The Harris-Ingram Experiment | Page 8

deal that he might decide to make. It was
planned that all should dine together at eight, and Leo was to join the
party by invitation of Lucille.
Evidently the Harrises were well pleased with their English visitor, but
their pleasure was also quickened with the bright prospect of several
millions of English money for their manufacturing interest. Then after
their visit to Europe might follow the long looked-for residence in
delightful New York. Already rich Americans, famous authors and
artists gravitate as naturally to this new world metropolis, as the world's

elite to London and Paris.
CHAPTER III
A BAD SEND-OFF
It was almost eight o'clock when the dinner party assembled in the
reception-room of the Waldorf. Leo was first to arrive, and Lucille was
there to receive him. At ten minutes of eight, solicitor Hugh Searles
came; then entered Colonel Harris and his daughters, Alfonso
following with his mother. Mrs. Harris wore a black satin dress with jet
trimmings and Van Dyke lace. Lucille's dress of light blue faille silk,
garnished with pearls and guipure lace, was very becoming. Leo so told
Lucille, and she thanked him but hid behind her lips the thought that
Leo never before seemed half so manly. Mr. Searles evidently admired
Leo, and he talked to him of Italy's greatness in literature and art. He
sat at Colonel Harris's right, opposite Mrs. Harris. Leo and Lucille
occupied seats at the end of the table, and at their right and left sat
Alfonso and Gertrude.
Guests of the hotel and their friends chatted in low conversation at the
many tables of the model dining-room. Electric lights shone soft in the
ceiling, and under pretty shades at each table, which added much to the
general effect.
Long before the sweets and fruits were reached, the conversation had
drifted from one conventional topic to another, until Mrs. Harris asked
Hugh Searles what he thought of higher education for women.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Searles," said Gertrude, "please tell us all about the
English girl."
"Does she go to college, and does she ride a bicycle!" queried Lucille.
Mrs. Harris was eager to listen to the Englishman's reply for often she
had earnestly talked the matter over in her home. Mr. Searles was very
frank in his views, and surprisingly liberal for an Englishman, and well
he might be, for his own mother was a power, and his sisters were

strong mental forces in Lincolnshire. Aided by tutors and their
scholarly mother, they had pursued at home, under difficulties, about
the same course of studies, that Hugh, their brother, had followed in the
university.
Searles believed that absolute freedom should be given to women to do
anything they wished to do in the world, provided they could do it as
well as men, and that nobody had any right to assert they should not.
Colonel Harris, even for a business man, was also advanced in his ideas.
He had advocated for his daughters that they should possess healthy
bodies and minds, and be able to observe closely and reason soundly.
Lucille said that she favored an education which would best conserve
and enlarge woman's graces, her delicate feeling and thought, and her
love for the beautiful.
Then Leo and Alfonso both declared that Lucille had expressed fully
their own opinions.
Colonel Harris added, "Come, Gertrude, tell us what you think."
Her face flushed a little as she replied, for she felt all that she said,
"Father, I like what Mr. Searles has told us. I think higher education for
women should develop purity of heart, self-forgetfulness, and enlarged
and enriched minds."
"Well spoken, daughter," said Colonel Harris. "Now, dear, what have
you to say?"
Mrs. Harris had listened well, as she had been a slave in the interests of
her children, especially of her daughters. She thought that the last
twenty-five years had proved that women in physical and intellectual
capacity were able to receive and profit by a college education. Often
she had longed for the same training of mind that men of her
acquaintance enjoyed. The subject was thus discussed with profit, till
the Turkish coffee was served. Closing the discussion, Searles thought
that America led England in offering better education to woman, but

that England had given her more freedom in politics; the English
woman voted for nearly all the elective officers, except members of
Parliament. He believed that the principle of education of woman
belonged to her as a part of humanity; that it gave to her a self-centered
poise, that it made her a competent head of the home, where the family
is trained as a unit of civilization.
He felt that woman possessed the finest and highest qualities, and that
it was her mission to project and incorporate these elevating qualities
into society. He thought