And then she left me; but she told me
afterwards that she thought I was acting, and came back later to see
if I really could sleep."
"And you did sleep, Ideala?"
"Like a top--why not? But now you are following suit with your ill-
conducted people, and your _demi-monde_. I want to know what you mean
by that phrase?"
Then Claudia explained it to her.
"But I thought all that had ended with the Roman Empire," Ideala
protested.
Claudia laughed, and then went on without pity, describing the class as
they sink lower and lower, and cruelly omitting no detail that might
complete the picture.
"But the men are as bad," said Ideala.
"Oh, as bad, yes!" was the answer.
Ideala was pale with disgust. "And we have to touch them!" she said.
Her ignorance of this phase of life had been so complete, and her faith
in those about her so perfect, that the shock of this dreadful
revelation was almost too much for her. At first, as the carriage drove
on through the crowded streets, she saw in every woman's face a
hopeless degradation, and in every man's eyes a loathsome sin; and she
exclaimed, as another woman had exclaimed on a similar occasion: "Oh,
Claudia! why did you tell me? It is too dreadful.
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