The Washington times., 1938-09-15
Advice to Lovelorn:
Engaged
Must Be
Secluded
By BEATRICE FAIRFAX

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Famous Authority on Problems
OF LoUe and Marriage
Copyright. 1888. BY international
News servleS.@
THE mornings mail has
L brought q controversial
letter from a girl Of %. She
says the reason that her
fiance, who is 30, is so fussy
about her working in an of
flee, or receiving even civili-
ties from other men, is that
he's already had his fling.
Against this gentleman's
wishes, she's kept her job
as a stenographer in a large
firm. Sometimes when busi-
ness keeps the office force
after hours, several Of them,
men and women, dine to-
gether.
On one occasion, after such o
dinner, q single man once saw
her home. Immediately there
upon, the fat was in the fire.
Requests Her
To Resign
At Christmas, the head Of the
firm, a gentleman well past 60.
gave each Of the office staff Q
check for $1,000. Her fiance
wanted her to return the check.
saying it was an improper gift,
though fourteen other employees
had taken it without q qualYm.
AL said and done, the fiance
wants her to resign Immediately,
He also thinks that an engage
ment is as binding as marriage:
the girl says he's that way be-
cause he's been q great ladies'
man all his life and has been
engaged once before. She has
never been engaged, and mag
ines his strict ideas come from
having seen much more Of so
phisticated life than she has.
Do I think, she asks, that an
engagement is as binding as
marriage? -.
I wouldn't be in the least sur
priSed If this gentleman found
himself with another broken en-
gagement on his hands, for the
girl signs herself "Fed-Up."
Marriage
More Binding
The difference between an en-
gagement and marriage, to my
way Of thinking, Is about the
same as the difference between
an option and q deal that has
been signed, sealed and deliv-
cred. No, I do not think an en-
gagement is as binding as the
marriage ceremony.
"A generation or two ago q per-
son who broke an engagement
was called a "jilt," a term that
nice people liked to avoid. A
Tilted girl was q to-be-pitied crea-
ture, branded before the world
as an undesirable with whom
her affianced husband had
broken faith. Can't you imag-
inc the everlasting why, why.
why that went around the sew
ing circle?
Similarly, q man whose girl
went back on him at the altar"
(they always made it sound as
bad as posSible), was regarded
as q "marked-down" article, no
matter how worthy he might
have been.
Make Exit
With Ease
But today, If we find our
selves engaged to the wrong
person, we back out Of 1t rs
gracefully as possible.
I don't know whether the man
of whom my correspondent
writes has had his fling or not.
But the fingers Of life, when
they do settle down, are In
clined to be more straight-laced
than those with less experience.
A man who objects to q girl hav-
ing dinner with a group Of fel-
low employees or being seen
home safely by another Is pat
emily q good deal Of an Othello.
Imagine the figure that q miss
Of az would cut in returning o
little check to the head Of the
firm, which fourteen others took
with thanks. # these two young
people marry eventually, thereu
have to be considerable adjust
ment in their different points
Of view II they want to be
happy.
TIN mt TT~AT