The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1900-07-12
her IDEA OF LOVE

nor had lover. Her two younger sister
were both happily married; Gertrude. to
| young man who had adored her from child
| hood, and Lottie. to an elderly widower VIII
mad fallen In love with her at her coming
| out party. Gertrude had refused three Of
|, fers before marrying John Nelson; Lottie
who was born coquette, had received HON
age from almost every man she knew from
the time she could talk.
Alicia was serious and rather naughty
Her friends called her intellectual" ant
this same intellectually made her unpopu
lar with men, who were generally ner lu
ferfors In her chosen style Of conversation
II not In depth Of thought. Until now Alicf,
had affected to despise the other sex. Lot
ties fifrtations and Gertrude's conquest,
had seemed frivolous to her. But sh,
wished to be q well-rounded woman and i
suddenly occurred to her that she knew
nothing Of love. although it was one of tn,
chief things of life. The fact that she wa.
different from other girls. and their inferior
In one respect, was brought home to her by
meditation on love and matrimony which
followed the receipt Of a letter announcing
the engagement of the only unmarried one
OF her classmates To be sure, Alicia was
younger than the other girls, but she had
come out the same year.
1T is all very we'll not to marry" she
said to herself. in conclusion, "but it is Ou0
not to attract a single sutton There must
be something lacking in me. have always
known that l didn't like men, but 1t Is
strange that men don't like me. can &C
complish almost anything if l make up my
mind to 1t. l will have a lover. need not
marry him, of course, but I will have him
desperately in love with me. SO that shall
have an impassioned offer; then l will re-
fuse him.
Alicia cast about her list of male acquain-
tances with view of selecting a suitable
man for her experiment Finally she chose
Poo nrNv %
than Alicia. He was as frivolous as any
girl and decidedly effeminate in his looks
and ways. He had been one of Lotties
numerous admirers, in an impassive way,
but he had never gotten up courage to pro-
pose to her. He had not been sure that he
wanted to do SO. Now he came to the house
rather because he was used to coming to see
the ladies', once in so often. Alicia 8
mother was fond of him. for she had known
MIN since he was in dresses, and she regard
ed him as boy. OF Alicia he stood some
what in ave.
Reggy will be good one to begin with, .
thought that young woman. "He will be
easy to influence. After have refused him
| can try one more difficult
Ihus Miss Wellington began her career as
firt. That evening Reggy came to the
mousse. He found Alicia wonderfully inter-
esting. She talked about cotillion figures.
pretty girls, Judges and golf Reginald was
cnevaller des danes, an expert chatting dish
COOK and an aspiring golf player
GRACIOUS, l never thought she knew 50
much, he said to himself, as he left the
mouse. But this was only because Arc,s
had displayed knowledge of the subjects
with which Reggy was conversant. for he
mad always known that she was intel
lectual"
1t was scarcely a week before Ree1v
presented himself at the Wellingtons. He
asked for Miss Wellington instead of for
the ladies' He was unconscious Of the
neglect of Mrs. Wellington, but wary Alicia
smiled when she, alone, was summoned to
the drawing room.
"Oh, Mr.. De Greve," she said-heretofore
she had called him Reggy-"I am so glad to
see you. know that you can help me
solve something that has been Worrying nv
poor BRAIN"
She took seat beside the poor man. and
submitted the something that had been
worrying her. It was only charade an
intricate one, however, to which Alicia knew
the answer Reggy did not suspect that,
and he was good at puzzles He solved this
one easily, and explained the elaborate pro-
cess to Miss Wellington.
Tnank you, Mr.. De Greve: you are 50
clever, said Alicia, exactly as she had
heard Lottie say the same words to diff
ferent men at least hundred times
That evening. as Reggy went away, his
clever"
In the course of time Alicia convinced
Reggy that she was uncommonly pretty.
agreeable, not too wise, and altogether
charming-just the woman to preside over
his house and help him spend his rather
large patrimony. She also convinced him
that he was good-looking, clever, witty and
manly. Indeed, under the sun OF her APP
prevail, he grew wonderfully until he was
quite different Reggy.
At last the schemed-for proposal took
place. Satisfied with himself. and much
more than satisfied with the accomplished
Alicia, Reggy asked her to be his wife,
Alicia foresaw the coming offer, of course
She made ready to refuse it. She even
chose her next victim, William Giles, a
lawyer Of skill and renown. He would be
difficult to enthrall, but foeman worthy of
her steel.
But she did not think of William when
Reggy proposed. She watched the "boy."
as she called him in her heart with a curl
GUS pride. How we'll he does it, she
thought. Love has made a man Of him.
He Is desperately in earnest; he is charm
ing-he is adorable
why, Reggy," she said aloud to her own
establishment. II believe l do love you.
Yes, l will marry you after all-yes, yes,
will"
The happy Reggy did not notice the pc
culiar wording of Alicia's acceptance of his
heart and fortune. He had won her. and
his joy seemed complete. No one but his
wife ever knew that he had been the sub
ject of an MISUNDERSTANDING