FROM EXILE. CHAPTER XXXVI. HELEN ASKS PAPA. WHETHER marriages are still made in Heaven or not is doubtful; it seems, indeed, judging from the failure of the article itself, as respects wear and tear, that the manufactory has been given up, or even transferred elsewhere. The trade is certainly still carried on" the untradesmanlike practice" of terming it "the same concern" being probably made use of-but it is said that it is no longer brisk. It is no doubt true enough that girls are sometimes disposed of in marriage in opposition to their own inclinations; but I think it more often happens in these days that the girls themselves are without VOL. III. B prejudice or predilection in the matter. They don't fall in love as they used to do; perhaps their tight clothes or their long trains prevent it, as they prevent other natural movements, such as sitting down or walking about; or perhaps it is not solely their own fault that the notion of love has become so antiquated, and that they cannot hope, however beautiful they may be, to capture hearts by assault; the male heart having been warned by every scoundrel who can get into print against the deceitful wiles of the sex, and being so well intrenched in its own ramparts of selfishness. But, whatever the cause, a girl now looks leisurely about her for an eligible object for her affections, and having found him, attacks him by regular scientific approaches after the method of Vauban. In the country, matters are a little different; there, as I am told is the case with shopping, one doesn't want things if one doesn't see them, or one must be content with what one can get. Miss Helen Turton's matrimonial opportunities, for example, had, |