The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1909-03-11

TT isn't that. dear. My very soul
is weary. I couldn't stand 1t any
longer"
stand what, Marion?"
The make-believe, the empty show,
the constant effort to find something
you haven't got, the poor pretense
that everybody sees through, the
deaths head beneath the smile, the
eternal struggle to escape from your
selves. Oh, Esther, it isn't life!"
But, dear, | thought every day
was one long thrill Of pleasure"
1T was so at first. | was just wild
with delight, fascinated by every
thing / saw; happy in the present
moment, Needless of the future. But
the awakening was bound to come.
The novelty wears off, and after the
disenchantment not only Indifference
follows, but WEAKNESS and disgust"
Perhaps you are not well; a little
overstrained, II may be-"
Dear, I have lived too near to Ma
ture and to reality to be content for
long with ~make-believe. | love beau
tiful dresses, as all ONE do. | am
afraid I am not Indifferent to lattery,
| enjoy now and then a brilliant
scene The wealth and luxury of a
great house appeal to me for the
moment with peculiar force. But at
back OF IL | am a creature with sim
pie tastes. Your dear old drawing
room with its faded furniture and
cosy unpretentiousness appeals TO me
as no other room in the world does"
Mother said before | came out that
you would thing it very shabby
Shabby! | tell you I'm longing to
get into a corner of the big couch and
tuck up my feet and feel that I'm
once more free
"Mawgan Chase is Liberty Hall, as
you know
Il shall feel as ! did after | was
rescued from the sea. Oh, | do so
want to be quiet and listen to the
wind, and watch the robins, and hear
the ducks quacking down in the pool
and go out when | am in the humor
and ramble on the cliffs and feel the
salt wind from the sea on my face"
Il am afraid you will soon get tired.
II you have had too much excitement,
| am afraid we get too little"
Perhaps | shall find the happy
mean some day" was the quiet an
swer Possibly | don't know exact.
ly what | want. Only ] am conscious
that the artificial life | have been
leading for the last two or three
years can never satisfy. I have had
my fill of it. | want to live saneIy,
naturally, ~usefully."
Perhaps if you had a house and
home of your own-" Esther suggest
ed, then paused, and did not com
plete the sentence.
81 don't know, dear" and she
sighed a little YEARLY. "Aunty says
| am altogether too romantic-that |
have too many foolish notions-that
| ought to look at marriage more
from a socia, point of view
And yet people talk about mar
riages being made in heaven"
Il believe some are" Marion said,
quietly. Now and then the soul
finds its mate. | might have married,
dear, and married we'll, as the world
calls 1t, if-ff-'
Esther waited, but Marion did not
complete the sentence.
For a while there was a silence:
then Marion went on again as il
there had been no break. Most of
the girls l have known to regard
marriage merely as a professionalism
only profession open to them. They
angle for men in the most unblushing
way; or, II they won't do it, their
mothers will do 1t for them. 1t does
not seem to matter much which man
1t is. Out Of fifty eligibles, either
will do
Eyes, dear?"
There are beautiful exceptions.
Esther. Women who reverence their
womanhood; to whom marriage Is
more than . legal tie, or a social
business arrangement; women who
cannot sell themselves without a
blush to the highest bidder
Ito Be c%ontInueo.)