The New era-leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1911-1912, 1911-12-08
Middle Aged
Courtship
b ALEXANDER D. CHASE
Copyright by American Press Asso-
rf M5e ~1a&Rmw ro0l H

ILL citation. 1911. ii
The marquis. I man Of forty: the
baroness. . worsza Of thirty-six. .
young man Of twenty and . girl Of
nineteen made up the group
Now. CO. said the marquis to the
two younger ones. You. my dear
nephew. have received my consent.
and you. Cecile. have obtained the
same from your aunt. | will take
cnre OF ron. and the baroness will
probably not be lacking In gifts"
Il certainly win do my part" said
the baroness
ssUncle,r said the young man joy
ous.y, ayou are one Of natures rs well
a. one Of the nations noblemen."
"Aunty.. said the girl. II shall en-
deavor to be worthy Of your kind
ness"
The young couple str0lled on into
another OF the suit Of rooms, leaving
the older ones together.
aNature as well as history" said the
marquis. repeats itself. Do you { e
member the day we received your IA
TIERS blessing?"
Perfectly. and how joyous I was.
Then when the trouble between as
came I was In despair. did not know
It was Z blessing in disguise"
"How do you know It was . bless
mgr
aFrom friends who have married
and been miserable. I can count them
on my fingers. There's Elise" putting
the foreflnger Of her left hand on the
little finger Of her right. .and Annette.
and Fanchette"-
Yes. and among my friends I can
count as many who are supremely
happy"
The romance fades
"But It gives place to an enduring
affection"
.sThese young people who have just
left us will keep up a pretense Of de-
ferring to each other till the day after
they return from their wedding tour;
then they Will begin to quarrel"
But they will gradually grow near
er and dearer to each other. They will
vTsngie. but that = because each
knows the other viii endure such
wransiings from q mate
"But there are those whose Quarrels
uow more and more violent"
They are but a small proportion Of
the whole"
"Ahf, marquis. ron hare been con-
yeFted too late. You are not old. but
too old to feel love based on ccmpan-
ionship."
First love I have passed through.
Unfortunately fate did not permit In
my case the succeeding state. have
been. % It wefs. In q condition Of sus-
penset"
SSnAa cast her eyes to the door.
1Whose fault was I'll" she asked.
.Fate's. ! said fate prevented. did !
not? Nothing but fate can come be-
tween a boy and girl who love. was
young. and l did not understand you.
Lovers need to be tied together to pre-
vent their flying apart. Marriage
does that. Once married. they have to
learn to bear with each other. And
when the child comes there b another
reason Why they must not 6y apart.
Married and with a child. disunion Is
frightful. They will endure real
wrongs rather than that"
"And think OF the absurdity that
caused m to Ay apart
II have forgotten what It was"
I'VE ere playing tennis"
Il remember"
"a ball l sent ron you claimed to be
foul"
aNow I recollect."
~ accused you Of purposely seeing
wrong
$50 you did"
"And ron told me ron were not In
the habit Of being accused Of cheat
Ing"
That's right. Go on"
II threw down my racket and. with
my nose In the air. marched on fhe
court"
.Ah. yes. / have It now. and ] said
to myself, Il don't want q wife who
acts Ike tl1at.,"
aAnd from then Till now not q word
Of love has passed between us"
"How stupid"
we should have been whipped and
ordered to make up like children"
There was . short silence between
them. broken By the marquis.
Something Of substance than
romantic lore drives me to marriage
Youth having passed. | need compan-
ionship. Had | = companion I could
bear 4 great deal from her"
And children"
: For their sake I would bear any
thing"
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