Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1857-06-18
GBoiee Mlisteuar1g.
MRS. HART'S CONSTITUENTS.
BY REBECCA.

Mr.. Hart, encased in his rich dressing
gown and slippers, was pacing his Turkey
carpet to and fro, with considerable her
vousness In his motions.
q cannot stand this any longer,' he ex-
claimed, as he crowded what appeared to
be bill into his vest pocket. Il shall tell
Mrs. Hart my opinion of her management
forthwith, and give her chance to retrench
her expenses, or shall deal my money out
to her as l would to a child;' and he caught
hold OF the bell-rope, and gave il a sudden
jerk. TELL your mistress wish to see her
in the drawing-room,' he said, as a servant
answered the bell.
Sure, sir, Mrs. Hart is out; but I'll tell
her when she comes in
'What. at this time of nighti You must
be mistaken, Ellen
Sure, I'm right, sir; she's gone down to
Lee street; heard her tell the coachman. ,
TO Lee streetl and flush overspread
Mr.. Hart's features. 'Ah! Yes, | under
stand; you may retire, Ellen; but tell Mrs
Hart when she returns, that wish to see
. her. Gone to see her old lover' he ex-
claimed, as the door closed after Ellen
Perhaps, after all, this bill is only to threw
dust into my eyes; he is very poor, and
Mary was fond of him-so Parker told me.
/ thought at the time it was only said in
envy; bu: perhaps, after all, Parker was
right And Mr.. Hart, with flashing eyes
and compressed lips, threw himshlf into an
easy chair, to await his wife's return.
Mr.. Hart was politician of wealth and
respectability. He was ripening into his
forty-iFth autumn; his wife was budding in
her twentieth spring. He had married her
because she was belle, beautiful and &C.
complished, and because he believed her to
be just the lady fitted to place at the head
of his princely establishment. She hat
married hin because she loved him as wei
as any one she had met, and because her papa
insisted upon her improving the opportunity
of forming so desirable connection. Mrs
Hart supposed, if she looked after the ser.
wants, and made herself agreeable to he
husband, by her dress and conversation, sht
had done her duty as wife. He supposed
if he INDUCED his wife in all her grlisf
whims, he had done his duty as husband
On the present occasion, however, his duty
seemed to have turned in ar opposite direc
tion.
M. Hart had dreturped from Congress only
few weeks previous to the time we intro
duce him to the reader. That evening, dur
ing his wife's absence, milIiner's bill, o
nearly two hundred dollars, had fallen int,
L.. b.rle II baI fivan him bo s,,nnos al
a slight insight into her management durin.
his absence; and he resolved, for the frs
time since his marriage, to reprove her 70
her extravaganza, and to compel her to Civ
some accoun: for the two hundred she ha
expended on her head, during single win
ter.
He had been waiting nearly an hour, wit
feelings somewhat akin to jealousy, whe
the door opened, and his wife entered.
Ellen says you wish to speak with me
she said, as she wheeled an easy chair be
fore the CRATE and seated herself beside he
husband.
Il do, Mrs. Hart
His tone and manner caused her to loo
into his face with an anxious and inquirin
expression.
HAS anything happenedH she asked, aftt
moments silence.
sTm sorry to say there has; / have bee
presented with a bill this evening, fro
your miiliner, which exceeds, in amour
anything ever imagined lady expende
on her head in single season. and he toe
the bill from his pocket. Here is one hui
dred and ninety dollars and fifty cen
due Madame Dupine for millinery, stint
December last! The items are not specific
but. doubtless, il is all right. | have give
you money, Mrs. Hart, to defray your ov
expenses and those of housekeeping, su
posing one brought upin your circumstanc
had been taught, at least, to keep with
the bounds of reason; but, | must say, tt
has utterly astonished mev
But, don't you remember, Mr.. Hart,
telling me, last autumn, if my incidental e
penses did not exceed yours, you should
perfectly satisfedp
"A milliner's bill do net call incidents