She has a handsome competence of her own, and therefore has no mercenary motives for marriage; and, indeed, she has no intention of binding any man to her for life—she always puts it that way, as it sounds kinder and more philanthropic—but really she has no desire to part with her liberty again. She is very happy as she is. She cannot live without lovers, but she never lets them get out of their depth, she always keeps them in check, so that she can pull them back into the safer waters of friendship whenever she will. Some women cannot have a man friend without wishing him to be a lover, and when he is a lover, wishing him to be a friend again. Mrs. Willoweed is one of these. Like this grand little kingdom of ours, she has a passion for conquest and empire, but, once the conquest is assured, the annexation completed, and the excitement of the contest over, she sets herself to the task of establishing friendly relations of an enduring character. That is why you never hear a man say an unkind or severe thing about Mrs. Willoweed, dainty, delightful butterfly though she be. She never quarrels with her admirers, but makes them all feel that it is a privilege to love her, and when we can feel that about a woman, we may be sure there is a great deal of good in her, and we need not be surprised to find there is more chivalrous feeling in us than we gave ourselves credit for. Truly, an innocently frank flirt, like Mrs. Willoweed, can open the valves of a man’s heart, and purge it of much unhealthy sentimentality. Mrs. Willoweed enjoys existence. She lives in an atmosphere of prettiness and lightness, and treads a rosy path with almost winged feet. Wherever she goes she casts her spell of fascination, and she is always the centre of the pleasantest group. Where she is, there will gather the brave, the gallant, the witty, and, where these are, beauty is drawn as by magnetic attraction, however jealous it may be of the original magnet—the little widow. Haughty beauty may sneer, and Mrs. Grundy may put on her spectacles, and gather her skirts close, but little Mrs. Willoweed—bright, innocent, playful little Mrs. Willoweed—is the queen of the hour. All the men love her, and “she is such fun.”