From where I sat I could see that, as each lady entered her box, opera-glasses were fixed on her, and her 'points,' as you say, discussed by the crowd of men in the corridors, who, apparently, belonged to quite the middle class."
"My poor, innocent Padischa, you do not understand at all. That was the opera, which makes all the difference. The husbands of those women pay enormous prices, expressly that their wives may exhibit themselves in public, decked in jewels and suggestive toilets. You could buy a whole harem of fair Circassians for what one of those little square boxes costs. A lady whose entrance caused no sensation would feel bitterly disappointed. As a rule, she knows little about music, and cares still less, unless some singer is performing who is paid a fabulous price, which gives his notes a peculiar charm. With us most things are valued by the money they have cost. Ladies attend the opera simply and solely to see their friends and be admired.
"It grieves me to see that you are forming a poor opinion of our woman kind, for they are more charming and modest than any foreign women.
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