s wife to be taken out
by another man, if she desire it. If he knows anything of the feminine
temperament--and no man should marry till he does--he realises that the
admiration of other men is pleasing to his wife, and a little gaiety has
a wonderful effect on her spirits.

I remember the time when Theodore and Amoret used to disagree violently
on this point, but eventually Theodore gave way. 'He used to think it so
wrong of me to like having other men a tiny bit in love with me,' Amoret
said, 'but I explained to him that I liked it because it gave me such a
nice powerful feeling and was a kind of added zest in life. Then he
always said it was very dangerous for a married woman to have any zest
in life apart from her husband, and I used to answer that _he_ had no
end of zests apart from me, and what was I to do during the long
evenings when he was eternally playing bridge. Finally I promised it
would make me more contented and able to bear the monotony of marriage
better, if only he would let me go. He thought it was awfully wicked of
me to call marriage monotonous, and said his mother would have been
horrified at such a remark. I told him it was no good expecting a young
wife to behave like one's mother, and he said he'd rather I didn't. Then
we laughed, and the dear old boy gave in, and said that Everard was a
white sort of man, and might take me out once as a trial trip. Since
then I've gone to theatres with them all, and I'm fonder of Theodore the
more I see of other men, and ever so much more peaceful and contented.'

Which testimony speaks for itself.

Few seem to realise the many advantages of marrying a man of a silent
habit. The ideal husband rarely talks; he realises that women prefer to
do this themselves, and that there is not room for two talking people in
one happy family. The loquacious man had better look out for a
silence-loving woman, and marry her immediately he finds her. Such
creatures are as rare as comets, and as a rule they are generally
married already to equally silent husbands--another of Nature's painful
bungles. Nothing is more appalling than to have to entertain one of
these speechless couples; an over-talkative pair is infinitely
preferable, as at least one can listen peacefully and let them run on.

* * *

An endless source of trouble between married couples is the money
question. Wives are often extravagant and generally sinfully ignorant of
financial matters at the start. Un