“Sometimes——sometimesIthinkheis——inourblood。InMINE。”
Heregardedmeformyopinionveryearnestly，withhispipeinthecornerofhismouth。
“You’retheremotestcousinheeverhad。”Isaid。
Ireflected。“Lookhere，Ewart。”Iasked，“howwouldyouhavethingsdifferent？”
Hewrinkleduphisqueerface，regardedthewaitandmadehispipegurgleforaspace，thinkingdeeply。
“Therearecomplications，Iadmit。We’vegrownupundertheterrorofGrundyandthatinnocentbutdocileand——yes——formidablelady，hiswife。Idon’tknowhowfarthecomplicationsaren’tadisease，asortofbleachingundertheGrundyshadow。ItispossibletherearethingsIhavestilltolearnaboutwomen。ManhaseatenoftheTreeofKnowledge。
Hisinnocenceisgone。Youcan’thaveyourcakeandeatit。
We’reinforknowledge；let’shaveitplainandstraight。I
shouldbegin，Ithink，byabolishingtheideasofdecencyandindecency。”
“Grundywouldhavefits！”Iinjected。
“Grundy，Ponderevo，wouldhavecolddouches——publicly——ifthesightwasnottoopainful——threetimesaday。ButIdon’tthink，mindyou，thatIshouldletthesexesrunabouttogether。
No。Thefactbehindthesexes——issex。It’snogoodhumbugging。
Ittrailsabout——eveninthebestmixedcompany。Tugsatyourankle。Themengetshowingoffandquarrelling——andthewomen。
Orthey’rebored。Isupposetheancestralmaleshavecompetedfortheancestralfemaleseversincetheywerebothsomesortofgrubbylittlereptile。Youaren’tgoingtoalterthatinathousandyearsorso。Nevershouldyouhaveamixedcompany，never——exceptwithonlyonemanoronlyonewoman。Howwouldthatbe？。
“Orduetsonly？。
“Howtomanageit？Someruleofetiquette，perhaps。”。Hebecameportentouslygrave。
Thenhislonghandwentoutinweirdgestures。
“Iseemtosee——Iseemtosee——asortofCityofWomen，Ponderevo。Yes。Awalledenclosure——goodstone-mason’swork——acitywall，highasthewallsofRome，goingaboutagarden。Dozensofsquaremilesofgarden——trees——fountains——
arbours——lakes。Lawnsonwhichthewomenplay，avenuesinwhichtheygossip，boats。Womenlikethatsortofthing。Anywomanwho’sbeentoagoodeventfulgirls’schoollivesonthememoryofitfortherestofherlife。It’soneofthepatheticthingsaboutwomen——thesuperiorityofschoolandcollege——toanythingtheygetafterwards。Andthiscity-gardenofwomenwillhavebeautifulplacesformusic，placesforbeautifuldresses，placesforbeautifulwork。Everythingawomancanwant。Nurseries。
Kindergartens。Schools。Andnoman——excepttodoroughwork，perhaps——evercomesin。Themenliveinaworldwheretheycanhuntandengineer，inventandmineandmanufacture，sailships，drinkdeepandpracticethearts，andfight——“
“Yes。”Isaid，“but——“
Hestilledmewithagesture。
“I’mcomingtothat。Thehomesofthewomen，Ponderevo，willbesetinthewalloftheircity；eachwomanwillhaveherownparticularhouseandhome，furnishedafterherownheartinherownmanner——withalittlebalconyontheoutsidewall。Builtintothewall——andalittlebalcony。Andthereshewillgoandlookout，whenthemoodtakesher，andallroundthecitytherewillbeabroadroadandseatsandgreatshadytrees。Andmenwillstrollupanddowntherewhentheyfeeltheneedoffemininecompany；when，forinstance，theywanttotalkabouttheirsoulsortheircharactersoranyofthethingsthatonlywomenwillstand。Thewomenwillleanoverandlookatthemenandsmileandtalktothemastheyfancy。Andeachwomanwillhavethis；
shewillhavealittlesilkenladdershecanletdownifshechooses——ifshe“wantstotalkcloser。”
“Themenwouldstillbecompeting。”
“Thereperhaps——yes。Butthey’dhavetoabidebythewomen’sdecisions。”
Iraisedoneortwodifficulties，andforawhileweplayedwiththisidea。
“Ewart。”Isaid，“thisislikeDoll’sIsland。
“Suppose。”Ireflected，“anunsuccessfulmanlaidsiegetoabalconyandwouldn’tlethisrivalcomenearit？”
“Movehimon。”saidEwart，“byaspecialregulation。Asonedoesorgan-grinders。Nodifficultyaboutthat。Andyoucouldforbidit——makeitagainsttheetiquette。Nolifeisdecentwithoutetiquette。Andpeopleobeyetiquettesoonerthanlaws。”
“H’m。”Isaid，andwasstruckbyanideathatisremoteintheworldofayoungman。“Howaboutchildren？”Iasked；“intheCity？Girlsareallverywell。Butboys，forexample——growup。”
“Ah！”saidEwart。“Yes。Iforgot。Theymustn’tgrowupinside。They’dturnouttheboyswhentheywereseven。Thefathermustcomewithalittleponyandalittlegunandmanlywear，andtaketheboyaway。Thenonecouldcomeafterwardstoone’smother’sbalcony。Itmustbefinetohaveamother。
Thefatherandtheson。”
“Thisisallveryprettyinitsway。”Isaidatlast，“butit’sadream。Let’scomebacktoreality。WhatIwanttoknowis，whatareyougoingtodoinBrompton，letussay，orWalhamGreenNOW？”
“Oh！damnit！”heremarked，“WalhamGreen！Whatachapyouare，Ponderevo！”andhemadeanabruptendtohisdiscourse。Hewouldn’tevenreplytomytentativesforatime。
“WhileIwastalkingjustnow。”heremarkedpresently，“Ihadaquitedifferentidea。”
“What？”
“Foramasterpiece。Aseries。LikethebustsoftheCaesars。
Onlynotheads，youknow。Wedon’tseethepeoplewhodothingstousnowadays。”
“Howwillyoudoit，then？”
“Hands——aseriesofhands！ThehandsoftheTwentiethCentury。
I’lldoit。Somedaysomeonewilldiscoverit——gothere——seewhatIhavedone，andwhatismeantbyit。”
“Seeitwhere？”
“Onthetombs。Whynot？TheUnknownMasteroftheHighgateSlope！Allthelittle，softfemininehands，thenervousuglymales，thehandsoftheflops，andthehandsofthesnatchers！
AndGrundy’sloose，lean，knucklyaffair——Grundytheterror！——thelittlewrinklesandthethumb！Onlyitoughttoholdalltheotherstogether——inaslightlydisturbingsqueeze。LikeRodin’sgreatHand——youknowthething！”
IV
IforgethowmanydaysintervenedbetweenthatlastbreakingoffofourengagementandMarion’ssurrender。ButIrecallnowthesharpnessofmyemotion，theconcentratedspiritoftearsandlaughterinmythroatasIreadthewordsofherunexpectedletter——“Ihavethoughtovereverything，andIwasselfish。”
IrushedofftoWalhamGreenthateveningtogivebackallshehadgivenme，tobeatheraltogetheratgiving。Shewasextraordinarilygentleandgenerousthattime，Iremember，andwhenatlastIlefther，shekissedmeverysweetly。
Soweweremarried。
Weweremarriedwithallthecustomaryincongruity。I
gave——perhapsafterawhilenotaltogetherungrudgingly——andwhatIgave，Mariontook，withamanifestsatisfaction。Afterall，Iwasbeingsensible。Sothatwehadthreeliverycarriagestothechurchoneofthepairsofhorsesmatchedandcoachmen——withimprovisedflavourandveryshabbysilkhats——bearingwhitefavoursontheirwhips，andmyuncleintervenedwithsplendourandinsisteduponhavingaweddingbreakfastsentinfromacaterer’sinHammersmith。Thetablehadagreatdisplayofchrysanthemums，andtherewasorangeblossominthesignificantplaceandawonderfulcake。Wealsocirculatedupwardsofascoreofwedgesofthataccompaniedbysilver-printedcardsinwhichMarion’snameofRamboatwasstrickenoutbyanarrowinfavourofPonderevo。WehadalittlerallyofMarion’srelations，andseveralfriendsandfriends’
friendsfromSmithie’sappearedinthechurchanddriftedvestry-ward。Iproducedmyauntanduncleaselectgroupoftwo。Theeffectinthatshabbylittlehousewasoneofexhilaratingcongestion。Theside-board，inwhichlivedthetable-clothandthe“Apartments“card，wasusedforadisplayofthepresents，ekedoutbytheunusedbalanceofthesilver-printedcards。
Marionworethewhiteraimentofabride，whitesilkandsatin，thatdidnotsuither，thatmadeherseemlargeandstrangetome；sheobtrudedbowsandunfamiliarcontours。ShewentthroughallthisstrangeritualofanEnglishweddingwithasacramentalgravitythatIwasaltogethertooyoungandegotisticaltocomprehend。Itwasallextraordinarilycentralandimportanttoher；itwasnomorethananoffensive，complicated，anddisconcertingintrusionofaworldIwasalreadybeginningtocriticiseverybitterly，tome。Whatwasallthisfussfor？ThemereindecentadvertisementthatIhadbeenpassionatelyinlovewithMarion！Ithink，however，thatMarionwasonlyveryremotelyawareofmysmoulderingexasperationathavingintheendbehaved“nicely。”Ihadplayed——uptotheextentofdressingmypart；Ihadanadmirablycutfrock——coat，anewsilkhat，trousersaslightasIcouldendurethem——lighter，infact——awhitewaistcoat，nighttie，lightgloves。Marion，seeingmedespondenthadtheunusualenterprisetowhispertomethatI