She went on to say that every relation between the sexes was a case of the shearer and the sheep. Somebody was certain to be shorn. The man would fleece the woman unless the woman fleeced the man. "And here’s another tip, my gentle Janet. When Cornelia sees you prancing off to the Bois de Boulogne with Monsieur St. Hilaire, she don’t believe you’re putting up with him because you dote on Henriette. Not for a moment. Well then, there’ll be a rude awakening for somebody. If you don’t fleece St. Hilaire, she’ll _skin_ you. She’ll have you in her power at last." "No, she won’t. Mazie, I’d like to tell you something. But I don’t want Cornelia to know. Will you promise not to tell her?" "Will I promise not to feed cakes to a crocodile?" "Mrs. Jerome has offered me a job." "Well, I’ll hand it to gentle Janet. You’ll be going to heaven on a feather bed next. What’s the job?" "I don’t know yet. She doesn’t either. She has some scheme in mind for helping professional women to make their way in the world. My work is to come out of that. Just the sort of work I have most at heart. Do you remember the plan I had when we lived in Kips Bay, the plan of creating a new profession for women? What a magnificent castle in the air it was! Robert helped me carry the first brick or two down to earth where we could build on solid ground. By the way, I told Mrs. Jerome all about Barr and Lloyd." "Did you tell all about Barr and Fontaine, too?" "No," said Janet, swallowing this bitter pill with some resentment. "But I will, before I accept her offer." "And you think it won’t make any difference to her?" "No. She’s a woman with a great deal of good sense. She sizes you up by your future, not by your past." "Janet, you are a clip," said Mazie, with immense admiration. "Aren’t you afraid of the future? Adventures can break a girl as well as make her. Look how they’ve broken me." "Mazie, don’t be a fool," said Janet, putting her arm around the sick girl. "You’re not half broken yet. You’re only a bit cracked. And for your comfort I’ll tell you what Robert once said. He said nowadays everybody was a bit cracked—especially in the head." "Where’s the comfort in that?" "Why, it’s the cracked pitcher that goes longest to the well, goose. That’s what I tell myself when I get the blues." "Do you, too, get in a blue funk, sometimes? I don’t believe it. I always think of you as being the twin sister of the man in the fairy tale, the man who couldn’t be taught to shiver or shake. You’re a wonderful girl, Janet. Still, I’d like to see a man come along some day and make you shiver and shake just a teeny-weeny bit. Perhaps Robert will." "Ah, Mazie, do you think he’ll try?" *CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN* *I*