So, therefore, rob them of their virtue and you prize a jewel from
its setting, you wrench a star from the mystery of the heavens and
bring it down to earth, you filch from the generous hand of Nature
that very possession which she holds most dear. For without virtue,
these women are nothing. Without virtue, you may see them dragging
the bed of the streets for the bodies they can find. It is the last
task which Nature sets them--bait to lure men from the theft of that
virtue in others which they can in no wise repay.
And this very virtue itself needs no little power of subtle
comprehension to understand; for intrinsically it is a fixed quality
while outwardly it changes, just as the tide of custom ebbs or flows.
Intrinsically then, it is that quality in a woman which breeds
respect in men--respect, the lure of which is so often their own
vanity. And the pure, the chaste, the untouched woman, whether it
be vanity or not, is she whom men most venerate. Of these they make
mothers--for these alone they will live continently. And however
much love a man may bear in his heart for a woman whom some other
than himself has possessed, the knowledge of it will corrupt like
a poison in the blood though he forgive her a thousand times.
Pages:
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427