The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-18
90
90

a seat home in her carriage. favored
the story and the afternoon with much
judicial criticism
Americans are delightful and anus
Ing. and all that" said She But they
certainly do lack fine manners that in
herent sense of how to behave and ex
actly now far to go, which is the saw
ing grace of the we'll bred woman. Pm
not putting in a brief for prudery, or
straight lacedness. but do detest vuI-
saflty- women of the present day are
not tactrui or particular enough and
the laxity is growing. One can. trace
us oulcome-to the free and easy indie
pendent American manner But, then.
American men don't misjudge their
women. They give them a loose rein
and long one and know they're safe
10 trot into their respective stables
Just the same. But our men (and GER
talnly foreign mem won't draw a hard
and fast line between freedom and Ii
cense, between the fast woman. whose
boasts are certainly franker than her
actions, and the absolute laXity of sces
darmeS.' No, my dear Nine BeaudeIet.
we should really preserve our insuIar
preJudices with more strictness. We
would be better for it-morally and
physically better.
women can keep men decent if they
wish. But apparently nowadays they
don't wish. | have a daughter Ct don't
mind telling you, but I'm really a
grandmother) Well, she married bril-
l1antly in her first season and eyery-
thing seemed most satisfactory But
lately, well, hope and pray there may
not be scandal. but she goes one way
and her husband another. She is al
ways writing complaints of him to me
He drinks and CANDLES and has his
bellies petites and all the rest of it. L
try my best to console her. 1 tell her
that she has a fine position and an as
sured income and is by way of being u
social success in spite of a little old
fashioned idea of dignity that people
only laugh at nowadays. Why cant
she content herself with all this and let
her husband go his own way?"
ventured to suggest that a young
woman, and no doubt a beautiful won-
an, needed something more even than
an income and an assured position to
complete her happiness. But Lady
Ormaroyd protested vigorously that
silly romantic ideas" We're the ruin oe
girls and women. Just as if one man
wasn't every bit as bad as another
when it came to living with him.
Of course, a lover seemed different,
but then he was .on his best behavior.
and hattered and fooled woman to
gain his own ends Once gained. well.
she cited so many authentic instances
of unenviable results that 1 was bereft
of argument for the time
Look at Lady W. she contin-
ued. DO you think that any of her
lovers will care for her once she is
publicly disgraced. Once the law
courts have pillaged her secrets and
thrown the searchlight of inquiry upon
her past years, she can never be re-
eeived at court again; never show up
at any decent house; never be any
thing but declaSSe-a social pariah.
sinking lower and lower until drugs
and drink come to be her only cOnsola-
ton. Hard? Yes, 1t is hard, as you
say. But these women bring their own
fate upon themselves. They cheat and
lie and pretend, and then when one
day discovery stares them in the face
they affect establishment that their
long deluded world WON'T believe in
them any longer And yet, and yet"
She broke off abruptly Her cynical
face. her hard eyes. seemed to wear
shadow of regret - n..l
"And yet" she went on slowly.
there is only one thing to be done
with society marriage. Make the
best of it. 1t is SO horribly easy to
make the-worst." t58