But she had overruled them and been very happy--at
times. He was charming and adorable and it was manifest that for him
no other woman existed.
But she could not flatter herself that she was indispensable. He
openly preferred the society of men, and during that interminable sea
voyage she had seen little of him save at the table or when he came
to their stateroom late at night. For her mind he appeared to have a
good-natured masculine contempt. He talked to her as he would to a
fascinating little girl. If he cared for mental recreation he found
it in men.
She went into her bedroom and bathed her eyes with eau de cologne.
At least he had given her no cause for jealousy. That was one
compensation. And a wise married friend had told her that the only
way to manage a husband was to give him his head and never to indulge
in the luxury of reproaches. She was sorry she had forgotten herself
tonight.
IV
Dr. Talbot had confided to Mrs. McLane that his wife was inclined to
be a bas bleu and he wanted her broken of an unfeminine love of
books. Mrs. McLane, who knew that a reputation for bookishness would
be fatal in a community that regarded "Lucile" as a great poem and
read little but the few novels that drifted their way (or the
continued stories in Godey's Lady's Book), promised him that
Madeleine's intellectual aspirations should be submerged in the
social gaieties of the season.
Pages:
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27