"She looked at me slantways. 'I'm sorry you said that, Mr. Ballard. Venus is not my goddess. Diana--' "'The Huntress,' I broke in again. "'Pallas Athene, the guardian and guide of heroes,' she countered neatly. "'I'm glad you don't like Venus, Miss Van Wyck,' put in Jerry quickly. 'She made a lot of trouble, just because she was pretty. Diana--she _was_ the right sort, no sentimental rot for her.' "'Of course. Sentiment _is_ rot and so sloppy.' "Jerry laughed ingenuously. 'That's a good word,' he said. 'Imagine Diana being sloppy.' "'Women aren't nearly as sentimental as they used to be. As a woman's weapon hysteria has gone to the dust heap. Women are learning independence. You believe in women thinking for themselves, don't you?' "'Of course,' said Jerry. 'But they don't, do they?' "'_I_ do. It's one of my gospels to be self-sufficient. Don't you believe me?' "'I'd like to, you're so lovely to look at. I'd like to think you were perfect in everything.' "He refreshed her. Her artificialities one by one were falling away from her like discarded garments. And yet I was not sure that it wasn't artifice that was discarding them. She was very clever. I might have guessed it, had I noticed earlier the volumes by Freud and Strindberg on the little ebony side table." Ballard paused a moment to light a fresh cigarette. "Bah!" I muttered contemptuously. He looked over at me thoughtfully. "You may sneer, Pope, my boy," he commented. "But this sort of thing has come to stay. The infants are imbibing it with their bottles--self-expression, self-analysis and all that." "But this girl is dangerous," I remarked. "I imagine she is," he said calmly. "At any rate, she's going to prove or disprove your precious hypothesis." "I'm not afraid for Jerry," I growled. "No chameleon will change _his_ color. What else did she say?" "She was very much pleased at Jerry's compliment. "'Someone has taught you to be very polite,' she said with a smile. "'Polite?' asked Jerry. 'Merely because I was hoping you weren't flabby?' "'Well, I'm not flabby,' she smiled indulgently. 'I hate flabby people.' "'I don't see any reason why a woman should be different from a man,' Jerry went on. 'Men don't cry, why should women? I've always thought the Greeks were right. To me there's only one sin the world and that's weakness.' "You'll pardon me, Pope, if I say that he sounded very much like you," he laughed. "He had the preaching tone, the assertiveness. It was most amusing. Imagine the paradox, this babe, an ascetic and this worldling, a sybarite, meeting upon a common ground! For I really believe she was sincere about her self-sufficiency. Whatever her tastes, she's no weakling." "But she's trivial, a smatterer, a decadent--" "And handsome," laughed Ballard. "Don't forget that." "Mere looks will never ensnare Jerry." "I hope not, but she'll teach him a thing or two before she's through with him."