get strength from him,
directly or indirectly. It's the negation of all we are working for,
you and I."

"Of course it is," Dyce replied, in a voice of conviction. "We have to
fight against him." He added, after a pause, "There is a truth in him,
of course; but it's one of those truths which are dangerous to the
generality of men."

Constance assented, with a certain vagueness.

"Of course. And he delivers his message so brutally."

"That, no doubt, increases its chance of acceptance. The weak, who
don't know how else to assert, themselves, tend naturally to brutality.
Carlyle taught pretty much the same thing, at bottom; but his humour
and his puritanism made the effect different. Besides, the time wasn't
ripe then for the doctrine of irresponsible force; religion hadn't
utterly perished in the masses of men, as it has now. Given a world
without religious faith, in full social revolution, with possibilities
of wealth and power dangled before every man's eyes--what can you
expect but the prevalences of a more or less ferocious egoism? We, who
are _not_ egoists"--he looked into his companion's eyes--"yet are
conscious of unusual strength, may, it seems to me, avail ourselves of
the truth in Nietzsche, which, after all, is very much the same as my
own theory of the selection of the fit for rule. The difference is,
that we wish to use our power for the common good, whilst Nietzsche's
teaching results in a return to sheer barbarism, the weak trampled
because of their weakness."

Constance approved. Yes, their aim, undoubtedly, was the common good,
and, whilst keeping this in view, they need not, perhaps, be
over-fastidious as to the means they employed. She had for years
regarded herself as at war with society, in the narrow sense of the
word; its creeds, great or small, had no validity for her; she had
striven for what she deemed her rights, the rights of a woman born with
intellect and will and imagination, yet condemned by poverty to rank
among subordinates. The struggle appeared to have brought her within
view of triumph, and was it not to herself, her natural powers and
qualities, that she owed all? At this moment she felt her right to
pursue any object which seemed to her desirable. What was good for
_her_, was good for the world at large.

The next morning they started at the usual hour for their ride, but the
sky was cloudy, and, as they were leaving the park, spots of rain fell.
It was not by the lodge gat