National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-04
LOVE MATCHES IN FRANCE.
MARRIAGES ARE MAIDEN HEAVEN.
OR ELSEWHERE.

PRETENDERS - MATRIMONIAL AGENTS
AND THEIR INTERMEDIARIEs-A COOL
ENGINEER-BREAKING A CONTRACT.
paris Correspondence OF the London Timesl
Some weeks ago met q lady acquaiuts uce
II mine, arch, ugly, witty widow. ibid you
amuse yourself much during the Carnival" j
asked. 'No, "she answered, ''dur:pg the Car
nival danced, and am now Of an age when
dancing is more Of toll than pleasure. 1t
is since Lent began that have been amused. -
"You follow the sermons, thenl" Ono; but /
watch the marching past of the pretenders,
and have nearly as many as the throne OF
France"
Perceiving my establishment, she went on:
81 see you are surprised, go will explain the
mystery for you. lam Free. still young, too
ugly to be amiable, and l am mistress of an
income Of s0,O00f. The emptiness Of the
Carnival made me turn my attention to domes-
tic joys, and having consulted my tastes and
my reason, determined to think Of matri-
mony. l was inprudent enough to mention
the matter to a friend, the wife of an ex-high
functionary of the Empire; she seized on the
idea, and since then not day passed, whether
i go out or stay at home, whether l go to the
hhCdLlC VI ESluIE HOld1 hllnOuL
my friend introducing me to some pretender
who seems to have dropped from the clouds.
All tongues, ages and escutcheons have
already passed before me. The thing amuses
me enormously, but so far, to the despair Of
my friend, no one of the gentlemen she has
introduced to me has pleased me well enough
for me to permit him to pay his addresses to
me-" laughed At the story, and left her with
a wish that she might be more fortunate in
future.
/ had forgotten that conversation, when, q
few days after, having received an invitation to
a wedding. there met the wife of the ex-high
functionary of whom the young widow had
spoken to me. at is that LADY," said one of
the relatives of the bride to me, "who made
the match: it is she W no introduced the bride
groom to my cousins family" I thereupon
recalled to mind the conversation with the
widow, and other. circumstances struck me.
knew that the lady who had made the match
was left at the fall af the Empire without the
resources which her husbands Office brought
in. knew that neither she nor her husband
had any private fortune, and that the latter
had no place on the income of which they
could live. Yet l saw them everywhere. l
knew that their house was well ordered, their
table well supplied, their servants well organ
lied, and l saw them dressed in such q style as
allowed of their making good figure in the
world.
METHOD IN MARRIAGES.
1t appeared to me that there must be q GER
tain connection between the marriage had
just witnessed, the young widows story, and
the existence of this couple. 1 was confined
still more in the idea by the successive dis
coveries l made, from which learned, after
two or three days investigation: that three or
four persons of my acquaintance had been
married, as it were, by chance, and through
the friendly and disinterested intervention Of
the same lady. What threw me out of nv
reckoning was, that every one assured me the
lady had acted without any motive of interest,
and that it was with the utmost difficulty she
had been prevailed upon to accept cheap
artistic souvenir. 1t seemed to me very strange
that lady who ostensibly had no fortune, and
whose husband had no place, could afford TO
spend her time in making people happy, and
that the consciousness of having performed
that good action could take tie place ofincome
and salary.
At last, by thinking the matter over, I came |
by degrees to the conclusion that the lady in |
question belonged to the pretty numerous |
category Of Intermediates employed by matri- |
monial agents in France to realize their COM
binations, and Immediately resolved to clear
up my doubts. To that end called upon one
Of the best known matrimonial agents in Paris
and asked him for an interview was very
well received, aud the agent showed himself
quite disposed to satisfy my curiosity. Chance
had served me well. The lady who had given
me the idea Of calling upon him was one of
the most active of the intermediates he en-
ployed.
an France" he said, housekeeping has be-
come so expensive that most men hesitate
about marrying: ct all events, men no longer
marry young in certain society. A man must
have his position insured before thinking of
and when that lie done he is no longer
of the age when men obey the impulses of the
heart at the expense of the head. OF tensTnen
who think of marrying there are nine who put
the questions in the following order: Issshe
rich, pretty, healthy, of good family Then,
for most men, marriage is first money matter,
next matter of self-love, and finally of do
mestic peace. The other questions come after.
Hence men do not fear to apply to me directly,
Or to get themselves recommended to me by q
friend.
HOW IT Is DONE. +
80 far as the men are concerned, things are 4
Gone very simply. receive my client. When l.
receive him it is my business to study him
deeply enough to be able TO say up to what
point he is elegant disri1aelfe gallant, and we'll
bred, or else TO what degree he is awkward, in
nocept, bashful, or ignorant of habits of society
In every marriage there are two parts-that Of
he Intermediary and that of the interested
party; and have always succeeded with men
who have no great advantage to offer, but " no
made personal efforts in the cause, than with
men who could no do nothing by themselves.
But it is
NOT so WITH YOUNG LADIES
Who want husbands. A young lady would
never forgive her future husband for having
married her through my agency. what, SIR
he would say 10 him, you have married me
hen only for my money! Through an agent!
How horrid" And the couple would be for
.Ver unhappy. Hence ! vanish so soon as the
irst f0rmalities are accomplished. The aspir-
int signs written engagement to pay me six
per cent. on the dowry Immediately after mis-
marriage with person named in the treaty,
and then am seen no more. Ny place is then
AIKEN by intermediates such as the one of
whom you speak, such as many others you
meet everywhere, such as men whom you elbow
n all salons, and who are overwhelmed with
ender care, because they pass for having pum-
Jers of young men to marry.
when have drawn in all the necessary in
formation, which l faithfully communicate to
he intermediary who may use it, he tells me
he names Of the young ladies or widows of his
acquaintance
WHO NIGHT SUIT NY CLIENT. L.
We make our choice, and l in my turn engage
o pay my Intermediary half the sum shall re-
,eiVe. The latter then goes to work. He pays
/ visit to the family of the young lady we have
n view. He there learns, for instance, that
leXt evening she will be at ball. He then by
look or by crook procures an invitation to the
,all for the aspirant. At the ball, while the
is talking with the young lady to
'e married or with her mother, the Pspirant
omes up and bows to the intermediary, who is
harmed at the meeting, and introduces him to !
he ladies. The aspirant dances with the young
ady whose name he does not know, nor that Of :
Ter family, which only makes him the most nat
Iral. While he is dancing, or during the eve !.
hing, the lady or gentleman who acts as inter
nediary must find means of giving the parents !
# the young lady his or her opinion Of the $
'oung man who, on his side, If he like the pro-
ect5 should naturally try to facilitate the task
# the agency. {
"The Intermediary few days later becomes
he interpreter of the feelings raised in the !
Dung man by the first meeting, her interviews
re arranged, and, If q marriage follows,
either the young lady herself nor her family
yer know that 1t was all done by q matri-
noniaI agency, and when the mother and bride
nnounce the marriage the former never falls
o observe, Yes, dear madam, people are quite