"Don't worry! I won't tell anyone you didn't desire to add to the
State. Nor will I tell anybody how I induced you to have it!"
His face became red, and he said, "You will never again mention that to
me! Never again! Understand?"
Jane's neck muscles trembled, but her face was composed. She said,
"I'll speak of that, to you, whenever I feel like it. Though, God
knows, I'm thoroughly ashamed of it. But I do get a certain sour
satisfaction out of knowing that, once in my life, I managed to break
down that rigid self-control. I made you act like a normal man, one
able to forget himself in his passion for a woman. Doctor Carroad, the
great scientist of the State, really forgot himself then."
She gave a short brittle laugh and then settled back in the chair as if
she would no longer discuss the matter.
But he would not, could not, let her have the last word. He said, "I
only wanted to see how it felt to throw off all restraints. That was
all--an experiment. I didn't care for it; it was disgusting. It'll
never happen again."
He looked at his wristwatch and said, "Let's go. We must not make the
Secretary wait."
She rose slowly, as if the eight months' burden was at last beginning
to drain her strength.
"All right. But I'm submitting our baby to this experiment only under
protest. If anything happens to it, a potential citizen...."