“NevermindhowIfeelitIwanttobeaPowerbeforeIdie。”
“BeaPowerthenYou’vewitsenoughforanything-andbeauty？”
MrsHauksbeepointedateaspoonstraightatherhostess“Polly，ifyouheapcomplimentsonmelikethis，I
shallceasetobelievethatyou’reawomanTellmehowIamtobeaPower。”
“InformTheMussuckthatheisthemostfascinatingandsllmmestmaninAsia，andhe’lltellyouanythingandeverythingyouplease。”
“BotherTheMussuck！ImeananintellectualPower~notagas-powerPolly，I’mgoingtostartasalon。”
MrsMalloweturnedlazilyonthesofaandrestedherheadonherhand“HearthewordsofthePreacher，thesonofBaruch。”shesaid。
“Willyoutalksensibly？”
“Iwill，dear，forIseethatyouaregoingtomakeamistake。”
“Inevermadeamistakeinmylifeatleast，neveronethatI
couldn’texplainawayafterward。”
“Goingtomakeamistake。”wentonMrsMallowe，composedly。
“ItisimThEEDUCATIONOFOTISYEERE
180
possibletostartasaloninSimlaAbarwouldbemuchmoretothepoint。”
“Perhaps，butwhy？Itseemssoeasy“JustwhatmakesitsodifficultHowmanycleverwomenarethereinSimla？”
“Myselfandyourself。”saidMrsHauksbee，withoutamoment’shesitation。
“Modestwoman！MrsFeardonwouldthankyouforthatAndhowmanyclevermen？”
“Oh-er-hundreds。”saidMrsHauksbee，vaguely。
“Whatafatalblunder！NotoneTheyareallbespokeoftheGovernmentTakemyhusband，forinstanceJackwasacleverman，thoughIsaysowhoshouldn’t。
Governmenthaseatenhimup。
Allhisideasandpowersofconversation-hereallyusedtobeagoodtalker，eventohiswife，intheolddays-aretakenfromhimbythis-thiskitchen-sinkofaGovernmentThat’sthecasewitheverymanupherewhoisatworkI
don’tsupposeaRussianconvictundertheknoutisabletoamusetherestofhisgang；andallourmen-folkherearegildedconvicts。”
“Buttherearescores-“Iknowwhatyou’regoingtosay。
ScoresofidlemenuponleaveIadmitit，buttheyarealloftwoobjectionablesets，TheCivilianwho’dbede]ightfulifhehadthemilitaryman’sknowledgeoftheworldandstyle，andthemilitarymanwho’dbeadorableifliehadtheCivilian’sculture。”
“Detestableword！HaveCiviliansculehaw？Ineverstudiedthebreeddeeply。”
“Don’tmakefunofJack’sserviceYesThey’reliketheteapoysintheLakkaBazar-goodmaterialbutnotpolishedTheycan’thelpthemselves，poordearsACivilianonlybeginstobetolerableafterhehasknockedabouttheworldforfifteenyears。”
“Andamilitaryman？”
“WhenhehashadthesameamountofserviceTheyoungofbothspeciesarehorribleYouwouldhavescoresoftheminyoursalon。”
“Iwouldnotl“saidMrsHauksbee，fiercely“Iwouldtellthe’bearertodarwazabandthemI’dputtheirowncolonelsandcommissionersatthedoortoturnthemawayI’dgivethemtotheTopshamgirltoplaywith。”
“TheTopshamgirlwouldbegratefulforthegiftButtogobacktothesalonAllowingthatyouhadgatheredallyourmenandwomentogether，whatwouldyoudowiththem？Makethemtalk？TheywouldallwithoneaccordbegintoflirtYoursalonwouldbecomeaglorifiedPeliti’s-a’ScandalPoint’bylamplight。”
“There’sacertainamountofwisdominthatview。”
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