ROMANCE AND REALITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18939, 10 February 1925, Page 12

ROMANCE AND REALITY.

" What a splendid wife she would make for some one," says the man. But he seldom thinks of marrying her himself. She is too self-reliant, this type of girl, too " comradely," to intelligent to flatter his vanity by running to him for protection which she does not need. He comes to her, the ideal friend, with his worries and . uccesses, knowing that she will understand and give him the help or sympathy which he needs, but he marries the fluffy, inconsequent girl to whom professional triumphs and failures alike are merely " all that silly business," <*ily interesting in that they somehow regulate the flow of money that can be converted into crepe de chine and lace. When the irritation of a badly run home an J a lack of mental companion- | ship have rubbed the bloom of romance ' off the practical side of life, a man wonders why he did not realise the value of the girl whom he called an ideal wife for somebody else, while there was yet time to make her his own. The reason is simple enough: the qualities a man demands in a sweetheart are not those he wants in a wife. Her delightful feminine helplessness, which throws his masculine strength into- such pleasing relief, is all very well in engagement days when it reveals itself in an inability to negotiate stiles without a helping hand; later, in conjunction with undarned socks and unpunctual meals, it is less attractive than the sturdy independence that climbs gates and manages a house unassisted. A misplaced but touching belief in the elasticity of money soon _ loses' its charm v hen two people are sharing one small income, and the unreasonableness which the j lover described as sweet waywardness bej comes nothing but obstinacy in the eyes of the husband. , Indifference to tifo details of the man's ■ career is another characteristic of the good sweetheart which loses its pretty complexion after marriage. It is only., in bachelor days that a man prefers to be an object of vague admiration to the woman he intends to marry. He expects his wife to share his business problems, to help him to solve them. Sometimes, however, the other girl is clever enough to assume the unsatisfactory qualities with which men fall in love until after the wedding. When she sees they are no longer desirable, she reveals her true character in all its sterling worth—arid there is one more satisfied husband in the world.