Clara Hopgood

'Exactly. I know what the law of mine is. If a man were to present

himself to me, I should rely on that instinct you so much despise,

and I am certain that the balancing, see-saw method would be fatal.

It would disclose a host of reasons against any conclusion, and I

should never come to any.'

Clara smiled. Although this impetuosity was foreign to her, she

loved it for the good which accompanied it.

'You do not mean to say you would accept or reject him at once?'

'No, certainly not. What I mean is that in a few days, perhaps in a

shorter time, something within me would tell me whether we were

suited to one another, although we might not have talked upon half-a-

dozen subjects.' 'I think the risk tremendous.'

'But there is just as much risk the other way. You would examine

your friend, catalogue him, sum up his beliefs, note his behaviour

under various experimental trials, and miserably fail, after all your

scientific investigation, to ascertain just the one important point

whether you loved him and could live with him. Your reason was not

meant for that kind of work. If a woman trusts in such matters to

the faculty by which, when she wishes to settle whether she is to

take this house or that, she puts the advantages of the larger back

kitchen on one side and the bigger front kitchen on the other, I pity

her.'

Mrs Hopgood at this moment came downstairs and asked when in the name

of fortune they meant to have the tea ready.