that displayed by them toward other men and women of
their acquaintance; save that the bridegroom-elect should be on the
watch that not the slightest wish of the lady be unfulfilled.

As for the lady, while she is not expected to debar herself from
accepting the customary courtesies extended by the gentlemen of her
acquaintance, a slight reserve should mark her conduct in accepting
them. At all places of amusement or entertainment she should appear
either in the company of her _fiance_, or that of some relative.

She should never captiously take offense at her _fiance's_ showing the
same attention to other ladies that she, in her turn, is willing to
accept from other gentlemen, and she should take the same pains to
please his taste in trifles that he does to gratify her slightest
wish.

This does not mean, though, that in the selfishness and blindness of
love--and love is very blind and selfish sometimes--she is to shut
herself up to his companionship at all times, excluding him from the
family circle of which he is so soon to become a member, and "pairing
off" on all occasions, thus rendering both the mark for silly
jestings.

How to Cherish Love.

But, in sober matter-of-fact, that little ring of gold does not mean
utter blindness. It does not mean that she is to devote her evenings
exclusively to the chosen one, ignoring her family entirely. It does
not mean that she is to accept valuable presents of all kinds at his
hands, to expect him to give up all his friends for her sake, nor to
confide all the secrets of the household to his keeping, but, as one
wise woman says, to "guard herself in word and deed; hold his love in
the best way possible; tie it firmly with the blue ribbon of hope, and
never let it be eaten away by the little fox who destroys so many
loving ties, and who is called familiarity."

Neither is this counsel to be deemed over-cautious, since, alas! even
"engagements" are sometimes broken in this uncertain world, and surely
there is no womanly woman that would not in such an event reflect
gladly, as she took up her life once more at the old point, that she
had remembered these things.

A domineering, jealous disposition on either side before marriage is
not the best possible guarantee for after happiness, and if these
traits are clearly shown during an engagement, the individual who
escapes from such thraldom before it is too late has shown
conclusively that discretion which is, at times, t