St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-02-04


FIVE engagements which take place in
society, two on an average are unsatis-
factory to the parents. Let US have
statistics. In one of these two cases,
we may refer the disapproval to the
mans side of the house; in the other,
to the woman's. For the man, nothing
can be done; but for the girl, there is
always hope-that she may change
mutabile semper. you understand.
Exactly" assented; "and the De-
coy?"
"The Decoy does the business grace
tnlly and pleasantly, without attract
ing attention or hurting anybody's
feelings, except, perhaps, those of the
superliuous lover, who proceeds to get
over it with the promptness character
istic of his sex.''
'But the modus!' / exclaimed. II
don't comprehend how all this is &C
complished.
''You must understand, in the
first place, that the Decoy is man who
possesses a veritable genius for making
love, and to this is added unlimited ex-
perience in affaires de occur. There
is no field, by the way, where expert
ence ought to account for less, and
does count for more. than in love-
making. Not that women are alike,
but that they are so widely different.
and only long practice in this delight
full art prevents man from making
mistakes. In general conversation,
the Decoy takes pains not to make him.
self in any way prominent, though for
his profession he must be thoroughly
educated, of strong intellect, and a
brilliant talker; but when alone with
the woman upon whom his operations
are directed, he works with lightning
rapidity and resistless force. Not at
first, however. Oh, no! Then he is
quiet, reserved, almost diffident, invit-
ing his victim to draw him out. Wo-
men are always kind hearted, and l am
inclined to think that, in matters of in
tellect, they are more conceited than
men. As the campaign proceeds, and
the Decoy develops into something lit
tie short Of genius, the woman begins
to be profoundly interested in him.
This is the particular time when she
should hunt cover; but does she
ever do it? Of course, need not
say that in every social accomplish
ment he is perfection itself. Take
Wentworth, for example, he is like one
of Ouida's heroes; he does every thing,
and does it better than anybody else.
His music now is great card, though
he seldom uses it; and he writes de-
licious little love poems, which, after
they have done duty as skirmishers in
one campaign, assist the commissary
in the next by appearing at SO much a
line in 1.-The Decade. In tennis,
dancing, riding, rowing, he is all that
could be asked, and in the most deli
cate matter of etiquette he is never
known to make faux pas-unless tits
solely for the purpose of producing
some effect He possesses, moreover,
a quiet, cool nerve, which carries him
through scenes as intense as any that
Sardou ever imagined. He verloses
his head, though he often pretends that
he does. He does nothing in hurry.
Before he opens the siege he studies
the situation carefully from every point
of view, and gains a complete knowl-
edge of the Notifications. Of course
his system of polemics varies to suit
the occasion. Sometimes by a bold,
brilliant dash, he storms the barriers
and takes possession; but more often,
after having carefully placed all his
forces, he makes the attack, apparently
against his will. He is easily routed,
with fearful slaughter. Then. as the
enemy pauses, Mortified, perhaps, at the
carnage she has wrought, by an unex-
pected flank movement he captures the
neglected citadel, and looks smilingly
down upon her. 1t is one of his aphor-
isms, that with woman you may look
for failure out of success and success
out Of failure y
.sBut hold!" I said, What is the
rightful heir doing all this timer Does
not he appear in the affair at alp"
..L'autre homme?" says the Colonel.
Certainly he appears. 1t is usually
one of the stipulations which the Decoy
puts into the treaty with the parents,
that perfect freedom be allowed the
lovers on their agreeing to postpone
indefinitely the marriage ceremony.
But you must not imagine the Decoy to
be merely ladies' man. He is very
popular among men, also. When he
makes point Of becoming thoroughly
acquainted with man, he usually cap
tivates him in much the same way that
he does woman. It is pretty much
the same to him whether the Orlando
of the affair wakes jealous or remains
unconcerned; he will manage to turn
either to his advantage. The fact that
man loves q woman does not insure
his understanding her. The secret of
the Decoy's success lies in his compre-
hending the girl better than her lover
does, and in making the latter always
appear at disadvantage. In most re-
spects few men can stand a comparison
with the Decoy, and in the matter of
love making he is without a rival. If