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Mrs. Warren s Profession 181
temptation and is good looking and well-conducted and
sensible. It s far better than any other employment open
to her. I always thought that oughtn t to be. It can t
be right, Vivie, that there shouldn t be better opportu
nities for women. I stick to that: It s wrong. But it s
so, right or wrong; and a girl must make the best of it.
But, of course, it s not worth while for a lady. If you
took to it you d be a fool; but I should have been a fool
if I d taken to anything else. . . .
Why am I independ
ent and able to give my daughter a first-rate education,
when other women that had just as good opportunities
are in the gutter? Because I always knew how to re
spect myself and control myself. Why is Liz looked up
to in a cathedral town? The same reason. Where
would we be now if we d minded the clergyman s foolish
ness? Scrubbing floors for one and sixpence a day and
nothing to look forward to but the workhouse infirmary.
Don t you be led astray by people who don t know the
world, my girl. The only way for a woman to provide
for herself decently is for her to be good to some man
that can afford to be good to her. If she s in his own
station of life, let her make him marry her; but if she s
far beneath him, she can t expect it why should she?
It wouldn t be for her own happiness. Ask any lady in
London society that has daughters ; and she ll tell you the
same, except that I tell you straight and she ll tell you
crooked. That s all the difference. . . . It s only good
manners to be ashamed of it ; it s expected from a woman.
Women have to pretend a great deal that they don t feel.
Liz used to be angry wT
ith me for plumping out the truth
about it. She used to say that when every woman would
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