The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1874-06-20
The Husbands Lesson.

n
The ringing of the door bell has a
pleasant sound to me, more particularly
in my idle moods. Like an unopened
letter, there is a mystery about it, aud
( one waits with o plcasnrable excitement
20 see whoser. what is.eoming.
Returning home oncday earlier than
usual, l found that my wife had gone
out; and while idly waiting her return
the door-bcll rang. waited expcctant
until Mary appeared with u note, con
timing request from my old friend,
George l. to ride out to his
residence in the country the next day,
and to bring my wife with me. l was
much pleased, not so much on account
of any pleasure which it might give my
wife, but because thought needed
days recreation, and in the lovely sum
mer time, the country has peculiar
charms for me.
But the next morning everything
seemed to SO wrong. Alice could not
accompany nc, and could not get of
as early as wished ; consequently
was frettul and pccvish, and Alice
seemed to reflect my humor, for she
never seemed to be SO unamiable AT
length. -hsaEEts1cr, I drove away, though
hot In very pleasant mood. 1t was
lovely day; and as | rode along. noting
the beauties Of the landscape, my memo
ry went back unbiddcn to the time when
l wooed and won my bride. Oh -! how
lovely Alice was then! 1 thought.
And Oh! how happy we were! But
that, was long ago. No NNo::;s i: possible,
VIC have been married only three years
And l felt sharp pang as contrastcd
the past with he present. to think that
we could settle down into the common
place life VIC now led.
We had no serious trouble; we did
not quarrel though when [ felt cross
orl things did not suit. ne, It,uk no
pains to conceal it, and often spoke
llarshly to Alice, who sometimes replied
in the san,c spirit, and sometimes With
tears. Yet we were generally 200
friends. Still, the charm, the tender
ness of our early love had impercep.ibly
vanished. / had become careless about
my personal appearance at home and
Alice was almost equally negligent.
Her beautiful brown hair, which she
used to wear in the most becoming curls,
was now usually brushed plainly behind
her ears, unless she was goin. out or
expected company.
| dismissed the subject with sigh,
MS | drew up at my friends gate, with
the reflection that it was the same with
all married pcoplc-must be so, in fact;
for how could romance and sentimen,
find place among SO many prosy
reulities l suppose we ale as happy
as any body; and yet it was not the
kind of lie that l had looked forward
to with SO many bright nnticipations.
My friend erected me with great
coidiality. In the hall we met Mrs
l, looking fresh and lovely in
her pink muslin wrapper, with her ictty
hair in tasteful bruids. She rcprovcd
me playiully for not bringing my wife
with mo, chatted few minutes, aud
then fitted away, while my FREUD led
ahe way to the library. AS We entered
the room 1 noticed vase of bright
flowers on the table, imparting an air of
taste and cheerfulness to the apartment.
Z made some remark about it, to which
my friend responded:
Yes, l um very fond of flowers, and
like to see them in the house and as |
spend much time here, my wife always
keeps a vase Of them OH the table Us
long as they last.
After dinner we walked out into the
grounds which were quite extensive,
and most tastcfully arranged. There
was a great variety Of flowers in bloom,
and / noticed that IL selected
here and there the finest, until he had
handsome bouquet.
When We reached the house Mrs. l..
was on the steps. Her husband, still