Page:My Dear Cornelia (1924).pdf/143

 deceived them into thinking sweethearts and wives are the indispensable elements in the happiness of men. But it really is not so."

"Oh, isn't it?"

"No. And the girls themselves are finding it out, and are very sensibly claiming a share in the substantial satisfactions of life."

"You have no imagination. You don't understand. It's so simple, so perfectly simple. Substantial satisfactions for men are not substantial satisfactions for women. That is all there is to it. The things that please you and fill your lives are sawdust to us—after the first novelty wears off; and they leave our hearts aching and burning. I am certain there isn't a mature woman in business who wouldn't admit, if she were honest, that if the choice were open, she would choose even a moderately successful marriage in preference to a brilliant success in business. They are making a mistake—such a mistake. I am sure that, in their hearts, they know from the outset that it isn't what their hearts desire."

"About the hearts of young girls," I admitted, "I know next to nothing. I am still curious about them because I have heard so much about them. But the only occasion on which I ever asked a