St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-02-23
From Scrbner's Monthly.
How one Woman kept Her Husband.

! first day of their meeting. She had come
more slowly to loving him: hut love him
| She did. with II love of such depth and
/ ftrvor as are rarely seen. He was her
equal in nothing except in position and
wealth He had singular mixture of
the faults of opposite temperamcnt>.
| He had the reticemt. dreamy. procrtS-
tinating inertia of the bilious melancholic
man. side by side with the imprcsSiona-
hlr >rnSuouSncSS. the sensitive Scnti-
| mentaliSm of the most Sanguinc nervous
type. There is great fascination i'll such
Il combination. especially to persons of
a keen alert nature. My sister was
earnest. wise. rcsolutc. John Gray was
nonchalant. Shrcwd. vacillating. My
| sister WAS exact. methOdlcal. ready.
John Gray was careless. SpaSmodic. dila-
| tory. NV sister had atfcctionatenesS.
He had tenderness She was religious
of soul g: he had sort of tranScendental
/ pcrceptivity. so to speak, which kept
| him more alive tothe comforts ofreligiOn
than to its obligations.
/ My sister would have gone to the stake
rather than tell lie. He would tell IL
/ lie Imhe>itatingly. rather than give any
/ body pain. My sister lived earnestly.
fully. actively. in each moment of the
present. 1t never seemed quite clear
whether he was thinking of to-day. YES
! tcrdav. or tomorrow. She was upright
/ hecaulSc she could not help it. He was
upright. when he was upright. be
cause of custom. taste. and the fitness
things. What fatal discrepancies what
! hopeless lack of real moral strength.
enduring purpose. or principle i'll such Il
nature as John Gray'S, when said these
/ things to my sister. she answered al
ways. with IL quiet smile. Il love him.
She neither admitted nor denied my
accusations OfhiS character. The strong
est expression she ever used, the one
which came nearest to being an indig-
nant repcllng of what had said. was
one day. when | exclaimed:
ELLEN. | would die before | riSked
my happiness in the keeping of such a
man"
My happiness is already in his keep
ing" said she in a steady voice, land !
believe his i> in mine. He is to be my
husband and not yours. dear : YOU do
not know him as do. You do not I'M
der>tand him"
But it is not to give analyses IF her
character or of his. nor to give a narra-
tive of their family history. that | write
this story. 1t is only one episode OF
their life that shall try to reproduce
here. and do ii because believe that
its lesson is of priceless worth to women
Ellen had been married fourteen years
and was the mother of four children
when events which am about 10 narrate
took place. The wears had gone peace
fully and pleasantly in the main. The
children. three girls and one hoy. were
fair and strong. Their life had been Il
very quiet one. for orr village was fan
removed from cXcitcmcntS of all kinds
1t was one of the suburban villages al
-. and most of the families living
there were the families of merchants ol
LAWYERS doing business in the town. go
ing in early in the morning. and return
ing late at night. There is usually 4;
singular lack of social intercourse il
such communities whether il he that
the daily departure and return of the
head of the family keeps up Il perpetual
succession of small CRISES of interest Il
the exclusion of others. or that the night
finds all the fathers and brothers too tirec
tocnjoy anything hut slippers and cigars
| know not: but certain ii * that al
such suburban villages are unSpcakahlN
dull and lifclc<>. There l. barely feel
ing enough of good ncighhorhood Il
keep up the ordinary interchange %
commoncSt civilitic>.
Except for long visits To the city il
the winter. and long journeys i'll Tho
summer my self should have found lif,
insupportablN tedious. But Ellen WI:
absolutely content. Her days were un
varyinglv alike, ii simple routine o
motherlv duties and housekeeping cares
Her evenings were equally UNMARRIED
being usually spent in sewing or read
ing. while her husband. III seven eve
ninm> ont of ten. dnH"d. either on th'
sofa. or on one Of the childr'u'S LITTLE
beds in the nursery. His exquisite ten
dcIneSs to tie children. and his GUir
delight III >iluply helm" where the ". lc
were the brightest p0iLts in john Gray
character and life.
But such monntony was n"t wholly
good for either of them. lie crew nort
and more dreamy Hnd inert. She in
>"m>ihly hut continually narrowed an'
hardened. aud. without dreaming q
SUcl thing. really came to he less I'm,
less Il part of her husbands inner life
Faithful. busy. absorbed hcrst If i'll TIN
: cares of each day. she never observe,
that he was living more and more in hi
children and his rcVerieS. and with
drawing Il little from her. She did no
need constant play and interchange q
sentiment a> he did. Atfectionate. loyal
devoted aS She was. there wilS Il side q
her husbands nature which she had no
seen or SatiStied-perhapS never could
But neither of them knew it.
Al this time, Mr. GRAY WIS offered
position of importance III the city, ant
it became necessary for them to NOV,
there to live. How | reioiced in tn,
change. How bitterly regretted it he
fore two years had passed.
Their city home was beautiful one
and their connections and association
were such rs to surround them at onc'
with the most desirable companiOnshipS
At first it WAS hard for Ellen to readius
. her system of living and to accustOn
, herself to the demands and pleasures o
even Il moderately social life. But sh,
was by nature very fond of all sucl
pleasures. and her house soon became
one of the pleasantest centres. in quir
: way. of the quiet city. John Gray als'
: expanded and frightened in the ney
atmosphere he had always been a maj
y of influence among men. All his friend
even his acIuaintanceS-lov him
}. and asked his advice. 1t was singula
thing that man so inert and procrasti
mating in his own affairs. should he :,
shrewd and practical and influential il
. the affairs of others, or in public affairs
This, however. was no stranger thai
- many other puzzling incongruities il
John Gray's character. But since hi