The loveliest gift you can offer your wife on her birthday is a bottle of this deep secret.

Oh, the magic of perfumes!

Oh, their magic, sprayed like dew upon the waving locks of the hair... and on the brow, beads of light,

And oh, their magic in a silken handkerchief that sets hearts breathing fragrance as it flutters in a soft, lovely palm...

Scents and perfumes have been woman's companion since the very beginning of history... and words cannot express this divine magic that perfumes beget in a person's soul and in his life.

One single breath of scent, coming to you out of the stillness of the night, soft and light, carries you away to worlds all beauty and magic and secrets; and you well-nigh forget everything, as you drink in at your leisure this magic that floods your whole being, as though beauty itself were flooding over you...

And what ancient past, lost to you along the roads of life, will not a waft of fragrance bring you back to — a fragrance you know not whence it came, nor what it carries with it?

And what far-off, distant places, what beloved faces you thought lost to you forever — and behold, of a sudden you are living in them and with them, longing for their days and their nights...

It is an art beyond all art, that a woman should know how to choose the

perfumes that suit her nature, her clothes, and her secrets...

There is no woman who is not drawn by a hidden attraction toward perfumes; yet the woman who knows how to use her perfumes is very rare indeed...

And here for you, my beautiful lady, are a few counsels on the use of perfumes:

Wear perfume whatever you may be, beautiful or plain; and try all the perfumes until you win the perfume your soul is drawn to.

Do not use one perfume on every occasion, but vary them; for to use a single perfume is like wearing a single hat for all occasions and all seasons.

Use perfumes according to circumstance, and use them with taste and tact and grace. Distribute them over your hair, your hands, your neck, and

your fingertips — light and soft, like a sprinkling of dew; better still, use an atomizer for the purpose... And do not forget behind your ears... and your handkerchief...

And beware of excess: too much perfume makes you lose your personality and much of people's respect...

For if a little of it draws hearts toward you and lends you many a hidden secret, much of it turns taste away from you and effaces your personality. So take care.

The loveliest thing your husband can offer you on your birthday, or on the anniversary of your wedding, is a wondrous little bottle bearing the wondrous secret.