translated-and then one of Maria's uncles came to Fngland on a business trip. Maria had asked him to arrange a meeting with John and report back to Brazil on what her English penfriend was really like. The uncle said that John was "a fat little fellow without much hair", but he must. have said some nicer things too, for Maria's parents wrote to John inviting him to visit their family. John replied saying he'd love to.

A practical man, John started to get organized. As soon as he had the money for his air ticket he wrote to Maria asking her what her views on getting married were. He also sent an engagement ring, and a Valentine card every day! Maria wrote back to say they could decide whether to get married or not once they met-but she started making a wedding dress of beautiful white silk, just in case...

The day John was due to arrive Maria waited anxiously at the airport. Suppose h?didn't like her? But when his plane came in she didn't. even recognize himl Her uncle had to point him out. "He was the man with the nicest smiie, " says Maria, "and he was just the right height for me! " They both realized immediately that they were just right for each other in lots of oth.cr ways too. Ten days later they were married and Maria came io live in England with her husband---"the best thing that's ever come to me through the post?she says.

3. Husband and Wife for ￡45 Eacb

Attractive Kay Knight is expecting her first baby in a few months' time. She smiled happily at her husband Mike as she told us their story. "I woke up on my thirty-fifth birthday thinking, 'Help. I'm turning into a real old spinster schoolteacher. ' All my. friends seemed to be married with homes and families of their own. But where was I? I love my job-don't get me wrong. I've had a very satisfying career, but teaching other people' s children isn' t the same as bringing up your own."She'll make a wonderful mother," said Mike. "I can't think why she wasn't snapped up years ago. But I'm glad she wasn't, or I wouldn't have found her."

How did they find each other? "Well," said Kay, "as a young woman I'd had a few boyfriends, but never anything serious. Then I realized I wasn't even meeting any men, not unmarried ones anyway. So I took a deep breat6 and wrote to a Marriage Bureau. " Iiay ha d to fill in a detailed form and then attend an interview. "It was very thorough, " she said. "They really wanted to make sure I was serious about wanting to get married, and they took a lot of trouble to find out what kind of person I was and the sort of man I thought I'd like to marry. I was told I'd be given three introductions to suitable men for a fee of ￡15. If I married one of them, I'd have to pay another ￡30. The first introduction was to another teacher, which she didn't think was a good idea, but the second was to Mike.

　

Mike took up the story. "I got married when I was a young man of 22, but my wife was killed a year later in a car accident. I was completely shattered. I put all my energies into m.y work and spent many years abroad with my firm. Then I came back to England. to work at Head Office and realized how empty my life had become. 1 didn't just want to work; I wanted a wife and children. I needed someone to make my house into a home. I wasn't interested in young girls, but how cowld I find a mature, loving woman to share my life? I think my sister and brother-in-law must have g,uessed how I was feeling. They introduced me to a charming older couple one evening. After they'd. gone home I remarked how well-suited they seerned and my sister told me why--they'd met through a Marriage Bureau. `You should give it a try,' she said. So I did."

Mike phoned a bureau the very next day and went for an interview the following week. He was given three names, including Kay's. He wrote to her first because he thought a school-teacher would probably like ch:ildren. Their first date was a disaster. "We agreed to meet for a p

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