ed
any reference to his wife and children, surprised you.
And now you are wondering if you did wrong to accept this invitation.
Never accept invitations of any kind from married men, unless the wife
or some member of the family is included.
No matter how willing the wife may be to have you enjoy her husband's
company, avoid tete-a-tete situations with benedicts.
You say you are not egotistical enough to imagine Mr. Gordon had any
hidden motive for wanting to be alone with you, or for seemingly
forgetting in his conversation that he was a husband and father. Yet I
can see that in a measure it disillusioned you.
You do not ask a man to fling his wife and children at the head of each
woman he meets, but you like him to recognize their existence.
You are a young, romantic girl seeking the ideal.
You want to find happy wives and husbands,--men and women who have
sailed away from the Strands of Imagination to the more beautiful land
of the Real, from whose shores they beckon you, saying: "Here is
happiness and great joy. Come and join us, and feel no fear in flinging
the illusions of youth behind you."
If married men only knew that is what young women are seeking,--if
married women only knew that is what young men are seeking, what
reconstruction would take place in the deportment of husbands and wives!
Never yet did a married woman indulge in flirtatious or sentimental
converse with a bachelor without lowering herself and all women in his
heart of hearts.
Never yet did a married man seem to forget his domestic ties in the
presence of single women without losing a portion of their respect,
however they may have been flattered by his attentions.
In every man's heart, in every woman's, is this longing to find husbands
and wives who are satisfied and happy and proud, above all other things,
of their loyalty.
It would be well for you to keep this fact before the minds of the men
you meet. You can, in a small way, do your little toward educating on
this subject the married men you encounter. And you can save yourself
some embarrassing experiences.
It is no compliment to you if the husband of your friend, or a stranger,
falls in love with you.
It is an easy matter for a young, attractive woman to infatuate
irresponsible men.
It is a far greater compliment to you when women respect and trust you,
and when you help elevate the ideals of weak men regarding your sex.
You can study the whole Encyclopedi
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