Litchfield enquirer., 1872-02-15
MARRiKD LIFE. gi
AToo con1n,o,1 Story. .

"A when Cain went to the land of Nod and married, Adam and Eve said privately td each other, that it was very strange what
 Cain saw to strike his fancy in that Nod girl? There vas nothing special to be wondered at in this match, however. Ma.
 ria was 20, and had had a fair share ol school days and teaching, while Henry
 was five years older, with snug little
 farm all in his own right. In nature and
 temperament they were different, 1t is
 true, Henry being one of those natter-of.
 fact men, who estimate the value of wo-
 man as they would of cart-borse, by the
 amount of work she can do, while Maria
 had romance and poetry enough in her
 composition to stock a dozen frst-class
 nnvels- But from the beginning of the
 world 1t has always been so-the tender
 twining vine will lean against the rough
 old oak, should it get terribly scratched
 and torn by the means.
 Maria entered upon the arduous duties
 of her married life as thongh 1t were a
 gala-day festivity. Fresh from the fin
 ished elegancies of her fathers house, the little red cottage looked mean and homely enough, but it was her joy and pride to plan ways for it's improvement, and to ex- ecute them as well. For Henry's purse
 was not of unfathomable depth, and to be- gin with he held the strings of that treas ury. have heard of men who had play full way of putting V or an X into their wivea' purse occasionally, for them to spend as they saw fit, or who often said when they saw them going ont, Don't you want some money to-day, my dear ?'' Henry Mcintyre was not one of that rare species of men. He imagined that women in general had no judgment in the way of buying, and hardly liked to trust Maria to select their bedroom paper, or crash towel, without his assistance. Yet could the mere ceremony of marriage have so warped her judgment, when before that act he was ready to tell her she was the wisest, discreetest, best of her sex? But they were five miles from town, so Maria could not we'll go to the store unless he carried her, being no horsewoman herself, and he could assist her selections as well as not. She sometimes felt as if she had never bought such homely print for dress es and gingham for aprons, but they were Henry's taste, and he always consulted durability at the expense of beauty. Was 1t strange, as she sometimes looked into her port-monnaie, which now rarely knew penny in it's folds, that she thought of her free girlish days, when with far less labor she kept it we'll lined, and was free to spend as she pleased?
 Maria was Jack-of-all-trades that year. and besides her house-work add sewing, she papered, painted and whitewashed. worked in the garden, and took care of the poultry-Henry praised her taste and ability, privately thanking his. lucky stars which had secured him so capable wife. He never dreamed that it was any sacrifice to her natural inclinations to do this un- womanly work, though her hands grew hard and rough, while from sheer Mck of time she neglected the tasty arrangements of her hair and dress which had anee been as second nature to her, and what was far worse, almost wholly neglected mental culture and improvement. She could spare little time for reading, and Henry had so little taste for 1t that he took few papers, and those mainly agricultural and practical; while as for buying a.new book, unless it were horse and cattle doctor, or treatise on manure, it was an un- heard-of thing. Before they had been year married, Maria came to look back upon her unmarried self as Patagonian squaw might upon 6 Parisian belle-with a feeling that an immense gulf lay be- tween them.
 She felt so more and more as time. passed on, almost coming to doubt the identity of the gay Maria Starr, who read and wrote, and dressed, and went, with the hard-working Maria Mcintyre, who seldom read, never wrote, and paid so lit tie attention to dress and style, that on the rare occasions when she went into so- ciety she felt as antiquated as though she had just stepped out of Noah's ark. They had few neighbors, and those of little cui- ture, and were too far from town to see much company. The few who came so far to see them Maria welcomed with most cordial hospitality, and tried not to ap- pear awkward in her combined duties of hostess, eeek, tahle-waiter and dish-girl.
 Sometimes she paused ta ask herself what was to be the end of these things. Was she always to go on in this way, do- ing only what any ignorant Irish woman, who knew not one letter of the alphabet from another, and would put her x mark at the foot of a receipt for washing. could as well? Was it right to put herself thus on level with the lowest in the scale of intellect, when nature and education had both fitted her for higher things? No, she would not always do so When they were rich enough she would give up hard work, and indeed she would be obliged to. sometime, for she was fast wearing out her vitality, and only q strong constitu- tion had kept her up thus far. Very lit tie hired help had she ever employed, for good help was scarce and poor help must be boarded and paid, both which expen- sive items Henry glowefed over terribly. He never stinted himself in help out of doors, but as he argued, farm work must be done, while woman's work was half of it unnecessary, and might as we'll be dis pensed with. Like most men, he did not realize that the addition to the home com B fort and neatness, both of whom he prized at heart as much as she did, was made by the doing of these little odds and ends. which every housekeeper knows are very tedious and also very important. He was ready to acknowledge, however, that, she was very industrious, and often boosted how he married a little helpless school ma'am, and now she was the snartest wo-
 They had been nearly three years mar ried, and their first baby was six months old, when Maria received a. letter from Esther Bradley, a whilom schoolmate of hers, but now resident of the great me tropoiis, where she supported herselfwith her pen, 4sf xrIa a1 saT sT
 I'm coming to spend the first week in October with you, my dear, that is, if you want to see me. I'm curious to see you in your housewifely realm, where, they tell me, you Seign queen, almost excel
 ling, in your industry, the virtuous woman described by the wise man of old. t.Ah 1! well, your were a bright particular star in your schooldays, you remember, aad shone in everything you undertook from chemistry to competitions, so I doubt not you will shine over your little world of home. But remember one thing, I want to enjoy my visit and want you should en- joy it, too, so you are not to, step out of your usual ways to entertain me. I want just your own quiet every day home life and fare, with no fuss or parade on my account. When am invited out to. tea, I've no objections to having my entertain CTS air their best china and parlors, and put on seventeen kinds of cake, if they