Being contradicted by Mrs. Trent, she gave her reasons
for this belief. One was that whereas American matinee girls used to go
mad over the "leading men" of the stage they now went mad over the
leading women. She also instanced the many beautiful London women,
universally admired, who were over thirty and still remained spinsters.
Mrs. Trent declared that they were abnormal, and that, till the end of
time, women would always wish to be wives. Mrs. Wolfstein agreed with her
on various grounds. One was that it was the instinct of woman to buy and
to rule, and that if she were rich she could now acquire a husband as, in
former days, people acquired slaves--by purchase. This remark led to the
old question of American heiresses and the English nobility, and to a
prolonged discussion as to whether or not most women ruled their
husbands.
Women nearly always argue from personal experience, and consequently Lady
Cardington--whose husband had treated her badly--differed on this point
from Mrs. Wolfstein, who always did precisely what she pleased,
regardless of Mr. Wolfstein's wishes. Mrs. Trent affirmed that for her
part she thought women should treat their husbands as they treated their
servants, and dismiss them if they didn't behave themselves, without
giving them a character. She had done so twice, and would do it a third
time if the occasion arose. Sally Perceval attacked her for this,
pleading slangily that men would be men, and that their failings ought to
be winked at; and Miss Burns, as usual, brought the marital proceedings
of African savages upon the carpet.
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