The Washington herald., 1921-06-03

man with a rowing eye and a wan
dering foot. wants to know how she
can cure him of f1irtatiousness, and
what she shall do about IT. anyway.
There is no cure for philandering.
The man whose fckle fancy is fired
by every fresh face, and who is I'M
PEELED to chase every high water
skirt that crosses his pathway has
a constitutional affliction that only
death will end. No matter how
much he promises to reform, he will
20 on falling from grace until he
falls into the grave.
He is-1ust built that way. There's
no faith in him. Possibly he can
no more help being a butterfly that
fits from flower to flower than a
solid granite cliff can help being
what it is. and staying in one
place
Certainly II a man cannot change
himself. and steady his own waver-
ing soul. no wife can accomplish
the important task. OF course, ev-
cry woman who marries one OF
those men whose hearts are a no.
tel run on the European plan. be-
lieves that she has got a 99-year
lease on il, and is going to be a
permanent tenant.
packed and settled. and has burnt
up the love letters and other SOU
Venirs of her predecessors, there's
new name inscribed on the regis
ter. and she has to move into
back room or else get out. Some
younger and fairer guest is tarry-
ing temporarily in the suite de luxe.
Many fake remedies are offered
for tying such men to their own
hearthstones- Women are told that
they must give their husbands the
thrill at home that they seek abroad.
Wives are abjured 10 keep them
selves always young and beautiful,
and exquisitely dressed. and out
yamp the vampiest vamp. Also the,
must keep their husband pursuing
the love chase by keeping them
GuessinC, and allure them along the
path of matrirony by always being
coy and arch and fiirtatious them
selves.
All of which is sheer nonsense.
You cannot mingle thrills with the
bills OF domestic life. and matrt-
mony Is a place where you are
called upon every hour of the day
TO pay the piper. Nor can you suc-
cessfulIy swathe cooking stoves.
and butchers meat, and teething
babies, and sickness, and all of the
other hard. practical facts that
make up the sum OF everyday ex-
istence with the pink chiffon Of ro-
nance.
Neither can any woman. however
beautiful. however fascinating
however intelligent, and charming
keep a phiIanderer tied to her
apron strings Variety is the spice
Of life TO him. He likes women.
little and big. fair and dark. grave
and giggly. high-browed and addle-
pated. and the one who charms him
most Is the one who has just smiled
at him over her shoulder.
The woman who Is married to a
philanderer wastes her time in try
ing to make him take serious
view Of his responsibilities. or to
inculcate faithfulness into him. He
can no more keep from making love
to a pretty girl, or resist the ap-
peal of a romantic situation than a
drunkard can resist the temptation
Of drink: and, alas. there is no Vol
stead act that prohibits alluring-
looking females from parading the
streets.
The wife's only comfoRt- is that
such a man is no more true to these
females than he is to her. and that
often. in spite of a hundred light
loves, she is the real love of his
life.
For men and women differ in
this-when a woman is faithless to
her husband. her disloyalty goes to
the very bottom of her soul. She
has ceased entirely to care for him:
but mans faithlessness is often
only skin deep. and even while he
kisses other women's lips and mur-
murs love talk in their ears, he
holds for his wife the best that is
in him, and gives her a respect and
affection that he never feels for any
other woman.
As to what the wife Of a philan-
derer should do, that's another
question, and the answer depends
on a number Of things.
1t depends upon how much the
woman cares for the man. Some
times a woman loves a man so well
that she is happier with him, even
when he makes her endure hours
of jealousy and agony. than she
would be without him at all. Some
times the man who has his lapses
from grace Is so lovable, so pleas
ant to live with. so considerate and
kind to his wife. that she can afford
10 shut her eyes to his little pecca-
diIlos-
For the hirtati9us man very often
does take as much trouble to charm
his wife as he does other women.
He IS tbs sort of man who is a born
lover. He knows by instinct how
to do and say all OF she little things
that make life worth living to
women. and the wife who has this
sort OF mate is wise IL she recog-
nizes that philandering is not the
worst fault that a husband may
have.
Coldness, surliness, stinginess.
Crouchiness. all of these are quali-
ties that are harder to endure in a
husband than fiirtatiousness. After
all, II Is better to be kissed by lips
that kiss too many, than not to be
kissed at all. and to suspect that a
duplicate order Of roses is going to
some other woman than never to
have your husband send you a sim
gle flower NJ
or course women are monopolists
who want all of their husbands
love and attention. and when they
find that they have to share them
with other ladies. their thoughts |
turn toward the divorce court But
divorce isn't often the cure-alI for
matrimonial ills that women think |
IL Is going to be. So often IL is
jumping ont of the frying pan into |
the FIRE. So often II gives a woman
freedom, and brings on her poverty |
and homelessness and loneliness, SO |
that her last estate is worse than |