The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-04-20
TRUTH

Nv = A4s
Monsieur Adolphe Simon was near upon
thirty years If age before he felt that he
vas rich enough to take wife, yet to be
married had been the object Of his existence
since he had reached man estate and OBJ
tanned a situation in the Ministere des
Affairs strangers With much patience,
from twenty to thirty, had NJ. Simon wait
ed his very gradual and slow promotion, at
every advance in his salary adding some
thing t. the future home, the model home
he was one day To- have. First Of all he
decided that he would not live within the
fortihcatiuns he had rural tasts, and be
sides was deeply tinged with sentiments and
romance.
The first thing he did was to buy lot of
ground lust two leagues from the walls of
Paris. For more than year the great re-
Taxation If Monsieur Simon wis to 10 ont
after office hours and contenp plate this bar
rem ground on which his imagination was
perpetually raising fantastic editices.
Tie house came at last. however, built
especially under his direction and according
to his own plans rustic habltatlon, IN It
is. what Parisian, taking his ideas from
the pastorals of the opera c0mlque, imag-
ines to lie a rustic habitation But to all
who have seen something more than the
asphalt pavement Of Paris, Monsieur 81
mons country seat looked like Nurem
; burg toy. or baby house from G.rIux 4
Company III Ia Rue de Cog. 1t was painted
the tenderest If dove colors it had paint
cd glass Ia the windows. 1t had balconies
and verandahs it had real China vases i'll
various corners If the garden, two nice lit
tie trickling fountains, a nice square bit OF
lawn. a gruttu. a picturesque rum, freshly
painted brown, very fine yellow gravel III
the pathways, and plenty Of flowers. Could
anything be prettier Nothing, except
perhaps the wife that, having attained the
age Of thirty and reached salary Of five
thousand francs a year, Monsieur Simon
\ felt authorized in obtaining. Laure Lee
blonp was young girl who differed III
nothing from all other young ladies he had
seen in anything except her beauty. You
might 90 to many balls and parties lefore
you found so pretty a creature az Laure.
NJ. Simon was entirely convinced OF this,
and 50 set about making inquiries as tn for
tune, family, etc Monsieur Simon was
not ambitious, 50 when he discovered that
this modest divinity possessed capital
bringing i'll two thousand francs year, he
got friend, as is customary In France, to
declare his intentions to Laure LeblOnds S
guardian, her uncle (she had neither father
nor mother and being accepted by him,
was Of course not rejected by the lady.
Marriage in France is not such lottery as
in other countries. Perhaps when there
are shortcomings they are of more serious
nature than in other countries, but there
certainly are in France fewer scolding wives;
cross wives, jealous wives, snarling wives
than anywhere else whether it is that the
national politeness takes the form of good
temper it is difficult to say, but certain it is,
however. that good temper is inherently
French. French women, too, do their hen
picking by coaxing, not by bullying, 50 that
if the husband discovers it, it is too pleasant
to resent.
Laure, however, was even something be-
yond the average Of these agreeable wives;
she actually, besides her beauty, had kind,
loving heart, and took a violent fancy to
her husband from the first h. Leblond,
Laure's guardian, who was rich and gener-
Gus by fits and starts, gave the young
couple ten thousand francs to furnish the
pretty baby house Simon had built for him
self and the unknown partner Of his eXis-
tence, so that they began life without debt
and with their income clear before them.
How happy Laure was She didn't care
much for society, though she knew she was
made to shine in it but she loved her lit
tie cottage and everything within and with
ont it, and she adored her husband. Such
a husband-he had never missed coming
back from his Office by thesam five o'clock
train once since their marriage, now year
and half age.
Laure takes as much care Of her garden,
her gold fish, her pigeons, her two ducks
who sometimes drink up all the water in
their very small pond, as if they were all
her children or her husband. Her brown
hair rolled IImperatrice off, her forhead,
her nankeen dress, braided in black, fresh
" put on, she runs up and down every al
ley. keeping an eye on the gate, however,
for it is near the time for Adolphe to re-
turn. The moment the whistle Of the train
is heard, that moment the cook puts the
vemicelli in the soup ten minutes after,
when Adolple appears at the gate, the lit
tie chambermaid rings the bell, and Mon
sieur Simon. his official portfolio under one
arm. and his wife under the other, trium-
phantly enters his dining room. 1t was a
very small room, but still it would occa-
sionally hold three or four friends, who al
ways left the cottage with sigh of envy.
After dinner, Mime. Simon would take her
husband rolnd her domain, show him the
pigeons she had tanned ask him whether
he didn't think the ducks grown and the
fishes become more golden. Then going
back either to the. .verandah or the drawing
room, according TO the season, Simon
would tell his wife all the Partisan news,
every minute particular about himself, and