114
THE STAR IN THE WEST
Percy, the now distraught
lover of Angela , turns to
his
first
moony
love ,
and
withdrawing
his
heart
proffers her his purse :
Buy yourself a pretty hat !
Forget
my pretty speeches !'
The above needs
no comment .
Most
men will under
stand it well enough ; for there are a hundred thousand
women in London who
need
no editor's
appendix or
translator's
footnote .
Enter GLENSTRAE
.
(To conceive him asketh not
Imagination's
waistcoat
buttons
undone
!
Any old gentleman in any club in London . ) ?
Meeting Molly he asks her for a glass of milk , and
comforts
her on hearing that she intends going
into
service , saying :
“ And so you shall , my dear, so you
shall .
Come and live with
my wife as her companion ,
and we will try and find your lover for you .
No doubt
the arts of this - er --designing female will soon lose
their power —there , there , no thanks , I beg ! I never
could bear to see a pretty wench
cry
—there ,
there ! ” 3
We have
now thoroughly
grasped
the quality of the
male
element , and the two together , the harlot and
the lecher , produce the social code and seven - eighths
of the social woes .
“ Must
I , must
I ? Oh ,
sir
,
have
pity
!”
sobs the
poor disillusionized
Molly
,
as
the
male
element
who
1
?
Why Jesus Wept
,
vol
.
iii,
p
.
38
.—
“
My
mind
lay there
as
exhausted
as
my body
!
He covered my blushes
by
the offer
of
a
tiny remuneration
."
—
Beverland
,
p
.
405
.
“
If
your heart were
as
big
as
your feet
,
you would have
given me five francs instead
of
five sous
.”
-
Frou
-
Frou
.
2
Ibid
.
vol
.
iii
,
p
.
38
.
*
Ibid
.
vol
.
iii,
p
.
39.
Vide
,
The Martyrs
of
Hell's Highway
.