The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-18
A MODERN WOMAN.

Margaret Brockton never for an instant
suspected herself of being sentimentalist.
She thought she was modern in every par
ticular, including heart and soul. She
was charming, she knew, and somewhat
vain, clever and a little mercenary and
thoroughly worldly wise and worldly
minded. And yet there were three years
when Miss Brockton rivaled any old time
heroine of romance in her sentimental at
titude.
1t happened in this wise: One day,
when she was 3d. there came to her q GER
tain stalwart fellow she had known from
infancy and told her what she already
knew-that he loved her and wished to
marry her. Miss Brockton, liking him
exceedingly well, realizing how pleasant
life might be made with his money, his
name, his devotion to her and his compan-
ionship and deciding that the ecstatic love
of which poems and novels treated would
never come to her anyway, accepted him.
The engagement came out duly; the cups
and saucers came in. Margaret liked Jack
Whittlestone a great deal and found the
position of 1ancee charming, and all was
well.
Then the villain appeared upon the
scene in the shape of Louis Radcliffe,
Jack S cousin. Louis was a delightfully."-
unmodern person, who seemed to have tax
torian heroes. He was combination of
youthful romanticism, elderly cynicism
and other interesting qualities. He had a
superb scorn of the conventions, a magnif-
icent belief in himself and a correspond
ing amiable skeptioism in regard to other
people.
He ''interested' Margaret greatly, she
said, at first Then she ceased to say any
thing about him. Jack, not being skilled
I'M 11o nf mt
either his betrothed S speech or its absence.
He knew the ''new woman" well enough
not to assert his rights and bid her have
less conversation with his cousin, even had
he wished to do So Liberty being the law
of Margaret's life and unsuspecting good
nature of Jack s, the situation had every
chance to complicate itself.
1t did so promptly. Margaret, who had
decided that fervid and ecstatic love was
not at all likely to come her way, awoke
one fine morning to the realization that
the universe had in it just one man
Jacks impossible, poverty stricken, ire
sistible cousin. And Jacks cousin, who
had laughed at Margaret feminine cynic-
ism and pretense of coldness felt that she
and she alone could be the complement to
his life. They were both unhappy enough
to give them credit for some good inten-
tions, but in the midst of their unhappi
| ness they were supremacy conscious of
what trife misery was compared to the
| joy of seeing each other.
Margaret knew perfectly, in her few
sane hours, that she did not wish to marry
Louis Radcliffe. She realized that he
would develop into thoroughly undesir-
able sort of husband, even apart from his
poverty.
eff only I could get over this she
moaned to herself. ''At 40 I should be
wretched with him, at 40 1 should be COM
Portable if not madly happy with Jack.
If only, if only I were 40 now!'
1t was one day when she and Louis had
sat for an hour staring ahead of them at
the sea that the climax came.
sWhy don't you talk?'' demanded Mar
garet, finding her heartbeats oppressive.
Because cannot say what 1 wish to- -
he answered. Then, of course, he proceed
ed to say the things which he should not
have said. And for few minutes the sea
and sky reeled before their eyes and they
breathed as if in trance. After which,
according to the sacrihcial modern man
ner, they decided to part, and the next day
the community was startled to learn that
Mr.. Radcliffe was going 30 Europe.
Then it was that Margaret showed how
thoroughly lacking she was in the modern
mercenary spirit she had always claimed.
It gave her mournful satisfaction to
think that, though she could not marry
Louis, who to tell the truth, had not asked
her to do so, she need not marry Jack. So
she broke her engagement promptly and
proceeded to indulge herself in her great
grief. She heard nothing of either of the
cousins for long time for naturally her
course of action with Jack had suspended
communication between the families.
For three years she was secretly as TO
mantle as the most romantic schoolgirl.
She thought of Louis constantly and
pleased herself by imagining that he, in
Egypt or Algiers or wherever he was. must
know her thoughts. She was exceedingly
happy with her grief. Outwardly she
seemed much the same, but inward]y she
acknowledged the sway of love and itf
power.
One evening three years after Louis
Radcliffe had gone away she went to re
ception. A little pudgy woman, over
dressed and overgemmed, stood by he1
hostess side.
"My cousin, Mrs. Radcliffe, Miss Brock
ton, " said her hostess. And then, with
sudden remembrance: 'fYou must recall
Mr.. Radcliffe. He was Jack Whittlestone'
cousin, you know
And then as Margaret cordially inquireC
after Mr.. Radcliffe and said how she vel
remembered him, sentimentalism for th'
first time fell away from her. From thai
: moment she was the really skeptical anC
thoroughly modern" woman she had al
ways claimed to be. Exchange.
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