It  had  for  some  time  been  evident  to  readers  of  the
Saturday  Review  (and  at  that  time  all  the  world  was  reading
it),  that  the  new  woman  was  not  going  to  have  it  all  her
own  way.  A  very  trenchant  pen  had  been  found  asking  the
question,  "What  is  woman's  work?"  and  pointing  out,  in
course  of  answering  it,  that  there  was  a  growing  class  of  the
emancipated,  to  whom  the  little  royalty  of  home  is  the  last
place  where  a  woman  cares  to  shine,  and  the  most  uninterest-
ing of  all  the  domains  she  seeks  to  govern.  "  Fancy  a  high-
souled  creature,  capable  of  sesthetics,  giving  her  mind  to  soup


THE  AUTHORESS  OF  THE  "GIRL  OF  THE  PERIOD'

AS    IMAGINED    BV    MATT,    MORGAN


THE   "SATURDAY   REVIEW"        143

or  the  right  proportion  of  chutnee  for  the  curry !  Fancy,
too,  a  brilliant  creature  foregoing  an  evening's  conversational
glory  abroad  for  the  sake  of  a  prosaic  husband's  more  prosaic
dinner ! "

This  and  its  like  was  bad  enough,  but  when  the  "  Modern
Mother  "  ^  was  shown  to  be  no  better  than  she  should  be,  and
the  "  Girl  of  the  Period  "  was  squarely  told  that  she  envied
the  queens  of  the  demi-monde  for  their  gorgeous  attire  and
sumptuous  appointments  more  than  she  abhorred  them  ;  that
she  did  not  marry  for  love,  but  looked  for  a  banker  rather
than  a  husband  ;  that  men  were  finding  out  that  she  was  only
a  poor  copy  of  a  far  more  amusing  reality,  and  that  they
would  amuse  themselves  with  her  for  an  evening,  but  would
not  readily  take  her  for  life ;  then  all  the  world  was  set
buzzing  in  earnest.
