Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-03-22
MONTPELIER VT, WEDNESDAY, MARCH o. 1876.

"Ol well, they had a mothor-in-law rag.
ing around lately, so have kept away"
80 have l."
Here followed a laugh Of derision.
A motherin-law Z" exclaimed another,
that is hard do pity them. indeed
But | hear she Is of now"
Glad TO hear IT, Have you heard the
new opera 2"
was the mother-iu-law on whose account
friends kept away. remembered the weary
nights in that sick room the weary days,
when, suffering from loss of sleep, struggled
TO keep my eyes open, that | might attend
to various little household duties Which
of all this was the raging round which
excited the risible muscles Of those lively
young people 2 thought Of Fanny, her
good looks, her intelligence, her afiectionate
nature and found myself wondering what
her future was TO be. But here we are
There she was waiting to meet me, dear
child; but there was some one with her, a
most insignificant looking individual, with
very prominent eyes and large whiskers
Why did not my heart sink with a melan-
choly forebodingf
How glad she was TO see me again. She In
troduced her companion to me as Mr.. Jen-
kns, and whereas | was all anxiety 10 be
alone with her, Mr.. jenkins, with a great
flourish of politeness, walked all the way
home with us. Before | could unite The
strings Of my bonnet, he told me that Fanny
had promised TO marry him ! was thunder
struck, having in the annoyance Of his pres
ence forgotten my forebodings Of half an
hour before. had read with much a ihn-
ton IN various highly landed books, Of the
great and imperative duty of bringing up a
girl to be a helpmeet for a noble man--this
dapper little manikin lie seemed aniable,
but 80 utterly insignificant. lie had unin-
teresting parents, and weak, plain sisters, all
Of whom made a perpetual amusement OF
the engagement. My parlor was given up
to them entirely-that is, 10 him and his
sisters. ! seemed always de froD when
entered, by the sudden silence which fol-
lowed the animated talk, My coming was
an interruption. | began TO ait up stairs
always walked alone.
Having avoided all society aud all acquaiu-
tanceship when my children were Young, so
that | might devote my whole time 10 them,
found myself now friendless and desolate
Friends, like plants, must be cultivated,
found no congeniality IN either of the two
families with whom my children were con
Meeting themselves.
After two years they were married, aud
after year OF boarding aspired to the Dig
nifty Of keeping house. After looking at
many dwellings, one was selected, one which
required great many repairs, and now my
services were in very great request. at
tended 10 all the directions Mr.. jenkins
wished given to the workmen; | stayed in
the cold, empty rooms all day, when there
was nothing to sit on but an empty candle
box. ! did the necessary quarreling with
plumbers, and bore the snubbing Of the up
holsterers and put the furniture in the
places | thought best, by degrees changing
it all to suit his tastes | washed all the
china and glass; and sometimes fancied,
when | got dirty doing all this, that was
happy. had so long been accustomed to
work for those loved, that it was hard to
learn that there might be any reproach con-
nected with it. must do Fanny the JUS
tice to say that she was very kind and CRATE
ful to me.
On the last day, after having some cold
tea out Of pitcher on the corner of man
telpiece, overheard Mr. jenkins, who had
brought friend in to admire his new dwell
ing, say
"Well, the carpets are down, the furni-
ture is all here. and | think now when we
get our servants, and engage baker and
milkman, and are entirely rid of the msther-
in-aw, we shall be ready to move in"
Both my children married, had my soli-
tary little house to myself, and very solitary
it was. tried to get up some spasmodic
friendships with my nsighbors, but, being
Hollow, these forced intimacies soon fell
through. But | ought not to complaint
is the way Of the world.
| only wonder if, considering the love we
have for our children, Young or old the
world is not apt to be a little hard upon the
mother-in-law.