Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-05-18
4ESTHETIC FURNITURE.
A Victim 60 Renaissance---A WIfe's
story.

story.
1t first developed itself by an antipathy
to stGne-ware, Windsor chairs, horse-hair
covered furniture, wbitewash, revolving
csstors, and other useful necessaries of life.
If /, Mary Jane Hodge, then, am not ex-
actly contented with my lot, can, how
ever place my hand on my heart and SOL
emnly declare that the crosses in my exist
ence arise from no fault of my own. Per-
fectly aware that the condition of marriage
should entail on the wife a certain amount
of consideration for the tastes, inclinations,
whims, or even follies OF her husband, /
must state that, at the very outset, Byzan-
tue, the Cinque Cento, and the Renaissance
all set against me, and, by continually
turning up when least expected, at one
time threatened TO wreck my happiness.
One thing which early disturbed me, and
has been the cause of many good cry on
my part, is my name-our name in fact.
Is my husband Lawrence Martin Hodge or
Lorenzo Medicis Hodgef Am | English
Mary or a Frenchified Marie7 Now, al
though have no very great or positive
aversion TO being called Marie, tfor men
when they are afiectionate can be very
foolish at times,) for me to call him Loren
20 is quite another thing. But If in mo-
ment of weakness / may have yielded to
the Lorenzo, the Medicis my husband had
printe on our first visiting cards never
have been able TO swallow. Those fatal
cards made their appearance during our
honeymoon, which occurrence took place
not so very long ago.
We were in a summer-house in the couu-
try, overlooking the water, of an evening,
and the mosquitoes were terribly annoy
ing. Lorenzo had insisted on having our
little bit of flower garden nightly illumin-
ated with Chinese lanterns, which hived
all Kinds of horrid bugs. am not exactly
what you might call romantic. do not in
the least object TO full moon, but can't,
for the life of me, go into ecstasies over 1t.
That is too absurd. The moon was rising
that very night quite clear and fine, and
making the Chinese lanterns look supreme
ly ridiculous. 1t wasn't much Of flower
garden, and not the least like Paradise, as
Mr.. Hodge called il. What was nice about
the garden were the gravel walks, which
we've always dry. Eve, tramping around
at night in the dewy grass, might have
liked it, but wouldn't. For some partic-
ular reasons, that l never could divine,
Mr.. Hodge had given imperative orders
that no one save ourselves should enter the
garden. Paradise was fastened with pad
lock which gave no end of trouble to open.
"This is like Venetian night" said my
husband TO me; one might fancy tha,
stream a lagoon, and yonder boat some
gondola, with its freight OF love and mys-
terry" Now seeing that was born on the
place in New Jersey where he and were
actually spending week or so, and for me
to listen TO any one call Snapper Creek a
Venetian lagoon, and an old dug-out one of
the neighbors was bobbing for eels in
gondola, was entirely too funny. Maybe l
should not have commenced so soon, but /
thought that just then and there ought TO
come 10 some kind of an explanation about
our name.
Lawrence" said.
Lorenzo, Marie, If you please"
"Lorenzo, then. But how about that NJ
on our cardsf" and, drawing card out of
my pocket, spelled it out under Chinese
lantern. "When / was a girl / remember
your mother, such a dear old lady, with
nice frilled caps, her maiden name, 1 am
sure, was Martin. The Martins were a
good Pennsylvania Quaker family. l al
ways was led to believe that your given
names were Lawrence Martin" dearest
Marie" my husband replied, "Hodge is an
absurd name, and stultifies me. The Lo-
renzo, in q mild way, takes away some
thing from my nothngness. With Medi-
els in time, trust, somewhat to overbal-
ance the boorish rusticlty of Hodge. Lis
ten. There is a drop of Italian blood in
my veins. 1t came into the family on my
fathers side many years ago; at least the
New York College of Heralds have clearly
shown 1t to me. have oilen surmised as
much myself How otherwise could a
Hodge have such a love for color-that
longing for aesthetic expression7 A Hodge
under another name, centuries ago, must
have held high station in Florence. shall
incorporate the three balls OF Medlcls in
our coat of arms" "Why, that is what
the pawnbroker ers use for sigu," said
"I don't know anything about coats OF
arms, but indeed shouldn't like it."
"Marie," he went on suddenly, "listen.
Ihave mission In llfe-an end TO perform.
VIII you not help meS"