WOMAN'S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 104, 23 October 1911, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD.

(Conducted by "Eileen"). LOVE v. BUSINESS. _ I .Marriage is always a doubtful expedient. Jlut then she wa.s a very pretty girl. '"Vou have never onct looked into her disposition," said my friend Timbal, who was intensely practical. li llere you are, oil at the slightest chance, plunging into a thing that may carry ruin in its train for the rest of your life." i '•.My dear boy," I replied, "don't you know that Mature arranges those things better than we do? (I had once skimmed through some of the natural philosophers). Don't you know that reason is the most uncertain guide, and that our intuitions, our predilections, are the only sure way'; 1 have a strong impulse to fall over head and ears iu love with her. What do I care for her disposition? How can it ever be otherwise than heavenly ?" ' '•What do you suppose?" asked Timbal, "that Nature gave you a reason in the lirst place, if not to use in just such eases as this? You take my advice. Go slow. Look her up." A sudden determination possessed me. Timbal, although my lawyer and trustee for my father's estate, was only ten years older than I. He could withhold from me my fortune if he thought I was making a serious mistake. I knew, however, that lie had my interest at heart, and I determined, therefore, to satisfy him. "Look here," I said, "why don't yol look her up?" "How do you mean?" "Well if you think it is wise to do it, you can certainly do it much better than I can. iam falling in love with her too rapidly to have the best judgment. 1 will take the next train back to town on business, and do you stay on here for a week or longer and make up your mind about her. If you think she is all right, let me know." "That isn't a bad idea," said Timbal thoughtfully. "I am fairly busy; still •" "This is business, isn't it? You ar« concerned with my affairs. Just put in a bill against the estate. Certainly nothing could be more important." "You are right; I'll do it." I tried to conceal my delight with an air of indifference. I didn't want to let him know how really glad I was. "Very good," I said. I looked at my watch. It behoved me to show that I was prompt. "The next train leaves in an hour. I'll say good-bye to her and then I'll be oil'. You'll keep me informed?" He smiled with pleasure at my acquiescence. "Oh. \es. And you can rely upon me to let you know all about her, and if she is the right kind of a girl for you " "I know your judgment too well." I hurried back to the hotel and packed up, leaving a hurried note for her that I was going on the next train. When I came rown, dress-suit case in hand, she

was waiting for me. She looked at me curiously. She did not uuuerstand. Timbal was coming up. Evidently he didn't want me to get an advantage. "Yes, ye.?," I whispered hurriedly. "Treat him well, you understand. My lawyer, He thinks " Timnal joined us. I appeared to tell him for the first time of my journey. We said good-bye, and I got into the waiting car. Timnal had promised to let me know, so I waited eagerly for the second day. The morning's mail brought the following:— 'Tin looking into her disposition. Appears to be good. —Timbal." This was Wednesday. On Thursday i came: ".She appears to have good sense. Well educated. Talks well. Modest. Timbal." Thursday: "She's a fine girl. See nothing objectionable. —Timbal." | Friday:— "Fishing lias never been better here, so T am told. —Timbal." •Saturday: ''.Miserable weather to-day. Stayed in the liotel all day.—Timbal." Sunday: ''Send me a six-pound box of chocolates by express.—Timbal." Monday: "Tell boys in cilice 1 may stay another week.—Timbal." Tuesday (wire): "Expect me at four o'clock. Timbal." When he came in we shook hands. "Well," 1. asked eagerly, "what's the verdict?" lie looked at me solemnly. "She's all right," he said. '•(iood dispositionV "Fine." "You got on well together, did you?" "Splendidly—up to yesterday." 1 began to be worried. "You didn't have any falling out, did yon?" 1 asked. Timbal smiled mournfully. "No," he said. "But I suppose I may as well tell you all. The fact is, that girl bewitched me. I" didn't mean .she should, of course. It seemed the worst kind of disloyalty to you, my boy. But [ couldn't beip it. i hadn't been there with her alone for two days before I was deeply smitten. - ' "And she," I asked eagerly, "did she encourage you? Tell me, quick."

''i She did. and she didn't. She was us pleasant as could be —charming, in fact — but the moment I got to making love— I couldn't help that, you know —she looked so funny. Then yesterday she turned me down lint. But she's all right. Only" -he looked at me quizzically—''how long have yim known her?" "About two months. You say she li all right';" J repeated eagerly. "You approve?" "Oh. ye-. Two months, you say. How in the world did you dare to take the chances of leaving me alone with her?" T chuckled. it seemed too good to be true. "My dear fellow," I explained, "I wanted your approval, you know. And hesides, 1 took th" precaution of marrying licr <|iiietly a couple of weeks ago.'"— Chc-tcHon Todd, in l.ife (X.Y.)

ARE WOMEN'S LIPS BECOMING UGLY? \\ lIKUE IS THK CUt'ID'S TOW? Poet- liavi' rued and singers have sung of the beuiity of woman's mouth — I lie magnet wh'eh draws man into the iiic.-hes df matrimony. But, alas! women's mouths are no longer beautiful. \\Y look in vain for the "Cupid's liow" -I lie "sweet, red, splendid kissing mouth." That type is giving way to lips which are thin, hard and straight, and which, while depressing character, tract largely from the beauty of the modern wonnin. At any rate, that is the view expressed by several artists in an interesting symposium of opinions published in a London paper recently. And artists should know, seeing that their livelihood depends on their observations of the human form and face. "The mouth," says one artist—Mt. t!. Sheridan Knowle.s. R.[.—"is the feature! which is most rarely perfect. Many' women have good eyes, or a good nose,

(but very few have a perfect mouth. This may be deplored, because the mouth has j the greatest share in expressing charac(tcr and cannot be overlooked. My own ideal is the subtle mouth —that is to say, a mouth which expresses distinct character and is in harmony with the rest ■ of the face. | *'Tlie Venus of Milo has comparatively 1

thick lips, hut other equally famous statues have thin ones. My own opinion is that a compromise between the two extremes is the idea. The 'Cupid's Bow' mouth may be ideal for a child, but something more subtle is needed for a woman. There have been many conventions in lips. The Gainsborough and Reynolds convention was comparatively thin lips without any Cupid curves. The Rosetti convention was the other extreme —very thick lips." One explanation offered of the fact that woman's lips are becoming less beautiful is that they are made thinner and straigliter oil account of the degeneration of teeth, caused bv the unnatural conditions of to-day, and there is no doubt that lips depend upon good and regular teeth for their beauty, and lose tJieir graceful outline when tho teeth degenerate. Mr. Alfred Praga, president of the Royal Miniature Society, agrees with Mr. Knowles that one very seldom sees a perfect mouth nowadays. "My ideal," lie says, "is the rosebud or 'Cupid's Bow' type, which is the only pure type of beauty. It may not show character, but that does not matter. Character is not a pure, natural thing, but is acquired, and pure beauty always ends where character 'begins. Unluckily, woman is developing much character now. and the result may very likely be that she will lose the beauty of her lips. "It cannot. I think, be too well understood that a beautiful mouth is at it* best in repose. The present fashion oF smiling and showing the teeth is d - plorable. From the artistic point oi view, a smile is nothing but a contortion of the face, which ruins the features for the purposes of portraiture. Face muscles that should be in repose are brought into activity, and the result! is by no means beautiful. The mouth is stretched across the face, the lips lose any curves they may have, aud the whole face suffers. On the other hand, Mr. C. G, Kil- | burne, R. 1., says that he has no difliculty in finding models with beautiful mouths. "I notice many perfect mouths when walking about the streets," he continues; "one sees, indeed, a great number of beautiful women in London, and I certainly think that perfect lips are no rarer than other perfect features. The ideal lips are the lips which are sensi-! | tive, and show character. The rosebud mouth is nut ideal, because it shows no character. "Of course, there are many types ol i beauty, and one type may be as oeauti- ! ful as another that is widely different, j Probably every artist has his own ideal, and it is dillicult to say definitely which lips are the most beautiful. They must not be too thin, and they Must not be thick enough to become coarse. Certainly the rosebud mouth, which is often held up as the ideal, cannot be accepted as perfect, because, as I have said, it fails to express character."