SECRETS OF HUSBAND HUNTING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7232, 19 October 1901, Page 3

SECRETS OF HUSBAND HUNTING.

Oonfossions of a Lady's Maid. ' ' (iln'ghsh, Paper.) No doubt it would shock certain good ladies to be called " Ihusband-hun'ter-s," amd they would, toss their heads and. repudiate tho title with indignation; but I can assure you, said a lady's-maid of wide «x---perreace in such, m&cters, that there ore hundreds of mothers with marriageable daaigbteis who make deliberate plans to many th«m, and do ib with a skill which, many diplomatists might envy. And I cannot blame ttoem. .There-are thousands of mothers who have perhaps barely -eaiougi to subsist on, and perhaps less to leave behind them, to whom it is the most important duty in life to find husbands for their daughters and make their future as secure as possible, and it is in obedience to a simple and necessary motherly instinct that they scheme and contrive to get suitable mates for them. I have seen a great deal of thlir methods in my character of lady's-maid, amd I am proud to say in many cases I have been able to help them, and have enjoyed it, too; for husband-hunting is as great sport to a woman as fox-hunting to\a man. You sea, in the cases I am speaking of, either the husbands must bs found, or the girls must die old maids. The mothers are compelled, for reasons of economy, to live in some- quiet and obscure country place where, perhaps, the only single man of thieir class is a poor young curate, a doctor's assistant, or a loutish squire's son. There is often nobody to entertairo, and if there were they coula scarcely afford to do it. Their usual method is to bide their time until the daughters have reached a suitable age ; aflid then, with the money specially saved for this purpose, to make one good bid for husbands by sallying forth from their retreat and Irunting them. Let me give you a case in point. Early last spring I was recommended as maid to a lady living in a small village in Norfolk. She was a widow of a naval captain with a small pension, under £100 a year, and perhaps another JBIOO or so as private- income. "Of coiuise," she candidly explained to me, "I cannot really afford to have a maid ; but I«m going to spend l a, sboirt time in town and on the Continent, so -that the girls may see a little of the world', and perhaps, I don't- mind confessing, meet suitable husbands; and, well, I understand you can be very useful to me." Of course, I understood ; for only the previous year I had been of similar service to the lady who had introduced ma to her, <as I have been to many other socalled " designing mammas." Two of the girls were charming, a little rustic, it is true, but sweet, .refined, pretty girls of nineteen and twenty, who ought <?a?ily to find husbands ; the eldest daughter was -decidedly plain, but in disposition and mental gifts the best of the. trio. ' The first sax weeks we spent in >town ; and although my ladies had' a good time and saw everything,, we drew an absolute blank, for Avant of introductions. In fact, we did. not meet a single eligible* \oung man all the time. But at Trouville, where we went next, there was much better "sport." Fortunately we met there- the family of an old brothei'-ofricer of my lady's late husband, and tliey introduced quite a crowd of men of alt kinds, young and middle-aged, eligible and impossible, to us. Gladys and Edith, the ivrn younger girls, had admirers enough to gratify the most exacting mamma ; and I wa>< not long in, finding out who were Iriflers and who meant business, and, above all, who were the ineligibles. It was then that my experience and mother's diplomacy (for she was very clever) came in ; and by daily scheming and arranging \ Ve caught two quite eligible young men in our toils. Of course, Edith and Gladys were innocent of our wiles, and played our game, unsuspectingly, conducting themselves with, maidenly modesty. They had never looked so charming before, Inifc vrc had bc.-ughb them beautiful, jj charming, cw-tumes in, town, and you may be sure I had taken the utmost care of thc-ir complexions, even making them sleep in nmsks and undergo a course- of treatment, to which they submitted, although it amused them hugely. I am afraid they monopolised our attention, for poor Clara, the eldest and plainest, was left, quite out in tho cold ; and her only squire was a middle-aged lawyer, who might have been her father, and to whom she could safely bo trusted. Well, to make my story short, before we had been at Tronville -two months, by such artifices as women understand, a* little jealousy, a few difficulties, a little encouragement, mixed with large dosss of discouragement, both cur lovers had screwed up their courage t-o the. proposing point, and both had been accepted, to the unfeigned delight of mamma and myself. Only just in time, too ; for funds were already running low, ar.d the retreat to Norfolk loomed large. Of course, Clara was delighted at her sisters' happiness — just like the unselfish girl, I thought; and I felt very sorry that she. too, had not been provided with a lover. " Never mind, Clara, darling," her mother said ; " you will keep me company until some good man comes to take you from me." "But lie has come already." Clara answered, with a mischievous smile.

'' Nonsense, child; what do you mean?" «ho mother exclaimed, in astonishment. " T mean." Clara said, "that Mr Harper ; asked nw to-day to lie ]iis wife, ami — well, ; T said ' Yff.' majimin. He's much tc-o old, j T know, but- I am very fond of him ; and : you'll s;iy 'Ye?.' too, when lie asks yon ; for mo this evening, won't you, mamma':" ! Of course she said "Yes!'* i •