She is ever subject to a stronger will." "Yet she need not be," was the reply; "with the fascination which she exerts over men she is in reality the stronger." "Ah, yes; but suppose that fascination is employed over a man by women that have no right thus to use their power ?" "Then the legitimate possessor of that right is still at fault.

If fascination is the bond by which the man can be held, why does she not make use of it herself?
A face of statuesque beauty that knows not how to smile has often been the cause of untold unhappiness." At these words the younger of the two ladies threw back her veil, perhaps to gain a better view of the speaker, and thus revealed just such a face as the young man had referred to,--a face with large blue eyes and silent lips.
"Would you, then," the elder lady continued the discussion with some warmth, "have a wife employ the wiles of a coquette toward her own husband, in order to retain his love ?" "I see no reason why she should not if circumstances demand it." "Very good.

But you must admit that a wife is something more than a sweetheart; maternal duties and cares also enter into her life, and when, by reason of her exalted mission as a mother, anxieties and fears will, in spite of her, depict themselves on her face, what then becomes of your pretty theory ?" The attack was becoming too warm for the young stranger, and he hastened to capitulate with a good grace.

"In that case, madam," he admitted, "the husband is bound to show his wife nothing but the purest devotion and affection.

The Roman lictors were, by the consul's orders, required to lower their fasces before a Roman matron; she was undisputed mistress in her sphere.