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CONFESSIONS OF A WIFE
DICK AND MOLLIE DISCUSS SEX
(Copyright, 1914, by the Newspaper Enterprise Association.)
"Look here, Mollie,cut out the joy
riding with your boss."
This was Dick's greeting to Mollie,
who had come over to have dinner
with us.
Mollie flushed and then threw up
her hands with a characteristic ges
ture of independence. "Dick, I think
you are at least getting old enough
to speak good English, especially as
you are living each day with Margie,
who, I believe, taught English in the
schools before she married you."
"You remind me of the boy who
corrected his father's speech when
asked to solve a simple problem in
arithmetic," answered Dick, "but the
fact remains you will get into trou
ble if you mix emotional episodes or
even social pleasures with business."
"Do you never meet any of your
business associates in a social way,
Dick?" asked Mollie quietly.
"That's a very different matter. I
meet Smith and Jones at the club,
have dinner or a drink with them and
the affair goes no further, but when
a woman attempts to 'hob nob' with
any of the men she is brought in con
tact with in a business way you can
make up your mind there is trouble
brewing."
Dick looked at Mollie rather nar
rowly and then remarked in a some
what surprised tone of voice: "By
Jove! Mollie, you are a mighty pretty
girl and I don't blame Hatton for
falling for you."
"Brothers are the last ones to see
the beauty of their sisters," I inter
rupted. "Consequently when any
man pays one of them marked atten
tion they are usually at loss for a
reason."
"But I still rise to remark that it
is not good sense to let your boss pay
attention to you, except in a business
way. "When any man sees another
lunching with his stenographer he
mentally registers "something doing,'
even if he does not speak of it. I
don't want to be obliged to knock any
man down for making slurring re
marks about you, little sister," and
Dick, with an unwonted burst of af
fection, patted Mollie's shoulder.
"Sex, sex, sex I am so tired of
the word," Mollie almost shouted.
"Do you mean to tell me there is
sex in ability, in energy, in courage,
in endurance, in reasoning power; in
short, in brains?"
"Perhaps not, my dear child, al
though when I have more time I
may discuss that matter with you,
but when you have recited all these
wonderful neutral attributes you
must add to them others in which sex
is always apparent. Temperament is
not neutral neither is intuition, nor
sympathy, nor loyalty, nor self-sacrifice.
'
"The mere fact that men and wom
en dress differently surrounds them
with an atmosphere of sex. I want
to tell you one thing, little sister,
right here: No man gets so old, so
muchly married or so selfish that the
sight of a pretty girl does not quicken
his cooling blood for a moment or
two at least."
"Mercy, Dick! Is it so bad as
that?" I exclaimed. "The Turks are
right to cover the faces of their wom
en, not only to protect the sanctity of
the harem, but protect man from his
own weakness. If your theories are
right, my dear, every husband should
be stricken blind on his wedding
day."
"What are you going to do about
it?" interrupted Mollie.' "Women are
going to work with men more and
more. Today there is hardly a suc
cessful business that does not employ
women in some capacity. Are there
any more intrigues, any more scan
dals than ever before?"
"I think not," I inttrrupted. "We
only-Jiear more about them, X ctoaft
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