ry,
and, if I didn't like to live in England because I was fond of my own
country, I believe I could get him to stay here half the time with me;
and that would appeal to a large class. I don't know whether I would
care to be rescued a great deal; it would depend upon what it was from.
But I could stand a great deal of pain if need be, and I hope that if it
came to anything like right or wrong I should act conscientiously. In
society, I shouldn't mind any amount of dancing or dining or teaing, and
I should be willing to take my part in the lighter athletics. But," she
ended, as she began, with a sigh, "I'm not wanted."

"Yes, I see what you mean," the young man said, with a thoughtful knot
between his brows. "I'm not wanted myself, at present, in the short
stories; but in the last dozen or so where I had an engagement I
certainly didn't meet you; and it is pleasant to be paired off in a
story with a heroine who has the instincts and habits of a lady. Of
course, a hero is only something in an author's fancy, and I've no right
to be exacting; but it does go against me to love a girl who ropes
cattle, or a woman who has a past, or a husband, or something of the
kind. I always do my best for the author, but I can't forget that I'm a
gentleman, and it's difficult to win a heroine when the very idea of her
makes you shudder. I sometimes wonder how the authors would like it
themselves if they had to do what they expect of us in that way. They're
generally very decent fellows, good husbands and fathers, who have
married lady-like girls and wouldn't think of associating with a shady
or ignorant person."

"The authoresses are quite as inconsistent," the professional heroine
rejoined. "They wouldn't speak to the kind of young men whom they expect
a heroine to be passionately in love with. They must know how very oddly
a girl feels about people who are outside of the world she's been
brought up in. It isn't enough that a man should be very noble at heart
and do grand things, or save your life every now and then, or be
masterful and use his giant will to make you in love with him. I don't
see why they can't let one have, now and then, the kind of husbands they
get for themselves. For my part, I should like always to give my heart
to a normal, sensible, well-bred, conscientious, agreeable man who could
offer me a pleasant home--I wouldn't mind the suburbs; and I could work
with him and work for him till I dropped--the kind of man tha