e has not too strong and distinctive taste, as, for
instance, the following: Linen, towels, glass, books, fancy china,
silver, spoons, aprons, etc. Of course, the furnishings of some one
room, as the bath-room, laundry, or kitchen, might be the subject of a
"shower," but usually a housewife would prefer to have what she wanted
and nothing else for use in these places.

_The Broken Engagement_

When an engagement is broken the young woman should return to the
young man all letters and presents, and may ask, by a brief,
courteous, but dignified, note, for the return of her letters to him.
It would not be necessary, ordinarily, to write such a note, as the
man would take the sending back of his gifts as final, and to mean the
return of hers also.

In case the wedding is near, so that wedding presents have been
received from friends, the no longer "bride-elect" should return them
to the givers with an explanatory note. The note should mention
nothing beyond the fact that the engagement has been broken.

The mother of the young woman is the one to announce the breaking of
the engagement. She quietly does so, by word of mouth or notes to
friends. In case of a broken engagement, it is not delicate to allude
to it, unless one is a very intimate friend, and then it is better to
leave the first broaching of the subject to the one most concerned.

It is customary for the privilege to be granted the woman of
terminating an engagement without offering any explanation other than
her will. Nevertheless, she will not use this privilege arbitrarily,
without casting a shadow upon her reputation and character for
faithfulness and integrity. A man is expected to make no explanation,
even privately, as to the reason for the breaking of the engagement,
as the release must at least appear to come from the woman. Whatever
she chooses to say, or however unjust the remarks of friends seem, he
is in honor bound to show great reserve, and not to cast any shadow
upon her reputation, even if his own suffers instead.

However, in many circles to-day it is enough to say that an engagement
has been broken mutually, even though no reason is obvious. This
should be so, for if too much comment attaches to the breaking of a
marriage engagement, marriages will be entered into the almost
certain outcome of which is the divorce court.

A lady should never accept any but trivial gifts, such as flowers, a
book, a piece of music, or a box of confection