“‘Then you go to Jewin Street?’ I asked.
“‘Yes,’ she said, ‘sometimes, but not very often, for my elder calls here frequently, as he is acquainted with Mrs. Elsworth; and then I take my work up into the parlour sometimes, and have a long talk with him. Mrs. Elsworth does not like it, I know, but she does not care to oppose the elders;—in fact, her husband will not allow any such thing—he has dared her to do so. After all, she is very silly, for we ought to love each other and be free and friendly. My elder—I call him my elder, you know, simply because I like him better than the others—calls Mrs. Elsworth ‘Gentilish,’ and says she’ll get over it when she goes to Zion. But she says she won’t. She is awfully jealous of her husband and a certain Miss Caroline somebody, though she doesn’t care for him.’
“‘But what difference can it make to him?’ I asked her. ‘He has a wife, and ought not to pay attention to any other woman.’
“‘Ah, you silly child,’ she said, ‘it is only brotherly love, after all, and men often have wives who do not make them happy, and that makes them seek the society of the young sisters, for those who are far from home are lonely. My own elder’s wife is here in London, but he isn’t much with her. He spends nearly all his time in Jewin Street; he is a travelling Elder, and when he is going anywhere to preach he always calls for me, as he does not like going alone, he is such a genial soul. If Polygamy were true, I’d promise to marry him when we reached the Valley.’
“Then I asked why his wife didn’t go with him; and she said, ‘Oh, poor man! he has no pleasure in her society. She is always moping and unhappy. You know, some women are naturally so. I do all I can to make him feel well, for it must be awful to be married to a woman who is always sad.’
“I asked her why his wife should be so unhappy; and she said, ‘He tells me that she has got it into her head that somehow or other Polygamy is practised in Zion; and I’m sure I, for one, wish it was so, for then we could marry whoever we pleased.’
“‘Oh, for shame!’ I said. ‘I’m sure I’d never go there, if I thought so.’
“Then I asked her whether she did not think it was wrong for her to encourage the attentions of her elder; and she said, ‘He wishes it just as much as I do; and his wife had better behave herself, or I’ll marry him whether Polygamy exists or not in Zion; and he does not know, though we both suspect, that there is something in the rumours which we have heard.’ Then I told her I thought it was very wicked to encourage the visits of that man; for I believe that if he paid a little more attention to his wife she would be less unhappy—for I suppose she knew of his attentions to her.
“She said the wife knew nothing about it; that he was obliged to be out late at night, preaching, or at Jewin Street—which I knew meant flirting with the sisters and going to the theatre; and I fancy he does more of that than preaching. But she seemed to think it was all the wife’s fault, and blamed her. I asked her if she would like to be treated so, if she were an Elder’s wife, and had to work as hard and endure as much as all the Missionaries’ wives do. But she said she never could be in such a position, and told me that I was not a good Mormon or I would not set myself up as the accuser of the brethren. But I ask you, Sister Stenhouse, if that is the Mormonism which the elders used to teach us?