Some of them admit it; others just
do the thing that is easiest, and would die of horror if they were
told what it is. It is the whole of the life of a successful society
woman, young or old. Pleasing a man! Waiting upon his moods, piquing
him, flattering him, feeding his vanity--'charming' him! That is
what Aunt Varina wants me to do now; if I am not too crude in my
description of the process, she has no hesitation in admitting the
truth. It is what she tried to do, it is what almost every woman has
done who has held a family together and made a home. I was reading
_Jane Eyre_ the other day. _There_ is your woman's ideal of an
imperious and impetuous lover! Listen to him, when his mood is on
him!--
"I am disposed to be gregarious and communicative to-night; and that
is why I sent for you; the fire and the chandelier were not
sufficient company for me; nor would Pilot have been, for none of
these can talk. To-night I am resolved to be at ease; to dismiss
what importunes, and recall what pleases. It would please me now to
draw you out--to learn more of you--therefore speak!"
6. It was now May, and Sylvia's time was little more than a month
off. She had been urging me to come and visit her, but I had
refused, knowing that my presence must necessarily be disturbing to
both her husband and her aunt.
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