Married Life | Page 2

the author is
well assured.
This book is the second in the series of "ARTHUR'S LIBRARY FOR
THE HOUSEHOLD." The third in the series will be "THE TWO
WIVES; OR, LOST AND WON," which is nearly ready for
publication.

CONTENTS.

THREE WAYS OF MANAGING A HUSBAND. RULING A WIFE.
THE INVALID WIFE. THE FIRST AND LAST QUARREL. GUESS
WHO IT IS. MARRYING A TAILOR. THE FORTUNE-HUNTER. IS
MARRIAGE A LOTTERY? THE UNLOVED ONE.

MARRIED LIFE.
THREE WAYS OF MANAGING A HUSBAND.

TO those who have never tried the experiment, the management of a
husband may seem a very easy matter. I thought so once, but a few
years' hard experience has compelled me to change my mind. When I
married Mr. John Smith, which was about ten years ago, I was not
altogether blind to his faults and peculiarities; but then he had so many
solid virtues, that these were viewed as minor considerations. Besides, I
flattered myself that it would be the easiest thing in the world to correct
what was not exactly to my taste. It is no matter of especial wonder that
I should have erred in this, for Mr. John Smith, while a lover, really
appeared to have no will of his own, and no thought of himself. It was
only necessary for me to express a wish, and it was gratified.
I soon found, much to my disappointment, that there is a marked
difference between a husband and a lover: it was at least so in the case
of Mr. Smith, and observation, since I have had my eyes open, satisfies
me that it is so in most cases. I must own, in justice to all parties,
however, that this difference is made more apparent by a want of
knowledge, on the other side, in regard to the difference between the
relation of a wife and a sweetheart--between the wooed and the won.
There were a good many little things in Mr. Smith, which I had noticed
before marriage, that I made up my mind to correct as soon as I had an
opportunity to apply the proper means. He had a fashion of saying
"Miss" for "Mrs.," as "Miss Jones" and "Miss Peters" for "Mrs. Jones"
and "Mrs. Peters." This sounded exceedingly vulgar to my ears, and I
waited almost impatiently for the time to come when I could use the
prerogative of a wife for its correction. He had, an ungraceful way of

lounging in his chair and half reclining on the sofa, even in company,
that was terrible. It made me uneasy from head to foot. Then he said, "I
shew it to him" for "I showed it to him,"--"of-_ten_" for "oft'n"--and
"_obleeged_" for "obliged."
Besides these, there were sundry other things that worried me not a
little. But I consoled myself with the reflection that when I became Mrs.
Smith all these little matters would vanish like frost in the sunshine. I
was, alas! doomed to be mistaken. But let me give my experience for
the benefit of those who are to come after me.
We had been married just ten days, and I had begun to feel that I was
really a wife, and had a right to say and do a little as I pleased, when
Mr. Smith said to me, as we sat quite lover-like on the sofa in the
evening,
"I met Miss Williams as I came home this evening--"
"For mercy's sake, Mr. Smith! don't say Miss when you speak of a
married woman. It is excessively vulgar." I was not aware that I had
spoken in a very offensive way, but I noticed an instant change in Mr.
Smith. He replied, with some dignity of tone, and manner--
"I ask your pardon, madam; but I didn't say Miss. I am not quite so
ignorant as all that comes to."
"Oh, yes, Mr. Smith, but you did say it," I replied, quite astonished at
this unexpected denial.
"Excuse me for saying that you are in error," he returned, drawing
himself up. "I never say Miss for Mrs."
"Why, Mr. Smith! You always say it. I have noticed it a hundred times.
I believe I can hear pretty correctly."
"In this instance you certainly have not."
Mr. Smith was growing warm, and I felt the blood rushing to my face.
A rather tart reply was on my lips, but I bit them hard and succeeded in
keeping them closed.
A deep silence followed. In a little while Mr. Smith took up a
newspaper and commenced reading, and I found some relief for a
heavy pressure that was upon my bosom, in the employment of
hem-stitching a fine pocket-handkerchief.
And this was the return I had met for a kind attempt to correct a
mistake of my