frequently not her own and as for the tom boy players and of the era i do not consider them women at all � they are merely the unnatural of a new sex which will be neither male nor female my dear tempest i hate women so would you if you knew as much about them as i do they have made me what i am and they keep me so they are to be much then � i observed � you do them credit i do he answered slowly � in more wa rs than one a faint smile was on his face and his eyes brightened with that curious jewel like gleam i had noticed several times before believe me i shall never contest with you such a slight gift as woman s love it is not worth fighting for and of women that reminds me � i have promised to take you to the earl of s box at the to night � he is a poor peer very and somewhat the sorrows of satan heavily with port wine but his daughter lady is one of the of england she was presented last season and created quite d will you come i am quite at your disposition � i said glad of any excuse to escape the of my own company and to be in that of whose talk even if its satire me occasionally always fascinated my mind and remained in my memory � what time shall we meet go and dress now and join me at dinner � he answered and we ll drive together to the theatre afterwards the play is on the usual theme which has lately become popular with stage � the of a fallen lady and the exhibition of her as an example of something pure and good to the astonished eyes of the innocent as a play it is not worth seeing � but perhaps lady is he smiled again as he stood facing me � the light flames of the fire had died down to a dull uniform red � we were almost in darkness and i pressed the small button near the that the room with electric light his extraordinary beauty then struck me afresh as something altogether singular and half don t you find that people look at you very often as you pass i asked him suddenly and he laughed not at all why should they every man is so intent on his own aims and thinks so much of his own personality that he would scarcely forget his if the very devil himself were behind him women look at me sometimes with the affected and like interest usually exhibited by the frail sex for a man i cannot blame them i answered my gaze still resting on his stately figure and fine head with as much admiration as i might have felt for a noble picture or statue � what of this lady we are to meet to night � how does she regard you lady has never seen me � he replied � and i the sorrows of satan have only seen her at a distance it is chiefly for the purpose of an introduction to her that the earl has asked us to his box this evening ha ha matrimony in view i exclaimed � yes � i believe lady is for sale � he answered with the coldness that occasionally distinguished him and made his handsome features look like an impenetrable mask of but up to the present the bids have not been sufficiently high and i shall not purchase i have told you already tempest i hate women seriously most seriously women have always done me harm � they have me in my progress and why i specially them is that they have been gifted with an enormous power for doing good and that they let this power run to waste and will not use it their deliberate enjoyment and choice of the repulsive vulgar and commonplace side of life me they are much less sensitive than men and infinitely more heartless they are the mothers of the human race and the faults of the race are chiefly due to them that is another reason for my hatred do you want the human race to be perfect i asked astonished � because if you do you will find that impossible he stood for a moment apparently lost in thought everything in the universe is perfect � he said except that curious piece of work � man have you never thought out any reasons why he should be the one flaw � the one creature in a creation no i have not � i replied � i take things as i find them so do i � and he turned away and as i find them so they find me au dinner in an hour s time remember the door opened and closed � he was gone i remained alone for a little thinking what a strange disposition was his the sorrows of satan � what a curious mixture of philosophy sentiment and satire seemed to run like the veins of a leaf through the temperament of this brilliant semi mysterious personage who had by mere chance become my greatest friend we had now been more or less together for nearly a month and i was no closer to the secret of his actual nature than i had been at first yet i admired him more than ever � without his society i felt life would be deprived of half its charm for though attracted as human will be by the glare of my glittering millions numbers of so called friends now surrounded me there was not one among them who so my every mood and with whom i had so much close sympathy as this man � this half cruel half kind companion of my days who at times seemed to 