She is no fool, and
you'll find it out, Isabel, if you try to argue her down--"
"I shouldn't dream of arguing with such a child!"
"Well, all I know is Ferrier seemed to admire her performance."
Mrs. Fotheringham paused a moment, then said, with harsh intensity:
"Men have not the same sense of responsibility."
"You mean their brains are befogged by a pretty face?"
"They don't put non-essentials aside, as we do. A girl like that, in
love with what she calls 'glory' and 'prestige,' is a dangerous and
demoralizing influence. That glorification of the Army is at the root of
half our crimes!"
Mrs. Fotheringham's pale skin had flushed till it made one red with her
red hair. Lady Niton looked at her with mingled amusement and
irritation. She wondered why men married such women as Isabel
Fotheringham. Certainly Ned Fotheringham himself--deceased some three
years before this date--had paid heavily for his mistake; especially
through the endless disputes which had arisen between his children and
his second wife--partly on questions of religion, partly on this matter
of the Army. Mrs. Fotheringham was an agnostic; her stepsons, the
children of a devout mother, were churchmen.
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