"Lady to see you, sir," bawled Archibald, bouncing

in from his anteroom. He had orders to always announce



immediately any client that might come. There was no

sense in turning business away.



Lawyer Gooch took client number one by the arm and

led him suavely into one of the adjoining rooms. "Favour



me by remaining here a few minutes, sir," said he. "I

will return and resume our consultation with the least



possible delay. I am rather expecting a visit from a

very wealthy old lady in connection with a will. I will



not keep you waiting long."

The breezy gentleman seated himself with obliging



acquiescence, aud took up a magazine. The lawyer

returned to the middle office, carefully closing behind



him the connecting door.

"Show the lady in, Archibald," he said to the office



boy, who was awaiting the order.

A tall lady, of commanding presence and sternly hand-



some, entered the room. She wore robes -- robes; not

clothes -- ample and fluent. In her eye could be per-



ceived the lambent flame of genius and soul. In her

hand was a green bag of the capacity of a bushel, and an



umbrella that also seemed to wear a robe, ample and

fluent. She accepted a chair.



"Are you Mr. Phineas C. Gooch, the lawyer?" she

asked, in formal and unconciliatory tones.



"I am," answered Lawyer Gooch, without circum-

locution. He never circumlocuted when dealing with



a woman. Women circumlocute. Time is wasted when

both sides in debate employ the same tactics.



"As a lawyer, sir," began the lady, "you may have

acquired some knowledge of the human heart. Do you



believe that the pusillanimous and petty conventions of

our artificial social life should stand as an obstacle in



the way of a noble and affectionate heart when it finds its

true mate among the miserable and worthless wretches



in the world that are called men?"

"Madam," said Lawyer Gooch, in the tone that he



used in curbing his femaleclients, "this is an office for

conducting the practice of law. I am a lawyer, not a



philosopher, nor the editor of an 'Answers to the

Lovelorn' column of a newspaper. I have other



clients waiting. I will ask you kindly to come to the

point."



"Well, you needn't get so stiff around the gills about

it," said the lady, with a snap of her luminous eves and



a startling gyration of her umbrella. "Business is what

I've come for. I want your opinion in the matter of a



suit for divorce, as the vulgar would call it, but which is

really only the readjustment of the false and ignoble con-



ditions that the short-sihhted laws of man have interposed

between a loving --"



"I beg your pardon, madam," interrupted Lawyer

Gooch, with some impatience, "for reminding you again



that this is a law office. Perhaps Mrs. Wilcox -- "

"Mrs. Wilcox is all right," cut in the lady, with a hint



of asperity. "And so are Tolstoi, and Mrs. Gertrude

Atherton, and Omar Khayyam, and Mr. Edward Bok.



I've read 'em all. I would like to discuss with you the

divine right of the soul as opposed to the freedom-destroy-



ing restrictions of a bigoted and narrow-minded society.

But I will proceed to business. I would prefer to lay



the matter before you in an impersonal way until vou

pass upon its merits. That is to describe it as a sup-



posable instance, without -- "

"You wish to state a hypothetical case?" said Lawyer



Gooch.

"I was going to say that," said the lady, sharply.



"Now, suppose there is a woman who is all soul and

heart and aspirations for a complete existence. This



woman has a husband who is far below her in intellect, in

taste -- in everything. Bah! he is a brute. He despises



literature. He sneers at the lofty thoughts of the world's

great thinkers. He thinks only of real estate and such



sordid things. He is no mate for a woman with soul.

We will say that this unfortunate wife one day meets



with her ideal -a man with brain and heart and force.

• apartment [ə´pɑ:tmənt] n.一套房间 (初中英语单词)


• opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)


• thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)


• visitor [´vizitə] n.访问者；来宾；参观者 (初中英语单词)


• lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)


• patent [´peitənt, ´pæ-] a.专利的 n.专利品 (初中英语单词)


• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对…施压力 (初中英语单词)


• divorce [di´vɔ:s] n.离婚 vt.同….离婚 (初中英语单词)


• constitute [´kɔnstitju:t] vt.组成；构成；指定 (初中英语单词)


• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)


• consult [kən´sʌlt] v.商量；磋商；请教 (初中英语单词)


• professional [prə´feʃənəl] a.职业的 n.自由职业 (初中英语单词)


• estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中英语单词)


• culture [´kʌltʃə] n.修养；文化；饲养 (初中英语单词)


• appreciate [ə´pri:ʃieit] v.评价；珍惜；感激 (初中英语单词)


• safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)


• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)


• connection [kə´nekʃən] n.联系；关系；联运 (初中英语单词)


• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)


• genius [´dʒi:niəs] n.天才(人物)；天赋 (初中英语单词)


• capacity [kə´pæsiti] n.容量；智能；能力 (初中英语单词)


• formal [´fɔ:məl] a.正式的；外表的 (初中英语单词)


• debate [di´beit] n.&v.讨论，辩论 (初中英语单词)


• artificial [,ɑ:ti´fiʃəl] a.人工的；模拟的 (初中英语单词)


• miserable [´mizərəbəl] a.悲惨的；可怜的 (初中英语单词)


• female [´fi:meil] a.女(性)的 n.女人 (初中英语单词)


• column [´kɔləm] n.柱；柱状物；纵队 (初中英语单词)


• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)


• instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中英语单词)


• existence [ig´zistəns] n.存在；生存；生活 (初中英语单词)


• unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)


• reverence [´revərəns] n.尊敬；敬畏；尊严 (高中英语单词)


• client [´klaiənt] n.委托人；顾客 (高中英语单词)


• rebuke [ri´bju:k] vt.&n.指责；训斥 (高中英语单词)


• handful [hændful] n.一把，少数，一小撮 (高中英语单词)


• caution [´kɔ:ʃən] n.&vt.小心；告诫；警告 (高中英语单词)


• ripple [´ripəl] n.涟漪 v.(使)起涟漪 (高中英语单词)


• conceit [kən´si:t] n.自负；骄傲自满 (高中英语单词)


• positively [´pɔzətivli] ad.确实；断然；绝对 (高中英语单词)


• remedy [´remidi] n.药品 vt.医治；减轻 (高中英语单词)


• sternly [´stə:nli] ad.严厉地；坚定地 (高中英语单词)


• dealing [´di:liŋ] n.交易；来往 (高中英语单词)


• obstacle [´ɔbstəkl] n.障碍(物)；妨碍 (高中英语单词)


• affectionate [ə´fekʃənit] a.亲爱的 (高中英语单词)


• worthless [´wə:θləs] a.无价值的 (高中英语单词)


• startling [´stɑ:tliŋ] a.惊人的 (高中英语单词)


• umbrella [ʌm´brelə] n.伞 (高中英语单词)


• loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)


• good-natured [´gud-´neitʃəd] a.脾气好的，温厚的 (英语四级单词)


• assertion [ə´sə:ʃən] n.断言；主张；论述 (英语四级单词)


• demeanour [di´mi:nə] n.行为；举止；态度 (英语四级单词)


• courageous [kə´reidʒəs] a.勇敢的；无畏的 (英语四级单词)


• catastrophe [kə´tæstrəfi] n.大灾难；(悲剧)结局 (英语四级单词)


• experienced [ik´spiəriənst] a.有经验的；熟练的 (英语四级单词)


• punctuate [´pʌŋktjueit] v.加标点(于)；强调 (英语四级单词)


• consultation [,kɔnsəl´teiʃən] n.商量；会诊；查阅 (英语四级单词)


• luminous [´lu:minəs] a.发光的；明晰的 (英语四级单词)


• vulgar [´vʌlgə] a.粗俗的；大众的 (英语四级单词)


• impatience [im´peiʃəns] n.不耐烦，急躁 (英语四级单词)


• intellect [´intilekt] n.智力；有才智的人 (英语四级单词)


• insolence [´insələns] n.傲慢；无礼 (英语六级单词)


• emphatic [im´fætik] a.强调的；断然的 (英语六级单词)


• jumble [´dʒʌmbəl] n.搞乱，混乱 (英语六级单词)


• ethics [´eθiks] n.伦理学；道德标准 (英语六级单词)


• discord [´diskɔ:d] n.不一致；不和谐 (英语六级单词)


• ignoble [ig´nəubəl] a.卑鄙的，无耻的 (英语六级单词)


• impersonal [im´pə:sənəl] a.不受个人感情影响的 (英语六级单词)