The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-03-23
A WELLG ROOMED WOMAN
How Mrs. Fenton Taught Her Hus-
band a Lesson.

Him.
Mr.. Fenton put down his evening pa
per and regarded his wife with a sigh.
She sat on the other side of the table,
mending her way through a pile OF
stockings mountain high; a plump, lit
tie woman of forty, none 100 trig il
figure, decidedly ruffied a.. to hair, but
with a merry twinkle in her blue eyes
n lmotherliness expressed in every
line of her comfortable person.
"Well?" said she, looking up, feeling
with sinking at the heart that some
new complication had come up in the
financial situation, and that she was
about to be treated to views of bimet-
allism, adding to the feminine mind.
But no. Her ord and master had
been led into a very different train OF
thought
Its nearly fifteen years that we
have been married, Mary" he unused,
remembering as he spoke that in all
that time he had hardly ever before
scrutinized her with such a critical
gaze.
Tell it not in Gath" she laughed.
I'm growing old, but let us keep it a
secret in the family as long as we can"
Yes, you have changed-we have
both changed. What a vain little
chatterbox You used to be-"
~"'TorGprd 1t ered nAF expressed me in
those days. Now Socks It prdder6d nhiF
would be more like it" cried Mrs Fen
ton gayly. with a flourish of her darn
ing needle at the work basket. And
as for vanity! Bless my heart. l
should like to know when l have had
time ~ be vain."
Il am afraid you are getting a little
careless. my dear" her husband OBJ
served. congratulating himself on hav-
ing so easily led up to the discussion
he wanted. Sometimes it has struck
me hat you were almost untidy, and
that's a sad mistake for a oma If
she has the air of being we'll groomed,
she possesses a very great charm"
Mr.. Fenton wore prodigious whiskers,
Dundreary-like, and they hid a blush
which rose TO his face at the conscious
ness that he was quoting the newspa-
per article rer6dtinl It Hterdfim. But his
wife had no such protection, and the
rich color visibly dyed her very brow.
To be called untidy is a cruel stab
from ones better half, but she re-
strained the indignation on her lips
and tried to ask quite calmly:
Whom should you call a particularly
we'll groomed woman now OF course,
! suppose there are three hundred and
n~inety-nine of them in the four hun
bred, but among our neighbors? 1t
would help me to find a model, you
know"
There had been moments in their
welded career when Mr.. Fenton had
felt that the workings of a feminine in
tellect were quite beyond him, and this
was another of them At what was
Mary driving? 1t was impossible to
suspect her of jealousy, for from that
faint her sweet nature vas absolutely
free. So. rather in the dark, he re-
piled helplessly:
"um-ah. Well, Mrs Van Dusen.
now. She always seems to me what
YOU would term well groomed-a fine
figure of a woman and dresses mighty
we'll"
Mrs Van Dusen spends $1,000 a
wear for dress where l spend, perhaps,
$50. She buys her figure from an ex-
pensive corsetmaker, but it is useless
70 mention hat to a man. She has no
children, three servants, and nothing
20 think of but fixing herself up. l am
not complaining, James, dear. You re-
member you brought up the subject
yourself. but when you compare me
with Robert Van Dusen's wife you
should consider the difference in our
circumstances. l have many, many
cares and my days are full to the brim."
The rough head bent ove the hole
which was being filed with a careful
lattice-work Of black yarn, and the
needle went in and ont steadily If
the members eyes were dim nobody no
ticed it
But it takes very little time to keep
ones self IN neatness and order. just
hear this. now, my dear. A very good
article; very sensible, too"
The eIoquence of Cicero, the rounded
periods of a Junius would not have
moved Mary Fenton at that moment
1t took all her wits to keep down the
bitterness in her heart Without wait
ing for encouragement, her husband
read on:
The woman who has an air OF being well
Groomed has q very great charm for al men
lHe skipped this sentence. Why expose the
writer TO a charge OF plagiarism. Really,
ladies, you should at least try the experiment.
and maj well devote Q little time each day -