CHAPTER V.LILIAN ASTONISHED—SO AM I.IN spite of the doubts and fears which had disturbed me, I was delighted with the English basement house and already in anticipation I enjoyed the surprise of Lilian, when I should tell her that the beautiful home was her own. I asked her to walk with me, but she was a little fretful that day; somehow she seemed more like “dear ma” than I had ever seen her before.“I don’t want to walk to-day, Paley. I’m tired,” she replied, with a languid air.“I only wish to go a little way,” I added.“Not to-day, Paley.”“I want to show you a house, Lilian.”“A house!” she exclaimed with something like an abused expression on her beautiful face, as though she half suspected the treason towards “dear ma” which I was meditating.“I saw a little English basement house in Needham street, which I would like to have you look at, just as a curiosity, you know,” I continued,with as much indifference as I could assume.“Why do you wish me to see it, Paley?” she asked, exhibiting more interest and apparently forgetting that she was tired.“Well, because I saw it, and liked the looks of it. There can be no harm in seeing it.”“I don’t know, Paley,” she answered, doubtfully; but whatever suspicions she cherished, she could have no idea of the truth, “We will go some other day.”“But we may not have the opportunity another day. I happen to know that the house is open to-day.”What do you mean, Paley? You look just as though you were planning something.”“So I am. I am planning a little walk that will not take half an hour of your time.”“Something worse than that,” she added, shaking her head.“I was thinking that, some time or other, we might possibly go to housekeeping.”“Well, I suppose we shall, some time or other,” she answered, languidly. “But I hope you are not thinking of doing it yet awhile. I can’t bear the thought of leaving dear ma; we are so pleasantly situated here.”To use a vulgar expression, “I did not see it.” I was not wicked enough to attempt to prejudice my darling against “dear ma,” and I felt obliged to manage the matter with care. But, as the shock could not long be deferred, I might as well make some approaches.“Of course we are situated pleasantly enough here; but you know, Lilian, that you said we must go to housekeeping.”“Certainly, we must go to housekeeping in time, but not yet.”“But you know that your mother was kind enough to take us to board only till we could complete our arrangements. She is very obliging, and I am very grateful to her for the favor; but I don’t think it would be right for us to impose ourselves upon her any longer than is absolutely necessary.”“O—well—of course not; but it will be very hard for me to go away from home.”“We need not go far; indeed, not so far but that you can call upon her every day. My conscience reproaches me when I think of the trouble we are giving her.”“She does not complain.”“She will not complain, but at the same timeit is not right for us to remain here, under the circumstances, any longer than we are compelled to do so. You know she said she should not think of taking any body else to board; and after she has been so kind to us, we ought to be considerate enough not to trespass upon her goodness.”“I will speak to her about the matter; and if she really does not wish to keep us, why, we’ll leave,” added Lilian.“But, my dear, you must not forget that she is your mother, and that she will make any sacrifice for your sake, even to her own great injury. It is a matter of conscience with me; and I do not feel like asking her to make this sacrifice of comfort any longer than necessary. Our coming here was only a temporary arrangement, you know, and whatever she may say, our being here will give her a great deal of trouble and anxiety. Come, Lilian, dearest, put on your bonnet. It will do no harm to look at the house. It is already rented to a young couple who are just going to housekeeping,” I continued; but I did not think it necessary to say who the young couple were, and she did not seem to care enough about it to ask me.“If the house is let, why do you wish me to see it?” she inquired.“I want to get at your ideas in regard to a house,” I replied, ingeniously.She looked at me, and seemed to have some doubts, but she probably reasoned that the house was already rented, and there could be no treason against “dear ma” in merely looking at it. She put on her bonnet and shawl. When my hand was on the door the ever watchful Mrs. Oliphant appeared, and wished to know whether we should be back to tea.We should; but this was not enough. Lilian was not very well, and she must not walk too far. We were only going around to Needham street, and should return in half an hour. If Lilian was going to call on the Trescotts, why had she not told her mother, for both owed them a call? We did not intend to call on the Trescotts; we were only going out for a little walk. If we were going to walk, why were we particular in saying that we were going through Needham street? There was some treason in Needham street, and Lilian was forced to say that we desired to see a house which was already leased to a young couple who were going to housekeeping.“Dear ma” looked uneasy, but she permitted us to depart. I was afraid she would insist upon accompanying us, as I think she would, had she not been satisfied by the assurance that the house was already leased. We walked to Needham street. I was full of hope. Lilian would like the English basement house—she could not help liking it, and what a rapturous moment would it be when I told her that it was all her own! Even the anticipated battle with “dear ma” seemed to be farther removed and of much less consequence than before. We approached the house, and my heart beat high with transports of delight. In a few days, perhaps the very next day, I should see the idol of my soul enthroned within its walls!With Lilian leaning lovingly on my arm, I halted at No. 21. On the door, to my intense confusion and disgust, glittered a new silver plate whereon was inscribed the name,”P. Glasswood,” not in Old English, German text, or any other letter which he who runs maynotoften read, but in plain script! I had told the maker not to put it on the door for a week; but he had misunderstood me, or had taken it upon himself to defeat my plan.“P. Glasswood!”—exclaimed dear Lilian, stunned and horrified, so that the shock she had thrilled my whole frame.“Certainly; P. Glasswood,” I interposed, promptly. “You know Pierce—don’t you, Lilian? I think you saw him when we were at Springhaven. He is only a second cousin of mine, but he is a good fellow.”“I didn’t know you had a cousin of that name,” she replied, much comforted.As I did not know it myself, I did not blame her for not being aware of the circumstance. I opened the door, and we went in, for I had already provided myself with a night key—that gross metallic sin against a wife. Of course the house and furniture were at their best estate. Every thing was new, nice and elegant. The hall gave the first cheerful impression of the house, and Lilian was delighted with it. The little sitting-room was so cosy and snug that my wife actually cried out with pleasure.The parlors and the chambers were equally satisfactory, and Lilian thought my cousin would be very happy with his bride in this new house. We proceeded to the kitchen, where the Biddy in charge smiled benignantly upon her new “missus,” though, she did not betray the secret she had been instructed to keep. My wife was not so much interested in the kitchen as in the parlor and sitting-room, but she was kind enough to say that every thing was neat and convenient, though I am afraid she was hardly a judge on the latter point. We returned to the sitting-room, and my wife seated herself in the low rocking-chair which had been selected for her use.“How do you like it on the whole, Lilian?” I asked, dropping into the arm-chair, in which I intended to read the Transcript every evening.“I think it is real nice,” she replied, with a degree of enthusiasm which fully rewarded me for all the pains I had taken, and the anxiety I had suffered.“I’m glad you like it, Lilian. I like it exceedingly, and I am glad to find our tastes are one and the same.”“I don’t mean to say that, if I were going to housekeeping, I wouldn’t have some things different,” she added.“But you think you could contrive to exist in a house like this?”“Why, yes; I like it very much indeed.”“Then it is yours Lilian!” I added, rising frommy arm-chair, as I precipitated the climax upon her.“What do you mean, Paley?” she asked, bewildered by my words.“This house and all that it contains are ours, dearest Lilian.”“I thought you said it was your cousin’s.”“So I did, Lilian; but that was only a little fiction to aid me in giving you a delightful surprise. This house is yours, my dear, and all that it contains, including myself, and Biddy in the kitchen.”“Is it possible? Do you mean so, Paley?”“I do; every word, syllable, letter and point, including the crossing of the t’s and the dotting of the i’s, of what I say is true. The house and all that it contains are ours.”“I don’t understand it.”“Well, dearest, it is plain enough. Not only to give you a pleasant surprise, but to save you all trouble and anxiety, I have hired the house and furnished it.”“You have, Paley?”“I have, dearest Lilian! How happy we shall be in our new home.”“I don’t think so!”Certainly Lilian had been duly and properly astonished. It was my turn now, and I was, if possible, more astonished than she had been. She did not think so! What an unwarrantable conclusion!“You don’t think so, Lilian?” I added, interrogatively.“No, I don’t! If you begin in this way we can never be happy.”“Why not?”“In the first place, I don’t want to go to housekeeping yet.”“But I thought you did. The plan has been from the beginning, since we could not get board at the Revere or in Beacon Street, to go to housekeeping,” I replied, with rather more sharpness than I had ever before found it necessary to use to dear Lilian.She was evidently angry, and her eyes glowed like diamonds in the sunlight. But she never looked so pretty as she did at that moment when her face was rouged with natural roses, and her eyes appeared like a living soul.“Do you think, Paley, that I want to go to housekeeping in a little, narrow contracted box like this?” she added.“I thought you liked the house, dearest Lilian.”“I like it very well for Mrs. Pierce Glasswood, but not for Mrs. Paley Glasswood.”“I am sorry you don’t like it, for it is too late now to recede,” I replied, gasping for breath. “I was sure it would please you.”“It don’t!”“What possible fault can you find with it?”“It don’t suit me. How could you do such a thing, Paley, as to hire a house and furnish it, without saying a word to me?”By this time I had come to the conclusion that it was very stupid in me to do it.“I wanted to surprise you.”“Well, you have surprised me,” she snapped, with such a sweet expression of contempt that I was almost annihilated. “Do you think a lady has no will of her own? No taste, no judgment, no fancy? How could you be so ridiculous as to furnish a house without asking my advice? Could you have found a homelier carpet in Boston, if you had looked for one, than this very carpet under our feet?”“Buckleton said it was the handsomest one in the city, and the neatest pattern.”“Then Buckleton has no taste. No one canselect a carpet for a woman. What did you put that cold oil-cloth on the entry for? I should think you imported it from the polar regions on purpose to give me a chill every time I see it! The figure in the parlor carpet is large enough for a room a hundred feet square. That great blundering tete-a-tete is fit for a bar-room, but not for a parlor. There is no end to the absurdities in this house.”“Now, really, dearest Lilian, I was sure you would be pleased with every thing,” I pleaded.“You are a stupid, Paley Glasswood.”I agreed with her.“I am very sorry, Lilian; but I did everything with the hope of pleasing you.”“Now here’s a pretty kettle of fish!” exclaimed my indignant bride. “What can we do?”“I can’t alter the house, my dear, but I can change the furniture so as to suit you, though doing so will be very expensive,” I continued, meekly, as I endeavored to conciliate her.We had been married only about four months, and the present occasion looked very much like a quarrel. I had not had the remotest suspicion that she was so spunky. It did occur to me that she was slightly unreasonable, if one so beautifulcould be unreasonable. Her father was as poor as a church mouse. His house, as I have hinted, was meanly furnished, and certainly neither the house nor the furniture was worthy to be compared with the one I had provided for my little wife. She had no reason for putting on airs, and being so fiercely critical about the carpets and the chairs. They were vastly better than she had ever had at home.“Do you think I will live in this house, Paley Glasswood?” said she, with her lips compressed and her eyes snapping with indignation.“Why, I hope so,” I replied, more astonished than she had been at any time during the visit to the new house.“You are mistaken, Paley Glasswood. I am your wife, but not your slave; I am not to be dragged from my home when and where you please. You ought to have told me what you intended to do in the beginning.”“I know it now; and I confess that I was wrong,” I replied, with due humility, and, I may add, with perfect sincerity. “I hope you will forgive me, this time Lilian, and I will never be guilty of such an offence again.”“I should hope not. But here we are! What’s to be done with this house and furniture?”“Why, my dear, won’t you go to housekeeping with me?”“Certainly not, in this house,” she answered, with a flourish.This announcement was very startling to me. It was appalling to think that I had expended fifteen hundred in preparing a cage which the bird refused to occupy. Intensely as I loved, adored Lilian, I could not help seeing that she was developing a trait of character which I did not like. But I was a politic man, and seeing how useless it was to attempt to argue the matter while she was in her present frame of mind, I had to keep still. We left the house and walked home. For the first time since we were married she declined to take my arm, and I began to be very miserable. Somehow it seemed to me that the meeker I was, and the more I deprecated her wrath, the greater became her objection to the house.“What shall I say to dear ma?” demanded Lilian, after she had thrown off her things.“My dear, you need not say a word to her. I will do all this unpleasant business myself,” I replied. “You can lay all the blame upon me. I will tell her that we are going to our new house to-morrow.”“You needn’t tell her any such thing, for I am not.”Before we had proceeded any farther with the discussion Mrs. Oliphant entered the room. The battle was imminent.
CHAPTER V.LILIAN ASTONISHED—SO AM I.IN spite of the doubts and fears which had disturbed me, I was delighted with the English basement house and already in anticipation I enjoyed the surprise of Lilian, when I should tell her that the beautiful home was her own. I asked her to walk with me, but she was a little fretful that day; somehow she seemed more like “dear ma” than I had ever seen her before.“I don’t want to walk to-day, Paley. I’m tired,” she replied, with a languid air.“I only wish to go a little way,” I added.“Not to-day, Paley.”“I want to show you a house, Lilian.”“A house!” she exclaimed with something like an abused expression on her beautiful face, as though she half suspected the treason towards “dear ma” which I was meditating.“I saw a little English basement house in Needham street, which I would like to have you look at, just as a curiosity, you know,” I continued,with as much indifference as I could assume.“Why do you wish me to see it, Paley?” she asked, exhibiting more interest and apparently forgetting that she was tired.“Well, because I saw it, and liked the looks of it. There can be no harm in seeing it.”“I don’t know, Paley,” she answered, doubtfully; but whatever suspicions she cherished, she could have no idea of the truth, “We will go some other day.”“But we may not have the opportunity another day. I happen to know that the house is open to-day.”What do you mean, Paley? You look just as though you were planning something.”“So I am. I am planning a little walk that will not take half an hour of your time.”“Something worse than that,” she added, shaking her head.“I was thinking that, some time or other, we might possibly go to housekeeping.”“Well, I suppose we shall, some time or other,” she answered, languidly. “But I hope you are not thinking of doing it yet awhile. I can’t bear the thought of leaving dear ma; we are so pleasantly situated here.”To use a vulgar expression, “I did not see it.” I was not wicked enough to attempt to prejudice my darling against “dear ma,” and I felt obliged to manage the matter with care. But, as the shock could not long be deferred, I might as well make some approaches.“Of course we are situated pleasantly enough here; but you know, Lilian, that you said we must go to housekeeping.”“Certainly, we must go to housekeeping in time, but not yet.”“But you know that your mother was kind enough to take us to board only till we could complete our arrangements. She is very obliging, and I am very grateful to her for the favor; but I don’t think it would be right for us to impose ourselves upon her any longer than is absolutely necessary.”“O—well—of course not; but it will be very hard for me to go away from home.”“We need not go far; indeed, not so far but that you can call upon her every day. My conscience reproaches me when I think of the trouble we are giving her.”“She does not complain.”“She will not complain, but at the same timeit is not right for us to remain here, under the circumstances, any longer than we are compelled to do so. You know she said she should not think of taking any body else to board; and after she has been so kind to us, we ought to be considerate enough not to trespass upon her goodness.”“I will speak to her about the matter; and if she really does not wish to keep us, why, we’ll leave,” added Lilian.“But, my dear, you must not forget that she is your mother, and that she will make any sacrifice for your sake, even to her own great injury. It is a matter of conscience with me; and I do not feel like asking her to make this sacrifice of comfort any longer than necessary. Our coming here was only a temporary arrangement, you know, and whatever she may say, our being here will give her a great deal of trouble and anxiety. Come, Lilian, dearest, put on your bonnet. It will do no harm to look at the house. It is already rented to a young couple who are just going to housekeeping,” I continued; but I did not think it necessary to say who the young couple were, and she did not seem to care enough about it to ask me.“If the house is let, why do you wish me to see it?” she inquired.“I want to get at your ideas in regard to a house,” I replied, ingeniously.She looked at me, and seemed to have some doubts, but she probably reasoned that the house was already rented, and there could be no treason against “dear ma” in merely looking at it. She put on her bonnet and shawl. When my hand was on the door the ever watchful Mrs. Oliphant appeared, and wished to know whether we should be back to tea.We should; but this was not enough. Lilian was not very well, and she must not walk too far. We were only going around to Needham street, and should return in half an hour. If Lilian was going to call on the Trescotts, why had she not told her mother, for both owed them a call? We did not intend to call on the Trescotts; we were only going out for a little walk. If we were going to walk, why were we particular in saying that we were going through Needham street? There was some treason in Needham street, and Lilian was forced to say that we desired to see a house which was already leased to a young couple who were going to housekeeping.“Dear ma” looked uneasy, but she permitted us to depart. I was afraid she would insist upon accompanying us, as I think she would, had she not been satisfied by the assurance that the house was already leased. We walked to Needham street. I was full of hope. Lilian would like the English basement house—she could not help liking it, and what a rapturous moment would it be when I told her that it was all her own! Even the anticipated battle with “dear ma” seemed to be farther removed and of much less consequence than before. We approached the house, and my heart beat high with transports of delight. In a few days, perhaps the very next day, I should see the idol of my soul enthroned within its walls!With Lilian leaning lovingly on my arm, I halted at No. 21. On the door, to my intense confusion and disgust, glittered a new silver plate whereon was inscribed the name,”P. Glasswood,” not in Old English, German text, or any other letter which he who runs maynotoften read, but in plain script! I had told the maker not to put it on the door for a week; but he had misunderstood me, or had taken it upon himself to defeat my plan.“P. Glasswood!”—exclaimed dear Lilian, stunned and horrified, so that the shock she had thrilled my whole frame.“Certainly; P. Glasswood,” I interposed, promptly. “You know Pierce—don’t you, Lilian? I think you saw him when we were at Springhaven. He is only a second cousin of mine, but he is a good fellow.”“I didn’t know you had a cousin of that name,” she replied, much comforted.As I did not know it myself, I did not blame her for not being aware of the circumstance. I opened the door, and we went in, for I had already provided myself with a night key—that gross metallic sin against a wife. Of course the house and furniture were at their best estate. Every thing was new, nice and elegant. The hall gave the first cheerful impression of the house, and Lilian was delighted with it. The little sitting-room was so cosy and snug that my wife actually cried out with pleasure.The parlors and the chambers were equally satisfactory, and Lilian thought my cousin would be very happy with his bride in this new house. We proceeded to the kitchen, where the Biddy in charge smiled benignantly upon her new “missus,” though, she did not betray the secret she had been instructed to keep. My wife was not so much interested in the kitchen as in the parlor and sitting-room, but she was kind enough to say that every thing was neat and convenient, though I am afraid she was hardly a judge on the latter point. We returned to the sitting-room, and my wife seated herself in the low rocking-chair which had been selected for her use.“How do you like it on the whole, Lilian?” I asked, dropping into the arm-chair, in which I intended to read the Transcript every evening.“I think it is real nice,” she replied, with a degree of enthusiasm which fully rewarded me for all the pains I had taken, and the anxiety I had suffered.“I’m glad you like it, Lilian. I like it exceedingly, and I am glad to find our tastes are one and the same.”“I don’t mean to say that, if I were going to housekeeping, I wouldn’t have some things different,” she added.“But you think you could contrive to exist in a house like this?”“Why, yes; I like it very much indeed.”“Then it is yours Lilian!” I added, rising frommy arm-chair, as I precipitated the climax upon her.“What do you mean, Paley?” she asked, bewildered by my words.“This house and all that it contains are ours, dearest Lilian.”“I thought you said it was your cousin’s.”“So I did, Lilian; but that was only a little fiction to aid me in giving you a delightful surprise. This house is yours, my dear, and all that it contains, including myself, and Biddy in the kitchen.”“Is it possible? Do you mean so, Paley?”“I do; every word, syllable, letter and point, including the crossing of the t’s and the dotting of the i’s, of what I say is true. The house and all that it contains are ours.”“I don’t understand it.”“Well, dearest, it is plain enough. Not only to give you a pleasant surprise, but to save you all trouble and anxiety, I have hired the house and furnished it.”“You have, Paley?”“I have, dearest Lilian! How happy we shall be in our new home.”“I don’t think so!”Certainly Lilian had been duly and properly astonished. It was my turn now, and I was, if possible, more astonished than she had been. She did not think so! What an unwarrantable conclusion!“You don’t think so, Lilian?” I added, interrogatively.“No, I don’t! If you begin in this way we can never be happy.”“Why not?”“In the first place, I don’t want to go to housekeeping yet.”“But I thought you did. The plan has been from the beginning, since we could not get board at the Revere or in Beacon Street, to go to housekeeping,” I replied, with rather more sharpness than I had ever before found it necessary to use to dear Lilian.She was evidently angry, and her eyes glowed like diamonds in the sunlight. But she never looked so pretty as she did at that moment when her face was rouged with natural roses, and her eyes appeared like a living soul.“Do you think, Paley, that I want to go to housekeeping in a little, narrow contracted box like this?” she added.“I thought you liked the house, dearest Lilian.”“I like it very well for Mrs. Pierce Glasswood, but not for Mrs. Paley Glasswood.”“I am sorry you don’t like it, for it is too late now to recede,” I replied, gasping for breath. “I was sure it would please you.”“It don’t!”“What possible fault can you find with it?”“It don’t suit me. How could you do such a thing, Paley, as to hire a house and furnish it, without saying a word to me?”By this time I had come to the conclusion that it was very stupid in me to do it.“I wanted to surprise you.”“Well, you have surprised me,” she snapped, with such a sweet expression of contempt that I was almost annihilated. “Do you think a lady has no will of her own? No taste, no judgment, no fancy? How could you be so ridiculous as to furnish a house without asking my advice? Could you have found a homelier carpet in Boston, if you had looked for one, than this very carpet under our feet?”“Buckleton said it was the handsomest one in the city, and the neatest pattern.”“Then Buckleton has no taste. No one canselect a carpet for a woman. What did you put that cold oil-cloth on the entry for? I should think you imported it from the polar regions on purpose to give me a chill every time I see it! The figure in the parlor carpet is large enough for a room a hundred feet square. That great blundering tete-a-tete is fit for a bar-room, but not for a parlor. There is no end to the absurdities in this house.”“Now, really, dearest Lilian, I was sure you would be pleased with every thing,” I pleaded.“You are a stupid, Paley Glasswood.”I agreed with her.“I am very sorry, Lilian; but I did everything with the hope of pleasing you.”“Now here’s a pretty kettle of fish!” exclaimed my indignant bride. “What can we do?”“I can’t alter the house, my dear, but I can change the furniture so as to suit you, though doing so will be very expensive,” I continued, meekly, as I endeavored to conciliate her.We had been married only about four months, and the present occasion looked very much like a quarrel. I had not had the remotest suspicion that she was so spunky. It did occur to me that she was slightly unreasonable, if one so beautifulcould be unreasonable. Her father was as poor as a church mouse. His house, as I have hinted, was meanly furnished, and certainly neither the house nor the furniture was worthy to be compared with the one I had provided for my little wife. She had no reason for putting on airs, and being so fiercely critical about the carpets and the chairs. They were vastly better than she had ever had at home.“Do you think I will live in this house, Paley Glasswood?” said she, with her lips compressed and her eyes snapping with indignation.“Why, I hope so,” I replied, more astonished than she had been at any time during the visit to the new house.“You are mistaken, Paley Glasswood. I am your wife, but not your slave; I am not to be dragged from my home when and where you please. You ought to have told me what you intended to do in the beginning.”“I know it now; and I confess that I was wrong,” I replied, with due humility, and, I may add, with perfect sincerity. “I hope you will forgive me, this time Lilian, and I will never be guilty of such an offence again.”“I should hope not. But here we are! What’s to be done with this house and furniture?”“Why, my dear, won’t you go to housekeeping with me?”“Certainly not, in this house,” she answered, with a flourish.This announcement was very startling to me. It was appalling to think that I had expended fifteen hundred in preparing a cage which the bird refused to occupy. Intensely as I loved, adored Lilian, I could not help seeing that she was developing a trait of character which I did not like. But I was a politic man, and seeing how useless it was to attempt to argue the matter while she was in her present frame of mind, I had to keep still. We left the house and walked home. For the first time since we were married she declined to take my arm, and I began to be very miserable. Somehow it seemed to me that the meeker I was, and the more I deprecated her wrath, the greater became her objection to the house.“What shall I say to dear ma?” demanded Lilian, after she had thrown off her things.“My dear, you need not say a word to her. I will do all this unpleasant business myself,” I replied. “You can lay all the blame upon me. I will tell her that we are going to our new house to-morrow.”“You needn’t tell her any such thing, for I am not.”Before we had proceeded any farther with the discussion Mrs. Oliphant entered the room. The battle was imminent.
LILIAN ASTONISHED—SO AM I.
IN spite of the doubts and fears which had disturbed me, I was delighted with the English basement house and already in anticipation I enjoyed the surprise of Lilian, when I should tell her that the beautiful home was her own. I asked her to walk with me, but she was a little fretful that day; somehow she seemed more like “dear ma” than I had ever seen her before.
“I don’t want to walk to-day, Paley. I’m tired,” she replied, with a languid air.
“I only wish to go a little way,” I added.
“Not to-day, Paley.”
“I want to show you a house, Lilian.”
“A house!” she exclaimed with something like an abused expression on her beautiful face, as though she half suspected the treason towards “dear ma” which I was meditating.
“I saw a little English basement house in Needham street, which I would like to have you look at, just as a curiosity, you know,” I continued,with as much indifference as I could assume.
“Why do you wish me to see it, Paley?” she asked, exhibiting more interest and apparently forgetting that she was tired.
“Well, because I saw it, and liked the looks of it. There can be no harm in seeing it.”
“I don’t know, Paley,” she answered, doubtfully; but whatever suspicions she cherished, she could have no idea of the truth, “We will go some other day.”
“But we may not have the opportunity another day. I happen to know that the house is open to-day.”
What do you mean, Paley? You look just as though you were planning something.”
“So I am. I am planning a little walk that will not take half an hour of your time.”
“Something worse than that,” she added, shaking her head.
“I was thinking that, some time or other, we might possibly go to housekeeping.”
“Well, I suppose we shall, some time or other,” she answered, languidly. “But I hope you are not thinking of doing it yet awhile. I can’t bear the thought of leaving dear ma; we are so pleasantly situated here.”
To use a vulgar expression, “I did not see it.” I was not wicked enough to attempt to prejudice my darling against “dear ma,” and I felt obliged to manage the matter with care. But, as the shock could not long be deferred, I might as well make some approaches.
“Of course we are situated pleasantly enough here; but you know, Lilian, that you said we must go to housekeeping.”
“Certainly, we must go to housekeeping in time, but not yet.”
“But you know that your mother was kind enough to take us to board only till we could complete our arrangements. She is very obliging, and I am very grateful to her for the favor; but I don’t think it would be right for us to impose ourselves upon her any longer than is absolutely necessary.”
“O—well—of course not; but it will be very hard for me to go away from home.”
“We need not go far; indeed, not so far but that you can call upon her every day. My conscience reproaches me when I think of the trouble we are giving her.”
“She does not complain.”
“She will not complain, but at the same timeit is not right for us to remain here, under the circumstances, any longer than we are compelled to do so. You know she said she should not think of taking any body else to board; and after she has been so kind to us, we ought to be considerate enough not to trespass upon her goodness.”
“I will speak to her about the matter; and if she really does not wish to keep us, why, we’ll leave,” added Lilian.
“But, my dear, you must not forget that she is your mother, and that she will make any sacrifice for your sake, even to her own great injury. It is a matter of conscience with me; and I do not feel like asking her to make this sacrifice of comfort any longer than necessary. Our coming here was only a temporary arrangement, you know, and whatever she may say, our being here will give her a great deal of trouble and anxiety. Come, Lilian, dearest, put on your bonnet. It will do no harm to look at the house. It is already rented to a young couple who are just going to housekeeping,” I continued; but I did not think it necessary to say who the young couple were, and she did not seem to care enough about it to ask me.
“If the house is let, why do you wish me to see it?” she inquired.
“I want to get at your ideas in regard to a house,” I replied, ingeniously.
She looked at me, and seemed to have some doubts, but she probably reasoned that the house was already rented, and there could be no treason against “dear ma” in merely looking at it. She put on her bonnet and shawl. When my hand was on the door the ever watchful Mrs. Oliphant appeared, and wished to know whether we should be back to tea.
We should; but this was not enough. Lilian was not very well, and she must not walk too far. We were only going around to Needham street, and should return in half an hour. If Lilian was going to call on the Trescotts, why had she not told her mother, for both owed them a call? We did not intend to call on the Trescotts; we were only going out for a little walk. If we were going to walk, why were we particular in saying that we were going through Needham street? There was some treason in Needham street, and Lilian was forced to say that we desired to see a house which was already leased to a young couple who were going to housekeeping.
“Dear ma” looked uneasy, but she permitted us to depart. I was afraid she would insist upon accompanying us, as I think she would, had she not been satisfied by the assurance that the house was already leased. We walked to Needham street. I was full of hope. Lilian would like the English basement house—she could not help liking it, and what a rapturous moment would it be when I told her that it was all her own! Even the anticipated battle with “dear ma” seemed to be farther removed and of much less consequence than before. We approached the house, and my heart beat high with transports of delight. In a few days, perhaps the very next day, I should see the idol of my soul enthroned within its walls!
With Lilian leaning lovingly on my arm, I halted at No. 21. On the door, to my intense confusion and disgust, glittered a new silver plate whereon was inscribed the name,”P. Glasswood,” not in Old English, German text, or any other letter which he who runs maynotoften read, but in plain script! I had told the maker not to put it on the door for a week; but he had misunderstood me, or had taken it upon himself to defeat my plan.
“P. Glasswood!”—exclaimed dear Lilian, stunned and horrified, so that the shock she had thrilled my whole frame.
“Certainly; P. Glasswood,” I interposed, promptly. “You know Pierce—don’t you, Lilian? I think you saw him when we were at Springhaven. He is only a second cousin of mine, but he is a good fellow.”
“I didn’t know you had a cousin of that name,” she replied, much comforted.
As I did not know it myself, I did not blame her for not being aware of the circumstance. I opened the door, and we went in, for I had already provided myself with a night key—that gross metallic sin against a wife. Of course the house and furniture were at their best estate. Every thing was new, nice and elegant. The hall gave the first cheerful impression of the house, and Lilian was delighted with it. The little sitting-room was so cosy and snug that my wife actually cried out with pleasure.
The parlors and the chambers were equally satisfactory, and Lilian thought my cousin would be very happy with his bride in this new house. We proceeded to the kitchen, where the Biddy in charge smiled benignantly upon her new “missus,” though, she did not betray the secret she had been instructed to keep. My wife was not so much interested in the kitchen as in the parlor and sitting-room, but she was kind enough to say that every thing was neat and convenient, though I am afraid she was hardly a judge on the latter point. We returned to the sitting-room, and my wife seated herself in the low rocking-chair which had been selected for her use.
“How do you like it on the whole, Lilian?” I asked, dropping into the arm-chair, in which I intended to read the Transcript every evening.
“I think it is real nice,” she replied, with a degree of enthusiasm which fully rewarded me for all the pains I had taken, and the anxiety I had suffered.
“I’m glad you like it, Lilian. I like it exceedingly, and I am glad to find our tastes are one and the same.”
“I don’t mean to say that, if I were going to housekeeping, I wouldn’t have some things different,” she added.
“But you think you could contrive to exist in a house like this?”
“Why, yes; I like it very much indeed.”
“Then it is yours Lilian!” I added, rising frommy arm-chair, as I precipitated the climax upon her.
“What do you mean, Paley?” she asked, bewildered by my words.
“This house and all that it contains are ours, dearest Lilian.”
“I thought you said it was your cousin’s.”
“So I did, Lilian; but that was only a little fiction to aid me in giving you a delightful surprise. This house is yours, my dear, and all that it contains, including myself, and Biddy in the kitchen.”
“Is it possible? Do you mean so, Paley?”
“I do; every word, syllable, letter and point, including the crossing of the t’s and the dotting of the i’s, of what I say is true. The house and all that it contains are ours.”
“I don’t understand it.”
“Well, dearest, it is plain enough. Not only to give you a pleasant surprise, but to save you all trouble and anxiety, I have hired the house and furnished it.”
“You have, Paley?”
“I have, dearest Lilian! How happy we shall be in our new home.”
“I don’t think so!”
Certainly Lilian had been duly and properly astonished. It was my turn now, and I was, if possible, more astonished than she had been. She did not think so! What an unwarrantable conclusion!
“You don’t think so, Lilian?” I added, interrogatively.
“No, I don’t! If you begin in this way we can never be happy.”
“Why not?”
“In the first place, I don’t want to go to housekeeping yet.”
“But I thought you did. The plan has been from the beginning, since we could not get board at the Revere or in Beacon Street, to go to housekeeping,” I replied, with rather more sharpness than I had ever before found it necessary to use to dear Lilian.
She was evidently angry, and her eyes glowed like diamonds in the sunlight. But she never looked so pretty as she did at that moment when her face was rouged with natural roses, and her eyes appeared like a living soul.
“Do you think, Paley, that I want to go to housekeeping in a little, narrow contracted box like this?” she added.
“I thought you liked the house, dearest Lilian.”
“I like it very well for Mrs. Pierce Glasswood, but not for Mrs. Paley Glasswood.”
“I am sorry you don’t like it, for it is too late now to recede,” I replied, gasping for breath. “I was sure it would please you.”
“It don’t!”
“What possible fault can you find with it?”
“It don’t suit me. How could you do such a thing, Paley, as to hire a house and furnish it, without saying a word to me?”
By this time I had come to the conclusion that it was very stupid in me to do it.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, you have surprised me,” she snapped, with such a sweet expression of contempt that I was almost annihilated. “Do you think a lady has no will of her own? No taste, no judgment, no fancy? How could you be so ridiculous as to furnish a house without asking my advice? Could you have found a homelier carpet in Boston, if you had looked for one, than this very carpet under our feet?”
“Buckleton said it was the handsomest one in the city, and the neatest pattern.”
“Then Buckleton has no taste. No one canselect a carpet for a woman. What did you put that cold oil-cloth on the entry for? I should think you imported it from the polar regions on purpose to give me a chill every time I see it! The figure in the parlor carpet is large enough for a room a hundred feet square. That great blundering tete-a-tete is fit for a bar-room, but not for a parlor. There is no end to the absurdities in this house.”
“Now, really, dearest Lilian, I was sure you would be pleased with every thing,” I pleaded.
“You are a stupid, Paley Glasswood.”
I agreed with her.
“I am very sorry, Lilian; but I did everything with the hope of pleasing you.”
“Now here’s a pretty kettle of fish!” exclaimed my indignant bride. “What can we do?”
“I can’t alter the house, my dear, but I can change the furniture so as to suit you, though doing so will be very expensive,” I continued, meekly, as I endeavored to conciliate her.
We had been married only about four months, and the present occasion looked very much like a quarrel. I had not had the remotest suspicion that she was so spunky. It did occur to me that she was slightly unreasonable, if one so beautifulcould be unreasonable. Her father was as poor as a church mouse. His house, as I have hinted, was meanly furnished, and certainly neither the house nor the furniture was worthy to be compared with the one I had provided for my little wife. She had no reason for putting on airs, and being so fiercely critical about the carpets and the chairs. They were vastly better than she had ever had at home.
“Do you think I will live in this house, Paley Glasswood?” said she, with her lips compressed and her eyes snapping with indignation.
“Why, I hope so,” I replied, more astonished than she had been at any time during the visit to the new house.
“You are mistaken, Paley Glasswood. I am your wife, but not your slave; I am not to be dragged from my home when and where you please. You ought to have told me what you intended to do in the beginning.”
“I know it now; and I confess that I was wrong,” I replied, with due humility, and, I may add, with perfect sincerity. “I hope you will forgive me, this time Lilian, and I will never be guilty of such an offence again.”
“I should hope not. But here we are! What’s to be done with this house and furniture?”
“Why, my dear, won’t you go to housekeeping with me?”
“Certainly not, in this house,” she answered, with a flourish.
This announcement was very startling to me. It was appalling to think that I had expended fifteen hundred in preparing a cage which the bird refused to occupy. Intensely as I loved, adored Lilian, I could not help seeing that she was developing a trait of character which I did not like. But I was a politic man, and seeing how useless it was to attempt to argue the matter while she was in her present frame of mind, I had to keep still. We left the house and walked home. For the first time since we were married she declined to take my arm, and I began to be very miserable. Somehow it seemed to me that the meeker I was, and the more I deprecated her wrath, the greater became her objection to the house.
“What shall I say to dear ma?” demanded Lilian, after she had thrown off her things.
“My dear, you need not say a word to her. I will do all this unpleasant business myself,” I replied. “You can lay all the blame upon me. I will tell her that we are going to our new house to-morrow.”
“You needn’t tell her any such thing, for I am not.”
Before we had proceeded any farther with the discussion Mrs. Oliphant entered the room. The battle was imminent.