They had gone out that time because she wanted to, not because he did.
And then it was one thing for her to stroll with him round Cambridge,
where she knew every step and had the confidence and freedom which came
from being on her own ground, and the pretext, which was perfectly
natural, of wanting to show him the colleges, and quite another thing to
go wandering with him through the streets of this great strange city,
which, attractive, delightful as it was, had not the suitableness even
of being his home, not his real one. He wanted to show her something, he
wanted to show her everything; but she was not sure now--after an hour's
talk--that she particularly wanted to see anything more that he could
show her. He had shown her a great deal while he sat there, especially
what balderdash he thought it--the whole idea of women's being equal to
men. He seemed to have come only for that, for he was all the while
revolving round it; she couldn't speak of anything but what he brought
it back to the question of some new truth like that. He didn't say so in
so many words; on the contrary, he was tremendously insinuating and
satirical, and pretended to think she had proved all and a great deal
more than she wanted to prove; but his exaggeration, and the way he rung
all the changes on two or three of the points she had made at Mrs.
Burrage's, were just the sign that he was a scoffer of scoffers. He
wouldn't do anything but laugh; he seemed to think that he might laugh
at her all day without her taking offence.
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