Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-07-20
PLATONIC LOVE.

grave realities.
The sight Of this one gray hair was to
this woman the striking of such an hour.
She sat down weakly still continuing to
stare into the mirror before hor. She was
SO surprised. This discovery had taken
her at such disadvantage For the first
time she realized that at SO youth was
gone. True, Balzac made his women of
80 to 35-the women of knowledge and his
tories-most fascinating and piquant,
and the present age has little relish for the
loves and woes of bread and butter misses.
Still, though there might yet be long
stretch before her of the burden and heat
of life's afternoon, before the "glimmer
of twilight came on" it was true, as
Browning said, there'd be "never glad,
confident morning again"
Thirty-fivel Only yesterday she had
felt herself as young as everl She had
been as gay and inconsequent in social
life as the youngest "bud' in her whole
set. Now that she thought about it, all
the girls that had "come out" when she
did were settled wives and sober matrons.
They attended cooking schools they were
interested in fruit canning and children's
clothes, and the servant girl question was
u u6NGT Va DOlCnhltAl ulSCllo-
sion among them. They wore their eye
glasses openly with chain and hook as Or
namental features Of dress as well as
things useful in themselves. Most of them
had given up dancing, but went out to
dinners in tacky looking dresses without
seeming to mind. The youths they had
married, once dapper beaux, had subsidized
into very Indifferent members of society,
though some Of them showed true excel
lence as 'Benedick, the married man."
Did she envy any of these women the
possession of these things she had enumer-
ated? Oh mol 1t was because her tastes
had run in other channels that some OF
them were the wives Of certain husbands
one of them at least-instead of herself.
Certainly more than round half dozen Of
these men had first proposed to her before
telling their present wives the old, old sto-
ry that until they had met them they had
never loved before. " No, she did not envy
these old girl associates their cooking
clubs, their servant girls and their middle
aged husands. There might be question
about their love defended homes, about
the daily companionship which brings "a
trick of thought that falls in happily with
your own" There might be- She got
up and walked restlessly about the room.
There had been onel oh, of course Ar
thur Varian had been quite different from
all the others. She had looked upon him
as corresponding to her ideal. And her
ideal was high. That was why she had
not married him 10 years ago. why
should they marry'" asked she. ANY
body may marry, and marriage is so COM
mon and so often disappointing Why
not be ideal friends-platonic lovers
philosophical, passionless, purely mental
in their regard for each otherS He might
come one evening in every week, and they
would stand outside Of matters temporal
and eternal and discuss and decide upon
and dismiss them. This was better than
the irritating friction of domestic life and
the eternal problem, What shall we have
for dinner?'"
He had not agreed to this at once.
There was considerable resentment and
much vain pleading, for he wanted wife
and home. But Vesta-this goddess
rightly named-was too charming to re-
linquish altogether in spite of her obnox-
ious opinions, so he had weakly fallen into
the position assigned him. He was stu
dious, she both studious and brilliant.
The one evening in the week devoted to
each other was the most attractive to them
of the entire seven.
And nothing escaped their attention.
They discussed everything from creations
earliest germ cell up to political economy,
the Tibetan Mahatmas, hypnotic sugges-
tions and the law of psychic phenom-
ena, for Vesta was most voracious
An to tbfc ffT,,a chm txyoc
that she had loved Arthur Varian, stately
and handsome as he was in person, as
Dorothy, in "Middlemarch, " did Mr.. Cas-
aubon-for his beautiful soul" During
the first year or two Of this companion
ship Varian had at times tried to make
ordinary, everyday love to Vesta under
the guise Of platonism, but she had speed
lily brought him to order AS he rose in
his profession and his life became an ac-
tive, busy one his evening with Vesta
rested and refreshed him. Her talk kept
him abreast with literature he no longer
had leisure to read. He did not now at
tempt to WOO her with what she called
"crude passionate nonsense. She was
his comrade, his friend.
Sometimes he smoked while she read to
him favorite passages from some rising
author At other times, If tirehout after
some long plea before jury, he would
fall asleep. When he did this the first
time it Disguised her She afterward con-
doned the offense when he declared that
'the spirit was willing, but the flesh was
weak. -
AS the years went on, Varian sometimes
failed to keep his appointments with
Vesta. Business" prevented, or Ten
gagements he, couldn't, in decency, keep
from making" She had thought it
queer" at Mrs. Maddern's reception,
"what he could find to say of that silly
Brock girl, just out, SO much Of the even
ing" and was just trifle indignant,
which he did not take to heart.
In her walk about the room she paused
a moment at the window and looked out
Variants buggy whirled by. In 1t was
Varian himself and that silly little AIDA
Brock. She was rugged up in suit of
light duck and wore one Of the now fly
away hats. He was looking at her-Vesta
caught her breath gaspingly and held both
trembling hands against her heart-as he
had looked at Vesta herself in the old
days so far away! He would marry her
he would marry and go away out Of her
| life, into every fiber of which he was woven
by the close comradeship of yearsl He
would go out of her life foreyerl How
could she lose him soi How could sheH
| She flung her arms above her head in a
frenzied gesture of despair, and crying