New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-10-04
CAPTAIN PREVOST'S WIDOW.
A STORY OF MATRIMoNY.
Copyrtght, 1885.

-. 81 ,s. ond he oupht to know. So think we
80, COW that We have il on the best authority.
None. indeed, would challenge Captain rIeVoS.S
veracty: il would not have been WISE 1or Iheih W
do it, CAPTAIN Provost had thunderbolts III roser'o
for such presumption. There had never Deeh occ"-
sion to call his financial integrity INTO leSioh'
for having been born with one fortune anu ha'ins
married another, he had always Deeh oeSolu 'n0
roach of temptation That he was a compassionate
man was attested by his position in the hulnano
Society that he was man Interested IN the pio
,ress of the race by his position on the School Yum
,nttee that he was a religious man by his poSl'ion
as Church Warden that lie was generous ,,"n
by his subscription to the Common CharitleS; 'n"'
he WAS in fine good man, By his conduct as '"o
head of q family, a bountiful proYldsr p""''
tual church attendant, q conscientious nae'oi'
II is true that the servants. whose master he ""S
used to aver in their select circles that HIS con'
tious action was exertcd moro IN securing MS Wv"
dine than in awarding theirs; that his at'ch"-
once Mt church involved state OF nervous tehHIo"
m tbe household on Sunday mornings which de
,+rovod ali religious satisfaction IN every Dreas'
but his own. that in tho role of bountliul proViuel
be was wont himself to investigate CUPBOARD anu
,cfriperator and poke over the contents Vi ,"0
voste-box to a running accompaniment OF ero"'o'
and that if all this meant being good ia'uly MA"
then they hoped their husban Is would DC pii Hi'''
shouldn't wonder if sometimes poor Mrs fre'oSV
was of the same opinion, and would nave o'1"
thoroughly delighted and relieved DIV some Ilt'io
Ionse of her husband into the of the world when
he married her he was dashing naval oihcer Who
took her fancy as much through her maglAa''oh
AZ his odventurng life with wind and weather az
r., his nersonalIty. She little apple-DiOsSom
nf n woman who had never spoken with uoH'n
men all told. She regarded as wild deea oil e'i
the charading frOlIc in her sixteenth year VINO"
her playmates made her stand up with her cousin
Arthur and utter the responses IL tins marriage
neryico some gentleman of the party proAJuNclh@
them man and wife. 1t covered her wlth guilty.
bushes to remember the wicked folly. she Woulu
have died rather than have Captain Provost know
nf il. For when he asked her TO marry HIM she
was persuaded that he was the best and greatest
man IN the world She simply adored HIM In tho's
eallow DAYS; and when it came to question OF
settlements she would not listen TO word from
The LAWYERS; she had heard Captain Provost say
chat where q woman trusted herself she coud trust
her money. And so her hundred and seventy-hVe
thousapd dollars went into Captain Provost assets
without q word. and lie collected her dividends
and made her deposits, and checked them out AGAIN,
without troubling her any more about II. Ana
Mrs. Provost never had q ffty-cont piece TO spehu
unauestioncd, and not many OF them 70 Spehu
otherwise. Why should she have moneTf Did not
the proper groceries arrived attend to the wear ana
tear of everything purchase her dresses, pay the
dressmaker's bill with his checks and even keep
the needles and thread supplied 10 her workable
CAPTAIN Provost did not approve of womeA' hahh-
ling money; it brushed the bloom OF them cnaHer-
ing and haGgling taught them undue freedom Oh
speech and manners and knowledge OF the world;
and if they had 10 money they could get INTO no
mischief; and he was not at all so sure oil their III
teligence as to be certain that they knew enough
10 make change. OF course, If Captain FreYoSt
thought So it must be 50, Mrs. Provost rea'olci-
in the beginning; but for all that she did wish she
had as much as o two-dollaT bill without renI ring
accounts and she found herself accompanied By
daily sense of wickedness IN her Consciousness of
desiring something that hcr ideal Thought wrong
This sense OF wIckcdne3S was very unc)mtort-
able to Mrs Provost 1t frequently made her ont
of sorts with the whole wOrl. She felt tina: she
mutt DO silgularly unworthy 10 be all the time
wanting things her husband forbade; and that
sensation caused her at times to become absolutely
reckless. Once indeed, in this spirit of reckless
ness she actually went far as to venture to let
down the skirt of her vlsting-dress, in spite of
Captain Prevosts well-knOwn abhorrence of
dragging skirt and to make calls with train. 1T
being the day of trains pleased with her appear
ance aud feeling like woman OF the world, sud
denly to be Oyerhaued on the way by her husband,
put into the carriage aud driven home without
time for remonstralce Now said Captain Pre-
Vost go up at and cut the trail of that dress
or shall! Ny wife is no. going about hko a
monkey with his tan hung over his arm" An d
Mrs Provost went upstairs, aad glanced at 1erjelf
in the cheval-glass, and stopped at one side and
caught up her train, and turned her head for a
backward glance, and admired the easy air OF
fashion with which she had learned to do it. AMI
81, Int laid Hrag ayya.
and came down 70 tea in another. THAT will do"
said Captain Provost. liam aStOnIshed at your
taste and, may say, yO1r presumption. You know
my opinions rs to draggled skirts and am accus-
toned to obedience. want it understood that |
exact the same Obedience in my house that did on
my quarter-1eckW
Mrs. Provost felt that she had gone very far on
the downward track before wearing tho skirt at
all: a1d when on the next Sunday the four female
servants, cook and holsemlid, tGbie-grl and laun-
dreS2. filed out OF the slde-dOor, each with tran
caught ~ in one hand, Mrs. Provost felt that she
deserved everything bad there was in the Bible,
but her eyes twinked with satisfaction while the
CAPTAIN roascl VITA rage. The amonntOf stricken
conscience which Mrs. Provost was beginning now
TO experience made her feel if instead of loving
her husband she should presently be finding him
uncomfortable as the cause OF so much remorse.
But presently, indoed. Mrs Provost was not sure
that she was not hating him now. She had ro-
turned from church, having been delayed III the
morning and the Captain refusing to wait for her.
She noticed, on the way home that the Captain
was very short and silent, if his prayers sat
heavily. bat she was not prepared for the sudden
snatch at her bonnet as soon as the hali-lODr
closed, as her husband tore off ard tossed iato the
fire the lovely bunch Of wax-hcart cherries car
mine and god. with which she had succeeded in
ornamcnting it, although she well knew his mortal
objection to fruit aad vegetables as personal wear.
Tine iron came near entering Mrs. Pregosts soul
that day II she had hal penny she wo I'D have
q