I'm
rather a believer in temptation--the struggle for existence. I only want
to make it a finer existence, more worth the struggle, in which the best
man shall rise to the top. Your 'universal security'--that will be the
last act of the human drama, the cue for ringing down the curtain."
"But do not all our Isms work towards that end?" suggested Madge.
Joan was about to reply when the maid's announcement of "Mrs. Denton"
postponed the discussion.
Mrs. Denton was a short, grey-haired lady. Her large strong features
must have made her, when she was young, a hard-looking woman; but time
and sorrow had strangely softened them; while about the corners of the
thin firm mouth lurked a suggestion of humour that possibly had not
always been there. Joan, waiting to be introduced, towered head and
shoulders above her; yet when she took the small proffered hand and felt
those steely blue eyes surveying her, she had the sensation of being
quite insignificant. Mrs. Denton seemed to be reading her, and then
still retaining Joan's hand she turned to Madge with a smile.
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