The Washington times., 1924-01-08

pl06LIcNy, the hopes, the luuSlOnhT
Have you still even that power Of
desperate mental passion, 90 often
subordinating tho merely physical,
Of the mature woman who seeks for
the last time to find in love what
love has not? The final delusion,
No, Marie. Your revivifled glands
have restored to you the appear
ance and the strength Of youth,
but, although you have played
with a role that appealed to your
vanity, to your histrionic powers
with. yourself as chief audience
your natural desire to see If you
could not be-to yourself, again
las young as you appear, you
have no more illusion in your soul
than when you were withered
old woman in Vienna"
She looked at him with hostile
but agonized eyes.
"Your calculated brutality does
not affect me in the least. And
you are merely one more victim of
convention-liket those, old women
in New York. It never has been.
therefore it never can be. Many
women are not able to bear chill
dren, even in youth"
''It is your turn to bubble. Tell
me, until you were attracted to
this young man-attracted, no
doubt. because he was so unlike
the European Of your long expert
ence-had you deviated from the
conclusion. arrived at many years
before, that you had had enough
of love-of sex-to satisfy any
woman? You implied as much to
me a few moments since. I know
the mental part Of you so well
that am positive the mere
thought would have disguised you.
If you had been starved all your
life. it would be understandable,
but you had experimental and de.
luded yourself again and again
and you were burnt out when you
came to Vienna to 1ive-burnt out,
not only physically but spiritually.
Your imagination was as arid as a
desert without an oasis. II any
man had made love to you then,
you would merely have turned on
him your weary idisillusioned eyes,
or laughed cynically at him and
yourself. Your keen aesthetic
sense would have been shocked.
You were playing then an impor-
tant and ambitious role, you had
the greatest political salon in
Vienna-in Europe-and you went
away to rest that you might con.
tinue to play It, not that you might
feel fresh enough once more to
have liasons like other foolish old
women. But the part you played
then was bagatelle to the one
awaiting you now. With your
splendid mental gifts, your politi-
cal genius, your acquired state
craft, your wealth, and your ro-
stored beauty, you could become
the most powerful woman in Eu-
rope. But only as my wife. Even
you are not strong enough to play
the part alone. There is too much
prejudice against women to permit
you to pull more than hidden
strings. Masculine jealousy Of
women is far more irritable in a
democracy than in a monarchy,
where women Of rank are expected
to play a decorstive-and tactful
part in politics. But If they
step down and come into conflict
with ambitious men Of the peo-
pie, class jealousy aggravates
sex jealousy. You might have
a salon again and become a
power somewhat in the old FASH
ion, but you never would be
permitted to play a great public
role. But as the consort q think
the word will pass) of the Presi-
dent-or Chancellor you could
WELD almost Sensational power"
"I should probably be quite
over Swallowed by YOU" she muir.
INJURED; but she was hardly con-
scious of speaking. Her brain
was whirling.
''Ycur position would he too
eminent for that, even II I wished
it, which I assuredly should not.
I value you too highly. Perhaps
I am one Of the few men in
Europe who admit-and believe
that woman may have as pow.
erful and accomplished an intel.
lect as any man. did not
appreciate your mind as you de.
served when I loved you, but I
did during those subsequent years
in Vienna"
"You did not ask me to marry
you then-when you appreciated
me so highly. You never seemed
to know whether you were talk
Inc to a man or a woman when
you were with me. And yet I
was. possibly, more interesting
psychologically than had ever
been"
Not Interested
mo man is interested in an
old woman's Psychology. am