MODERN ROMANCE

Evening Star, Issue 23882, 12 May 1941, Page 2

MODERN ROMANCE

HE " POPPED THE QUESTION " UNDER FIRE War time leads to a number of proposals of marriage taking place in unusual circumstances,. ' writes .Adrian Grand, well-known 'London journalist. One young newly-wed whom I questioned recently told me that her husband asked her to marry him while they were being machine-gunned ,in France “ We were making for the coast,” she said, “ and had to hep out of . our car and lie flat by the side of • the road. As we lay there, with bombs bursting near by and bullets striking the ground all round us, Jack asked me to marry him. T said ‘ Yes,’ and he just grabbed my hand, and-there we lay, smiling at each other. Queer,’ isn’t it—and so different from anything I’d imagined. NOT ROMANTIC. Other women have told me that they wish men would consider the romantic side a little more, and not make their proposals so matter of fact. Least of all make them under really adverse conditions. ' _ “ You wouldn’t believe it,” said one young wife, “ but my husband proposed to me when he had a dreadful cold. His eyes were red, he kept sniffing and sneezing, and when, he had asked and been accepted, he added: * You’d better not kiss me, dear, or you’ll catch my cold.’ ■ •* Poor dear, he couldn’t help it—but. why on earth did he have to choose that most unromantic time to pop the question?” One very attractive girl—unmarried —told me she might have been wed if , she had been asked properly. The place and time were perfect, she confessed, but the declaration was not. He took my hand and looked into my eyes—and said, of all things: ‘ Gil, I’ve decided to marry you.’ I think it was the blunt statement without any reference to me, which made me reply : ‘ That’s a pity, because I’ve decided to refuse you.’ And it was a pity, because 1 was quite fond of him,” she added with a sigh. One other proposal I was told about concerned a couple swimming at the seaside one fine summer. As they swam out to a raft the man popped .the ageold querv. “ Doris ” —gasp—“ will you ” —gasp —” marry me, darling?” “ As I said ‘ Yes,’ ” the girl revealed, ' “ a big wave slapped me in the face, but my answer must have been obvious, for Bert let out a yell of joy. and grabbed me. Of course, we both sank, and in no time at all we were- surrounded by would-be rescuers, who cheered us when we told them th» truth.”