Decline And Fall Of a British Matron

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19397, 7 August 1937, Page 9

Decline And Fall Of a British Matron

MISS Mary Mitchell describes he / A latest book, “Decline and Fall of British Matron,” as a caustic corned; and rightly so. The story of the dt cline and fall of this British matro is both caustic and amusing, and th author’s exaggerations of the charac ters are not such as to prevent on recognising the types in real life! Venetia Brascombe as nearly rc sembled a modern Venus as could b hoped for, but unfortunately her beau tiful form held no more than the brai of a goose and the temperament of snail. Beautiful, brainless, and entire ly lazy, Venetia at 21 was the despai of her ambitious mother. Coax, scolc work as she might, Mrs. Brascomb could not prevent her daughter’s eli gible suitors from discovering fo themselves that the beauty they fei in love with was only skin deep, am that beneath that skin they might loci in vain for any sign of intelligence. Mrs. Brascombe recognised thal whereas her star shone brightly ii the dull sky of an English cathedra town, it was altogether overlooked h the brilliant world of London, and th< widow wisely chose to dazzle the eye, of sleepy Podburv by living with he; brother, the Bishop, in the Palace. At tlie Palace. The atmosphere at Venetia’s twenty first birthday party at the Palace wa: charged with anticipation. All th< guests were as conscious of the ex pected outcome of the elaborately ar ranged evening as were the thre< people most closely concerned. Tin engagement of the beautiful Veneti; to the wealthy, good-looking yoiin; squire of Poolbirches was to be an nounced that night—-unless the month: of scheming by Mrs. Brascombe anc the gossip of the town were to go foi nothing. Venetia, who never could decid< what she thought about anything, die not know whether she really wantcc to marry Tom Carruthers, or whethei her mother’s nagging and the talk o their friends were driving her to it Tom Carruthers approached the birth day festival with the same argumen in his mind that had been there fo: months—why should he be unable tc conquer his longing for Venetia whei his saner self knew that by marryin; her he' was mortgaging his whol< future? Traced Through a Poster The result of these extraordinary thoughts in the minds of two peopli facing an engagement was as origina as one might expect from the autho: of “Warning to Wantons.” The en gagement was not announced tha night ,and not even Venetia’s mothe: was ever to learn the truth of th< comedy enacted in the vegetable gar den that night to the despair of Ton and the humiliation of Venetia, wh< flew off to the Continent. The first news the distracted Mrs Brascombe (distracted between th< avoidance of her friends’ inquiries, avoidance of Tom Carruthers, and the attempt to trace her daughter without publicly acknowledging that she had run away) had of Venetia was upon a poster advertisement for tinned milk. How Venetia came to be depicted in the nude upon its bright surface, the mother’s feverish buying of all such available posters in order to keep them out of the town, how mother and exfiance set out to find Venetia, and were themselves caught, is told with the lightness and humour one has come to expect of this Australian author.