.' The
most unholy and horrible marriages between fair young girls and rich or
titled dotards, drunkards, or _cretins_ are considered perfectly proper
and respectable because 'legalised.' Yet the people who countenance
these abominations would probably be unutterably shocked by the very
whisper of polyandry--an infinitely more decent relation, because
regulated by honest sex attraction, and free presumably from mercenary
considerations. But whether legalised polyandry is THE solution to the
marriage question or not, it is clearly an impossible one for
women-ridden England, and though of late years women have made startling
strides, and shown themselves possessed of unsuspected vitality, it
seems unlikely that their superfluous energies will be expended in this
direction.

VI

A WORD FOR DUOGAMY

'God made you, but you marry yourself.' --R. L. STEVENSON.

The day after the polite dinner-party, Isolda, Miranda, and Amoret came
in to tea, and I retailed to them the discussion of the previous evening
on polygamy.

'I see the Bluestocking's point,' said Isolda, thoughtfully: 'polygamy
might be acceptable to the superfluous woman who can't marry under
present conditions--the discontented spinster to whom the single state
is so detestable that even polygamy would be preferable--but it would
never be acceptable to the woman who can and does marry.'

'Yet how many married women put up with it nowadays?' said Miranda;
'aren't there ever so many wives who condone their husband's infidelity,
and endure it as best they can, for the sake of the children, or for
social reasons, or because they're sufficiently attached to the man to
prefer a share of him to life alone without him? And what is that but
countenancing polygyny?'

'Ah! but then the other women are only mistresses,' exclaimed Isolda.
'One might tolerate that unwillingly, but another legal wife, with
rights equal to one's own or, worse, with children to compete with one's
own--never!'

'Well, perhaps not,' agreed Miranda; 'I suppose a legal and permanent
rival would be somewhat different, but, after all, it's only the middle
class in England who can be termed strictly monogamous--the upper and
lowest are as polygynous as can be. It's only our British hypocrisy that
makes us pretend monogamy is our rule!'

'Don't quarrel with British hypocrisy,' said Amoret, lazily, 'it's our
most valuable national asset. Hypocrisy simply holds the fabric of
society