Rich Enough | Page 6

Anxiety, however,
did not rob him of sleep: he was too successful; he seemed to have the
Midas- like art of turning every thing to gold:--his thousands were
rapidly accumulating, and half a million was now the point at which he
determined to stop. Mrs. Draper's slight cough did not attract his
attention; but if her appetite failed, he grew anxious, and feared she was
not well.
Week after week passed, and still it was impossible for Mr. Draper to
leave the city. At length, a letter arrived from Charlotte, claiming the
visit; and he substituted one of his clerks to conduct his family to his
brother's residence. Here, though not more than forty miles from the
city, Mrs. Draper found the freshness and novelty of country life. The
family were farmers, children and all. Charlotte was acquainted with all
the little details belonging to a farm, and took as much interest as her
husband did in the growth of grain, the raising of pigs and poultry, and
feeding cattle in the best and most economical manner. She displayed
her dairy with its cheese arranged on shelves, her white pans of milk,
and her newly-churned butter, which impregnated the air with its
sweetness.
It was with long-forgotten feelings of health that Frances breathed the
atmosphere around her; she perceived that her respiration was more
free. "How ignorant I was," said she to Howard, "to compare my city
garden to the country! There is music in every accidental sound. How

fresh is the air! how unlike the mornings to which I have been
accustomed, where the voice of the teamster urging on his over-loaded
horse, or the monotonous cry of the fishmonger, disturbed my
slumbers!"
Her heart beat with pleasure as she saw her children go forth with their
cousins to rural enjoyments: her tender bud, which she had often feared
would never live to unfold its beauty, her little Charlotte, she saw here
as joyous and as active as her sister. New hopes and anticipations
brightened the future. How does returning health change the prospect of
external circumstances! The cough was much less constant, and
Charlotte, who professed to have wonderful skill in curing diseases,
had undertaken to eradicate it. She did not approve of late slumbers,
and every morning she brought her patient a tumbler of new milk, and
challenged her to come out and breathe the fresh air. "Do not wait,"
said she, "till its wings are clogged by the smoke of the city; come and
win an appetite for our country breakfast, our new-laid eggs: the
children are hunting for them amongst the hay, and here comes my
little namesake with her prize: she has brought hers for your breakfast."
Mr. Draper did not arrive at the time he appointed, and Frances often
felt the sickness of hope delayed. "Deliver me from such excellent
husbands," said Charlotte to Howard, "who are wasting the best years
of their lives in acquiring wealth for their families, and yet never think
themselves rich enough. Here is poor Frances, kept in a state of
feverish anxiety, when rest and tranquillity are absolutely necessary for
the restoration of her health."
The Saturday evening following, Mr. Draper arrived. He was delighted
to see his wife and children, and thought they looked remarkably well.
On Sunday morning, he walked with his brother over the farm, and
calculated the probable receipts of the year. Away from the atmosphere
of business, his mind seemed to recover its former freshness. "How
beautiful this stillness is!" said he: "it reminds me of the mythology of
the heathen world; the ancients used to say that when Pan slept, all
nature held its breath, lest it should awake him. You have made an
enthusiast of Frances; nothing will do for her now but the country."

"My wife is anxious about the health of yours," said Howard; "she
thinks her cough an indication of weak lungs."
"I know," said Mr. Draper, stopping short, "she is subject to a cough;
ours is a miserable climate; I hope the warm weather will entirely
banish it. I have a bad cough myself;"--and he coughed with energy.
"I wish, brother," said Howard, "that period had arrived, at which you
have so long been aiming, that you thought yourself rich enough to
devote more time to your family."
"No one can look forward to it more eagerly than I do," replied Mr.
Draper; "but you can little understand the difficulty of withdrawing
from business. However, I fully mean to do it, when I have secured to
my wife and children an inheritance."
Howard smiled.
"O," said Mr. Draper, in reply to the smile, "you must not suppose my
wants can be measured by yours. Your farm supplies you with the
materials of life, and you get them at