] Also, no matter how happy their marriage, if Marianne makes it past her child-bearing years, she can look forward to at least 20 years of widowhood with very little chance of a *third* attachment, just like her mother.

I refer you to Barbara's letters for my opinions, since hers coincide with mine!

] Oh, yes, I can much more easily understand why a teenage girl would be (romantically)interested in an older man, than why an older man would be interested in a teenager. (No offense intended!)

I realize that. Let me just state here and now for the record, I have no romantic feelings for these people, and am not looking for any! I was simply stating that I don't see it as an impossibility (many years later, obviously, not now!) I know you didn't mean anything malicious, but I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression. ("What sort of a girl is this, anyway?") Believe me, I don't take these things lightly.

] I would still ask some hard questions before I let my teenage daughter, or any young woman whose welfare I cared about, go out with an older man, especially one twice her age.

So would my mother and father. I don't even date now! Back then, it was different, of course, but it was just everyday life. I (and maybe even you! hehe) would have just went along with it.