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。