Stowe_My_Wife_and_I.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
eagerness of feminine curiosity while
left the room for a few moments. a little while she
came after me and laid her hand on my arm.
", dear," she said, "'ll stand hy you in this
thing. secret shall he sacred with me, and will make
a safe harhor for him where he may have a home without
danger. want our house to seem like a home for him. "
" are an angel, ."
", , must say always have had conscience
ahout offering wine to some young men that knew ought
to keep clear of it, hut it never occurred to me in regard
to such a grave, nohle man as ."
" never know who may he in this danger. is a
diseased action of the nervous system often inherited
a thing very little understood, like the tendency to in-
sanity or epilepsy. while we know such things are,
we cannot be too careful."
" should never have forgiven myself, , if had
done it."
" result would have been that would never
have dined with us again ; he is resolute to keep entirely
out of all society where this temptation meets him. "
", we don't want it, don't need it, and won't have
it. makes magnificent coffee, and that 's ever so
much better. that matter is settled, , and 'm
ever and ever so glad you told me. do admire him so
much! is something really sad and noble in his
struggle. "
" a man with that temptation who fails often
exercises more self-denial and self-restraint than most -
tians," said .
" 'm sure don't deny myself much. generally want
to do just what do," said .
- 493
" always want to do all that is good and generous,''
said .
" think, on the whole," said reflectively, "my
self-denial is in not doing what other people want me to.
'm like . . want to please everybody.
wanted to please mamma and ."
" came very near marrying a man you couldn't love
purely to oblige people."
" you hadn't rescued me," she said, laughing. "
now, , really want some little extravagance about
our dinner. if we don't have wine, buy the nicest of
grapes and pears, and will arrange a pretty fruit piece for
the centre of the table."
" love, will get you all the grapes and pears you
want. "
" my little has sent me in this lovely tumbler
of apple jelly. see, held sweet counsel with her yes-
terday on the subject of jelly-making, where am only a
novice, and hers is splendid; literally now, splendid, for
see how the light shines through it! do you think,
the generous little actually sent me in half a dozen
tumblers."
" a perfect saint! " said .
" am to have all the flowers in her garden.
says the frost will take them in a day or two if we don't.
, next summer we must take lessons of her about our
little back yard. never saw so much made of so little
ground."
" '11 be only too delightful," said .
", now, mind you are home at five. want you
to look the house over before your friends come, and see if
have got everything as pretty as it can be."
" they to * process ' through the house and see your
blue room, and your pink room, and your guest chamber,
and alii"
494
" . want them to see all through how pretty the
rooms are, and then sometimes, perhaps, we shall tempt
them to stay all night.''
'' sleep in the chamber that is called ," said
, "after the fashion of 's ."
" , , begone. want you to go, so as to be
sure and come back early."
-
reader, fancy now a low-studded room, with crim-
son curtains and carpet, a deep recess filled by a crimson
divan with piUows, the lower part of the room taken up
by a row of book-shelves, three feet high, which ran aU
roimd the room and accommodated my library. top
of this formed a convenient shelf, on which all our pretty
little wedding presents statuettes, bronzes, and articles
of vertu were arranged. fireplace, surroimded by an
old-fashioned border of tiles, with a pair of grand-
motherly brass andirons, rubbed and polished to an extreme
of brightness, exhibits a wood fire, all laid in order to be
lighted at the touch of the match. wife has dressed
the house with flowers, which our pretty little neighbor
has almost stripped her garden to contribute. are
vases of fire-colored nasturtiums and many-hued chrysan-
themums, the arrangement of which has cost the little artist
an afternoon's study, but which pronounce to be perfect.
have come home from my office an hour earlier to see if
she has any commands.
", ," she says, with a flushed face, " believe
everything now is about as perfect as it can be.
come and stand at this door, and see how you think it
will strike our friends, when they first come in. see
've heaped up those bronze vases on the mantel with
nothing but nasturtiums ; and it has such a surprising effect
in that dark bronze ! 've arranged those white
chrysanthemums right against these crimson curtains.
496
now come out in the dining-room, and see how 've set
the dinner table ! see, 've the prettiest possible cen-
tre-piece of fruit and flowers. n't it lovely ? "
course kissed her and said it was lovely, and that
she was lovelier; and she was a regular little enchantress,
witch, and fairy-queen, and ever so much more to the
same purport. then came down, all equipped
for conquest, as pretty an additional ornament to the house
as heart could desire. when the clock was on the
stroke of six, and we heard the feet of our guests at the
door, we lighted our altar-fire in the fireplace ; for it must
be imderstood that this was a pure coup de theatre^ a
brightening, vivifying, ornamental luxury one of the
things we were determined to have, on the strength of
having determined not to have a great many others.
proud we were when the blaze streamed up and lighted the
whole room, fluttered on the pictures, glinted here and
there on the gold bindings of the books, made dreamy
lights and deep shadows, and called forth all the bright
glowing color of the crimson tints which seemed to give
out their very heart to firelight! wife was evidently
proud of the effect of all things in our rooms, which
declared looked warm enough to bring a dead man to
life.
was seated in due form in a great, deep armchair,
which, we informed him, we had bought especially with
reference to him, and the comer was to be known hence-
forth as his comer.
"," said he, with grave delight, " have brought
my final contribution to your establishment;" and forth-
with from the capacious hinder pockets of his coat he drew
forth a pair of kittens, and set them down on the hearth-
rug. ", ," he said gravely, "there are a
pair of ballet dancers that will perform for you gratisi at
any time."
- 497
", the little witches, the perfect loves!" said my
wife and , rushing at them.
very gravely produced from his pocket two long
strings with corks attached to them, and hanging them to
the gas fixtures, began, as he said, to exhibit the ballet
dancing, in which we all became profoundly interested.
wonderful leaps and flings and other achievements of
the performers occupied the whole time till dinner was
annoimced.
", ," said my wife, "if we let* see
the kittens before she 's waited on table, it '11 utterly de-
moralize her. we must shut them in carefully," which
was done.
don't think a dinner party was ever a more brilliant
success than ours; partly owing to the fact that we were
a mutual admiration society, and our guests felt about as
much sense of appropriation and property in it as we did
ourselves. house was in a sort of measure "our
house," and the dinner "our dinner." short, we were
all of us strictly en famille. world was one thing,
and we were another outside of it and by ourselves, and
having a remarkably good time. got some
share of praise. got praised for her cooking.
cooking-stove was glorified for baking so well, and
was glorified for recommending the cooking-stove.
and and my wife congratulated each other on
the lovely looks of the dining-room. shuddered to-
gether in mutual horror over what the wall-paper there had
been^ and we felicitated the artists that had brought such
brilliant results out of so little. difficulties that had
been overcome in matching the paper and arranging the pan-
els were forcibly dwelt upon; and some sly jokes seemed to
pass between and , applicable to certain turns of
events in these past operations. dinner we had most
transcendent coffee, and returned to our parlor as gay of
498
heart as if we had been merry with wine. kittens
had got thoroughly at home by that time, having investi-
gated the whole of the apartment, and began exhibiting
some of their most irresistible antics with a social success
among us of a most flattering nature. declared that
she should call them and , and
proceeded to tie blue and pink bows upon their necks,
which they scratched and growled at in quite a warlike
manner. low whine from the entry interrupted us; and
, opening the door and looking out, saw poor old
sitting on the mat, with the most good-dog air of
dejected patience.
, here 's , poor fellow! " she said.
, don't trouble yourself about him," said .
"'ve taught him to sit out on the mat. 's happy
enough if he only thinks 'm inside."
", poor fellow," said , "he looks as if he
wanted to come in."
", he ' do well enough; never mind him,'* said -
ton, looking a little embarrassed. " was silly of me to
bring him, only he is so desolate to have me go out with-
out him."
", he shall come in," said . " in, you
poor homely old fellow," she said. " dare say you 're as
good as an angel ; and to-night 's my house-warming, and
not even a dog shall have an ungratified desire, if can
help it."
poor was installed by in the corner,
and looked perfectly beatified.
now, while we have brought all our characters be-
fore the curtain, and the tableau of the fireside is complete,
as we sit there all aroimd the hearth, each perfectly at
home with the other, in heart and mind, and with even
the poor beasts that connect us with the \owef
- 499
brightening in our enjoyment, this is a good moment for
the curtain to fall on the fortunes of
and .