"And you allowed him to entertain that impression. I know the whole of the facts," he said harshly. "What you know is, I presume, some absurd tittle-tattle about us," she replied, a shadow of annoyance upon her face. "I know sufficient, Claudia, to cause me to alter my opinion regarding you," he answered very gravely. "Oh! so you would condemn me unheard? That is unlike you, Dudley. I cannot think chivalry and justice are dead in you." "I condemn you," he said quickly, looking straight at her. "I condemn you for casting aside all your womanly instincts in this mad craze of yours to lead society and retain your position as a so-called smart woman. You cannot see that smartness is merely a synonym for fastness, and that you are rapidly flinging your reputation to the winds." "That, my dear Dudley, is a stale story. You have already told me so before. Without offence to you, I would point out that my reputation is entirely my own affair." "It concerns me, as well as yourself," he blurted out. "You cannot afford to run the risks you are running. You love distinction, Claudia, and that is a passion of a deep and dangerous nature. In a man that passion is ambition. In a woman it is a selfish desire to stand apart from the many; to be, as far as is possible, unique; to enjoy what she does enjoy and to appropriate the tribute which society offers her, without caring a rap for the sisterhood to which she belongs. To be the idol of society is synonymous with being the butt of ridicule and of scandal, especially to all who have failed in the same career." "Oh," she laughed, "you are such a funny old philosopher, Dudley. You grow worse and worse." "I know this," he went on, "that no sooner does a woman begin to feel herself a leader of society, as you are at this moment, than she finds in her daily path innumerable temptations, of which she had never before dreamed. Her exalted position is maintained, not by the universal suffrage of her friends, for at least one-half of them would tear her down from her pedestal, if they were able, but by the indefatigable exercise of ingenuity in the way of evading, stooping, conciliating, deceiving; as well as by a continued series of efforts to be cheerful when depressed, witty when absolutely dull, and animated, brilliant, and amusing when disappointed, weary, or distressed." "Oh," she cried impatiently, "I thought we had enough of moralising the last time we met! And now you want to re-open the old question."