Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1905-04-14
BY MARGARET L. sANGsTER.

Agatha has been engaged TO Thomas
nearly four years. Thomas is in re-
ceipt of a good salary. quite sufficient
to support a little home in comfort, and
he is constant and devoted in his at
tentions to Agatha. His calls, four or
five evenings a week. have become as
much a thing of course as the striking
of the clock. A little after eight, in
walks Thomas. A little after ten, out he
goes. Tender ~eood-nights are eX-
changed at the door. Agatha slips away
to bed. Thomas strolis homeward.
How long is this philandering to go
on" mutters Aeatha's father to her
mother, in the privacy of their chamber.
Fol- two years they have been obliged,
after our American fashion, to exile
themselves from the living-room, or par
lor, whichever they call it, and spend
their evenings in the dining-room or
their own room upstairs. Agatha and
her fiance talking, talking, talking, in
low tones like the ripping of a brook,
have mOnopoliZed that part of the
house. 1t seemstothe parents afterawhi!e
that the long engagement is telling
~unfavorably on their daughters health
and spirits, and they think it time that
affairs reached a crisis, that they cui-
minated in a wedding.
Agatha thinks so. TOO. She is beyond
words annoyed with and weary OF the
situation. The most devoted pair of en-
gagged lovers. in the course of several
years, exhaust their topics of converse
ton. They are in danger Of drifting
into a state of morbid and unwholesome
ennui. Were they married, a host OF
common, practical interests would draw
them closer, and give them Il basis on
which to build their house of joy. The
management Of the home, the cooking
for two, the mending, the making, the
Identification of the husband and wife
as n family in its front to the world,
help to bind them into that union which
is strong as life itself.
A long engagement. dragging slowly
and interminably on. when there is no
apparent reason for a delayed marriage.
Is a very trying experience TO a girl. She
knows that her friends discuss her and
wonder why the wedding is deferred
She attends the weddings of other
friends. She begins to be socially, par
don the slang, a back number. An en-
gagged girl cannot compete in social in
%tercourse with her friends who are still
free. Very likely she has been prepar-
ing her store of linen. and there are piles
OF sheets and towels over which she
fingers with that house-wifely %yearnine,
known to women when they are plan
ming a new home. | knew one girl who
waited II years, while her tardy lover
continued his visits, never even family
abiding to marriage. The memory of
her sirlish yes" was growing remote,
when her young sister announced her
engagement, shyly adding: Edwin
wants to be married in three months.
don't see how | can be ready" you
might be ready if Edwin wanted you to
marry him Tomorrow" said the older
woman. You shall have my things
and the elaborate trousseau. as we'll as
the beautiful stock of fine linen was
forced upon the blushing bride-to-be
The first engagement was broken. as II
should have been long before.
Our English cousins allude to the
loosely-managed betrothals that ovel
here so often dissolve in mist. rs dang,
ling" II would seem that dangling
is a thing unworthy an honorable man
Asatha's prospective mother-in- law
II she be a selfish woman may be at the
bottom Of Toms postponed marriage
Mothers sometimes hate the idea of part
ing with sons, and move heaven ant
earth to keep them single. A son WHIT
is fond of his mother. has it may be, no
the manhood to break her bonds. II
proportion as he Is a good son, he breads
hurting her feelings. If the mother Il
verytactful and a little SUBSCRIPTIONS, sh'
may manage her son without his sus
pecting it, and in n way or anotheI
preserve her a~scendancy over him, an,
keep that girl" waiting an indefnit,
time.
To tell the plain truth, Agatha is in /;
very delicate and difficult position. Sh,
cannot take the initiative. No girl VIII,
respects herself can beg her lover I,
name the wedding day. This is his pre-
rogative, not hers. He should beg, an,
she grant the favor Of an early marriage
; A man should be sure of his own mind
and purse, before becoming engaged
I Once engaged, heshould not be the one u
defer, and defer, and defer the weddin,
day. II he does, the young woman ma,
cavar tho hOpd This is her priviloua