“NevermindhowIfeelitIwanttobeaPowerbeforeIdie。”
　　“BeaPowerthenYou’vewitsenoughforanything-andbeauty？”
　　MrsHauksbeepointedateaspoonstraightatherhostess“Polly，ifyouheapcomplimentsonmelikethis，I
　　shallceasetobelievethatyou’reawomanTellmehowIamtobeaPower。”
　　“InformTheMussuckthatheisthemostfascinatingandsllmmestmaninAsia，andhe’lltellyouanythingandeverythingyouplease。”
　　“BotherTheMussuck！ImeananintellectualPower~notagas-powerPolly，I’mgoingtostartasalon。”
　　MrsMalloweturnedlazilyonthesofaandrestedherheadonherhand“HearthewordsofthePreacher，thesonofBaruch。”shesaid。
　　“Willyoutalksensibly？”
　　“Iwill，dear，forIseethatyouaregoingtomakeamistake。”
　　“Inevermadeamistakeinmylifeatleast，neveronethatI
　　couldn’texplainawayafterward。”
　　“Goingtomakeamistake。”wentonMrsMallowe，composedly。
　　“ItisimThEEDUCATIONOFOTISYEERE
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　　possibletostartasaloninSimlaAbarwouldbemuchmoretothepoint。”
　　“Perhaps，butwhy？Itseemssoeasy“JustwhatmakesitsodifficultHowmanycleverwomenarethereinSimla？”
　　“Myselfandyourself。”saidMrsHauksbee，withoutamoment’shesitation。
　　“Modestwoman！MrsFeardonwouldthankyouforthatAndhowmanyclevermen？”
　　“Oh-er-hundreds。”saidMrsHauksbee，vaguely。
　　“Whatafatalblunder！NotoneTheyareallbespokeoftheGovernmentTakemyhusband，forinstanceJackwasacleverman，thoughIsaysowhoshouldn’t。
　　Governmenthaseatenhimup。
　　Allhisideasandpowersofconversation-hereallyusedtobeagoodtalker，eventohiswife，intheolddays-aretakenfromhimbythis-thiskitchen-sinkofaGovernmentThat’sthecasewitheverymanupherewhoisatworkI
　　don’tsupposeaRussianconvictundertheknoutisabletoamusetherestofhisgang；andallourmen-folkherearegildedconvicts。”
　　“Buttherearescores-“Iknowwhatyou’regoingtosay。
　　ScoresofidlemenuponleaveIadmitit，buttheyarealloftwoobjectionablesets，TheCivilianwho’dbede]ightfulifhehadthemilitaryman’sknowledgeoftheworldandstyle，andthemilitarymanwho’dbeadorableifliehadtheCivilian’sculture。”
　　“Detestableword！HaveCiviliansculehaw？Ineverstudiedthebreeddeeply。”
　　“Don’tmakefunofJack’sserviceYesThey’reliketheteapoysintheLakkaBazar-goodmaterialbutnotpolishedTheycan’thelpthemselves，poordearsACivilianonlybeginstobetolerableafterhehasknockedabouttheworldforfifteenyears。”
　　“Andamilitaryman？”
　　“WhenhehashadthesameamountofserviceTheyoungofbothspeciesarehorribleYouwouldhavescoresoftheminyoursalon。”
　　“Iwouldnotl“saidMrsHauksbee，fiercely“Iwouldtellthe’bearertodarwazabandthemI’dputtheirowncolonelsandcommissionersatthedoortoturnthemawayI’dgivethemtotheTopshamgirltoplaywith。”
　　“TheTopshamgirlwouldbegratefulforthegiftButtogobacktothesalonAllowingthatyouhadgatheredallyourmenandwomentogether，whatwouldyoudowiththem？Makethemtalk？TheywouldallwithoneaccordbegintoflirtYoursalonwouldbecomeaglorifiedPeliti’s-a’ScandalPoint’bylamplight。”
　　“There’sacertainamountofwisdominthatview。”
　　“There’sallthewisdomintheworldinitSurely，twelveSimlaseasonsoughttohavetaughtyouthatyoucan’tfocusanythinginIndia；andasalon，tobeanygoodatall，mustbepermanentIntwoseasonsyourroomfulwouldbescatteredalloverAsiaWeareonlylittlebitsofdirtonthehillsides-hereonedayandblowndownthekhudthenextWehavelosttheartoftalking-atleastourmenhaveWehavenocohesion“-“GeorgeEliotintheflesh。”
　　interpolatedMrsHauksbee，wickedly。
　　“Andcollectively，mydearscoffer，we，menandwomenalike，haveaoinfluence。
　　ComeintotheverandaandlookattheMall！”
　　Thetwolookeddownonthenowrapidlyfillingroad，forallSimlawasabroadtostealastrollbetweenashoweranda~og。
　　“Howdoyouproposetofixthatriver？Look！There’sTheMussuck-headofgoodnessknowswhatHeisapowerintheland，thoughhedoeseatlikeacostermongerThere’sColonelBlone，andGeneralGrucher，andSirDugaldDelane，andSirHenryHaughton，andMrJellalattyAllHeadsofDepartments，andallpowerful。”
　　“Andallmyferventadmirers。”saidMrsHauksbee，piously“SirHenryHaughtonravesaboutmeButgoon。”
　　“Onebyone，thesemenareworthsomethingCollectively，they’rejustamobofAnglo-Indians。
　　WhocaresforwhatAnglo-Indianssay？Yoursalonwon’tweldtheDepartmentstogetherandmakeyoumistressofIndia，dearAndthesecreatureswon’ttalkadministrative’shop’inacrowd-yoursalon-becausetheyaresoafraidofthemeninthelowerranksoverhearingitTheyhaveforgottenwhatofLiteratureandArttheyeverknew，andthewomen“-“Can’ttalkaboutanythingexceptthelastGymkhana，orthesinsoftheirlastnurseIwascallingonMrsDerwillsthismorning。”
　　“Youadmitthat？Theycantalktothesubalternsthough，andthesubalternscantalktothem。
　　Yoursalonwouldsuittheirviewsadmirably，ifyou~espectedthereligiousprejudicesofthecountryandprovidedplentyofkala’uggahs。”
　　“PlentyofkalajuggahsOhmypoorlittleidea！Kalajuggal’sinasalon！Butwhomadeyousoawfullyclever？”
　　“P“rhapsI’vetriedmyself；orperhapsIknowawomanwhohasI
　　havepreachedandexpoundedthewholematterandtheconclusionthereof“
　　“Youneedn’tgoon’IsVanity。’Polly，IthankyouThesevermin-MrsHauksbeewavedherhandfromtheverandatotwomeninthecrowdbelowwhohadraisedtheirhatstoher-“theseverminshallnotrejoiceinanewScandalPointoranextraPeliti’sIwillabandonthenotionofasalonItdidseemsotempting，thoughButwhatshallIdo？Imustdosomething。”
　　“Why？ArenotAbanaandPharphar“-“Jackhasmadeyounearlyasbadashimself！Iwantto，ofcourseI’mtiredofeverythingandeverybody，froinamoonlightpicnicatSeepeetotheblandishmentsofTheMussuck。”
　　“Yes-thatcomes，too，soonerorlater，Haveyounerveenoughtomakeyourbowyet？”
　　MrsHauksbee’smouthshutgrimlyThenshelaughed“IthinkI
　　seemyselfdoingitBigpinkplacardsontheMall：’MrsHauksbee！Positivelyherlastappearanceonanystage！Thisistogivenotice！’Nomoredances；nomorerides；nomoreluncheons；
　　nomoretheatricalswithsuppertofollow；nomoresparringwithone’sdearest，dearestfriend；nomorefencingwithaninconvenientmanwhohasn’twitenoughtoclothewhathe’spleasedtocallhissentimentsinpassablespeech；nomoreparadingofTheMussuckwhileMrs。
　　TarkasscallsallroundSimla，spreadinghorriblestoriesaboutme？NomoreThEEDUCATIONOFOTISVEERE
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　　ofanythingthatisthoroughlywearyin~，abominableanddetestable，but，allthesame，makeslifeworththehavingYes！Iseeitall！Don’tinterrupt，Polly，I’minspiredAmauveandwhitestriped’cloud’roundmyexcellentshoulders，aseatinthefifthrowoftheGaiety，andbothhorsessoldDelightfulvision！Acomfortablearmchair，situatedinthreedifferentdraughts，ateveryballroom；andnice，large，sensibleshoesforallthecouplestostumbleoverastheygointotheveranda！ThenatsupperCan’tyouimaginethescene？ThegreedymobgoneawayReluctantsubaltern，pinkalloverlikeanewly-powderedbaby，-theyreallyoughttotansubalternsbeforetheyareexported，？olly-sentbackbythehostesstodohisduty。
　　Slouchesuptomeacrosstheroom，tuggingataglovetwosizestoolargeforhim-Ihateamanwhowearsgloveslikeovercoats-andtryingtolookasifhe’dthoughtofitfromthefirst。
　　’MayIah-havethepleasure’oftakin’you’nt’supper？’ThenIgetupwithahungrysmileJustlikethis。”
　　“Lucy，howcanyoubesoabsurd？”
　　“AndsweepoutonhisarmSo！AftersupperIshallgoawayearly，youknow，becauseIshallbeafraidofcatchingcoldNoonewilllookforby’rickshawMine，sopleaseyou！Ishallstand，alwayswiththatmauveandwhite’cloud’overmyhead，whilethewet~oaksintomydear，old，venerablefeetandTomswearsandshoutsforthemem-sahib’sgharriThenhometobedathalf-pasteleven！Trulyexcellentlif~helpedoutbythevisitsofthel’adri，justfreshfromburyingsomebodydownbelowthere。”Shepointedthroughthepines，towardtheCemetery，andcontinuedwithvigorousdramaticgesture-“Listen！Iseeitall~own，downeventothestays！Suchstays！Six-eightapair，Polly，withredflannel-orlistisit？-thattheyputintothetopsofthosefearfulthingsIcandrawyouapictureofthem。”
　　“Lucy，forHeaven’ssake，don’tgowavingyourarmsaboutinthatidioticmanner！Recollect，everyonecanseeyoufromtheMall。”
　　“Letthemsee！They’llthinkIamrehearsingforTheFallenAngeL
　　Look！There’sTheMussuck。
　　HowbadlyheridesThere！”
　　SheblewakisstothevenerableIndianadministratorwithinfinitegrace。
　　“Now。”shecontinued，“he’llbechaffedaboutthatattheClubinthedelicatemannerthosebrutesofrnenaffect，andtheHawleyBoywilltellmeallaboutit-softeningthedetailsforfearofshockingmeThatboyistoogoodtolive，PollyI’veseriousthoughtsofrecommendinghimtothrowuphisCommissionandgointotheChurchInhispresentframeofmindhewouldobeymeHappy，happychild。”
　　“Neveragain。”saidMrsMallowe，withanaffectationofindignation，“shallyoutiffinhere！’Lucindy，yourbehaviorisscand’lus。’
　　“Allyourfault。”retortedMrsHauksbee，“forsuggestingsuchathingasmyabdicationNo！
　　Jamais-nevaire！Iwillact，dance，ride，frivol，talkscandal，dineout，andappropriatethelegitimatecaptivesofanywomanIchooseuntilId-r-r-roporabetterwomanthanIput~metoshamebeforeallSimla，-andit’sdustandashesinmymouthwhileI’mdoingit！”