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ROMANCE AND REALITY.
177


Mr. Trevyllian.—"Herein, Lady Mandeville, is the superiority of your sex so manifest. Women bend to circumstances so easily and so gracefully."

Lady Mandeville.—"Because we are so early taught to yield to strong necessity. They who are never accustomed to have a will of their own, rarely think of opposition:

'We do content ourselves with discontent.'"

Mr. Trevyllian.—"Discontent for what?—because, how ever harsh or rough may be the ways of life, the fairest and smoothest are reserved for you. Ours is the fever of politics, the weariness of business, the bitterness of contention: while to you is left the quiet of home, where you rule, or the gaiety of amusement, where you conquer."

Lady Mandeville.—"This is truly a man's logic, 'making the worse appear the better reason.'"

Mr. Trevyllian.—"Then look at the fund of good spirits you possess. Take, for example, a wet day, such as this has been. Debarred from the air and exercise, we have wandered from room to room in gloomy silence or in sad discourse—our health and our vivacity equally