheface。
SheputherhandonRachel’sknee。
“It_is_beinghumanthatcounts，isn’tit？“shecontinued。
“Beingreal，whateverMr。Hirstmaysay。Areyoureal？“
RachelfeltmuchasTerencehadfeltthatEvelynwastooclosetoher，andthattherewassomethingexcitinginthiscloseness，althoughitwasalsodisagreeable。Shewassparedtheneedoffindingananswertothequestion，forEvelynproceeded，“Doyou_believe_inanything？“
Inordertoputanendtothescrutinyofthesebrightblueeyes，andtorelieveherownphysicalrestlessness，Rachelpushedbackherchairandexclaimed，“Ineverything！“andbegantofingerdifferentobjects，thebooksonthetable，thephotographs，thefreshlyleavedplantwiththestiffbristles，whichstoodinalargeearthenwarepotinthewindow。
“Ibelieveinthebed，inthephotographs，inthepot，inthebalcony，inthesun，inMrs。Flushing，“sheremarked，stillspeakingrecklessly，withsomethingatthebackofhermindforcinghertosaythethingsthatoneusuallydoesnotsay。“ButIdon’tbelieveinGod，Idon’tbelieveinMr。Bax，Idon’tbelieveinthehospitalnurse。
Idon’tbelieve——“Shetookupaphotographand，lookingatit，didnotfinishhersentence。
“That’smymother，“saidEvelyn，whoremainedsittingonthefloorbindingherkneestogetherwithherarms，andwatchingRachelcuriously。
Rachelconsideredtheportrait。“Well，Idon’tmuchbelieveinher，“
sheremarkedafteratimeinalowtoneofvoice。
Mrs。Murgatroydlookedindeedasifthelifehadbeencrushedoutofher；shekneltonachair，gazingpiteouslyfrombehindthebodyofaPomeraniandogwhichsheclaspedtohercheek，asifforprotection。
“Andthat’smydad，“saidEvelyn，forthereweretwophotographsinoneframe。Thesecondphotographrepresentedahandsomesoldierwithhighregularfeaturesandaheavyblackmoustache；
hishandrestedonthehiltofhissword；therewasadecidedlikenessbetweenhimandEvelyn。
“Andit’sbecauseofthem，“saidEvelyn，“thatI’mgoingtohelptheotherwomen。You’veheardaboutme，Isuppose？
Theyweren’tmarried，yousee；I’mnotanybodyinparticular。
I’mnotabitashamedofit。Theylovedeachotheranyhow，andthat’smorethanmostpeoplecansayoftheirparents。“
Rachelsatdownonthebed，withthetwopicturesinherhands，andcomparedthem——themanandthewomanwhohad，soEvelynsaid，lovedeachother。ThatfactinterestedhermorethanthecampaignonbehalfofunfortunatewomenwhichEvelynwasoncemorebeginningtodescribe。Shelookedagainfromonetotheother。
“Whatd’youthinkit’slike，“sheasked，asEvelynpausedforaminute，“beinginlove？“
“Haveyouneverbeeninlove？“Evelynasked。“Ohno——one’sonlygottolookatyoutoseethat，“sheadded。Sheconsidered。
“Ireallywasinloveonce，“shesaid。Shefellintoreflection，hereyeslosingtheirbrightvitalityandapproachingsomethinglikeanexpressionoftenderness。“Itwasheavenly！——whileitlasted。
Theworstofitisitdon’tlast，notwithme。That’sthebother。“
ShewentontoconsiderthedifficultywithAlfredandSinclairaboutwhichshehadpretendedtoaskRachel’sadvice。Butshedidnotwantadvice；shewantedintimacy。WhenshelookedatRachel，whowasstilllookingatthephotographsonthebed，shecouldnothelpseeingthatRachelwasnotthinkingabouther。Whatwasshethinkingabout，then？Evelynwastormentedbythelittlesparkoflifeinherwhichwasalwaystryingtoworkthroughtootherpeople，andwasalwaysbeingrebuffed。Fallingsilentshelookedathervisitor，hershoes，herstockings，thecombsinherhair，allthedetailsofherdressinshort，asthoughbyseizingeverydetailshemightgetclosertothelifewithin。
Rachelatlastputdownthephotographs，walkedtothewindowandremarked，“It’sodd。Peopletalkasmuchaboutloveastheydoaboutreligion。“
“Iwishyou’dsitdownandtalk，“saidEvelynimpatiently。
InsteadRachelopenedthewindow，whichwasmadeintwolongpanes，andlookeddownintothegardenbelow。
“That’swherewegotlostthefirstnight，“shesaid。“Itmusthavebeeninthosebushes。“
“Theykillhensdownthere，“saidEvelyn。“Theycuttheirheadsoffwithaknife——disgusting！Buttellme——what——“
“I’dliketoexplorethehotel，“Rachelinterrupted。ShedrewherheadinandlookedatEvelyn，whostillsatonthefloor。
“It’sjustlikeotherhotels，“saidEvelyn。
Thatmightbe，althougheveryroomandpassageandchairintheplacehadacharacterofitsowninRachel’seyes；
butshecouldnotbringherselftostayinoneplaceanylonger。
Shemovedslowlytowardsthedoor。
