Page:The Confessions of a Well-Meaning Woman.djvu/167

 in finding a husband nowadays: fewer men than ever, all of them uprooted by the war and uncertain of their future, widows marrying again, the older women remaining young so much longer. I felt that, to some extent, it was all true, but I was surprised to hear such truths on Phyllida’s lips if she still wanted me to think she was faithful to Colonel Butler’s memory. . . Culroyd’s marriage made a difference, of course. He was a devoted brother, according to his lights; and I think she is missing him greatly. And one wedding, like one funeral, leads to another. You have seen it again and again! The trousseau, the presents, the letters, the general excitement, the very contagion of two young lovers. . . All this coming at a time when she seemed deliberately to be making herself as unhappy as possible. . . I knew there would be a strong reaction, I was only afraid that she might throw herself at my Will’s head and that he might be unable to say “no”. I kept him away from the Hall as much as I could. If he really wanted her, he could drop the handkerchief—I felt—in his own good time. . . “Your turn will come,” I told her. “Oh, I don’t care who I marry,” she answered. “I suppose I shall need a home when I’m turned out of here; and, if so, I’d better get to work while I’m still young enough to