The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1905-02-04

WHEN | WAS "A BRIDE
By HENRY'S WIFE.

ult.es were dissolved in the happiest Of
all Illusions; then. with my head re |
cliuing upon the unfortunate mans con- |
fidins breast, l murmured, But you |
really are sorry now, Henry, about the |
Shams ~
There was no time ror resentment or |
resistance-the setting was foreign 10 |
these harsher emotions-and he was |
obliged to confess that he regretted |
the entire incident" wisely placed |
the most fiattering interpretation upon |
this dubious apology.
"Let Not the Sun Go Down on Wrath"
Years have passed since that Sabbath |
evening, and although by temperament |
1 am most aggravating woman and |
Henry a peculiarly stubborn, conscien |
tious man | have never permitted the |
sun to go down upon his wrath. My
own often waits for a more convenient
season for settlement, but l find that
the important thing is to get ones hus- !
band in good humor first, then the wife |
may demand satisfaction for her own
wrongs upon grounds that are amiable
and womanly rather than logical and
antagonistic. The wife who holds out
against her husband because q ''princi- |
pie" is involved is often the last one to
gain her point. Or, if she does win out,
she wins at the expense of his self-re-
spect The man who ffas peen yanquish-
ed in an argument with his wife is as
pitiable an object as If she had spanked
Gifli- Besides, she mas reduced him IN
not let them know that we know it.
For no proper-minded woman wo I'D
wish to live with man who no longer
dared to assume the heroic pose before
her and who had lost his natural sense
of being the lord OF creation. 1t
changes his aspect and her perspective,
commonplace basis of rights and wrongs,
facts and fussing. There is 10 oppor-
tunity for the display. Of those grace
ful charms OF personality which depend
upon romantic love and Il coquettish
| exercise of the imagination.
The Wane of the Honeymoon.
1 do not now remember when Henry
| ceased to act sentimentally and to call
me foolish fond names; these indeed
have been recurrent symptoms of the
| lover throughout our married life. But
| the change came. a sober return to real
| tiles. / think he reached them first;
! the man always does But 1 saw t3le
honeymoon radiance fade from my scene
| with composure 0he curious thing is
man never sees ii going nor realizes
| that anything tragic has happened when
! 1t has passed.. For 1 had not only
| ceased to dread the foot-washing fate
of my married cousin; ! had become in
| terested in the possibilities which mar
] ried life affords the wife. [ think as a
| rule, women do not list the last high
| enough among the necessities. For my
cwn part, If l had found every comfort
and luxury possible, | should have
| been bored if [ had not discovered that
| a man is percnnially amusing. When I
| learned, for instance that the iuteiIf-
! gent tenacitY with which Henry chung
! TO a purpose was a form OF masculine
hysteria ] was enabled to endure or cir
| cumVent his perVersity as | would have
! managed any other person sick with a
| fancy. 1 found that the husband is a
| continual actor who plays gracefully or
| rudeiy TO the gallery of his wife's ad-
| mir1ng mind, and that the play IS really
! an tmpudent and characteristic petit
| ton to her for degree of adnira ton
/ which he does not get or expect from
| less prejudiced sources. And may my
tongue cieave to the roof of my mouth
" hen / cease to praise Henry's perform
&nces. In church, whatever the balance
| of the congregation does. I sit in the
front pew and listen to his dull sermons
with amusement and to his good ones
| with equal satisfaction. In society /
defer to him. thus enabling people to
discover what really firm man he is,
Equal to Emergencies.
There have been times, Of course,
when l could have joined the ranks o.
wife-martyrs and complained that my
husband did not understand me But no
man ever understood his wife except
within the narrow limits OF her rela-
lions TO him and his. And | have never
held Henry responsible Tor this per
y iectiy natural lack of intelligence but
Z f
fact. / resolved long ago TO be my own
IN Interpreter to him, and to make the
business as interesting as possible. even
at the expense of a little personal We
racitv. 1 do not hold with those w3-
men who make d marital fetish of being
true to themselves 1t is q finer a RI
to be true to ones husband. y woman
cannot be wholly happy without the
love of Il man, and the only man O mar
ried woman can count upon honestly
is her own husband. She may please
, and attract others Incidentally but he
Is the only one she has the romantic
, advantage of so long as she has the wit
to Use it And the wit consists in max
! ing as many charming interpretations
COTdng to my poor ability, | have played
| as many roles TO Henry during our
married life did the famous Mrs Sid
dOns 4 hundred years ago at the Drury
Lane Theater. / have been brave some
: times and COWardfy al others: I have
showed an occasional streak of harm
less vanity. because that belongs to
3. every mans definition of woman and
) If she fails to demonstrate 1t. ne will
! not know how to say 1t. but she viii!
: ! lack an essential fraility to him | have
) even been strong minded upon ocCas-
ions but not for long at time There
is no objection to this in q woman. but
as rule she should no more show
/ her strong mindedneSS to man than
, she should show her moIar teeth when
she smiles And, ! write 1t with a proper
I pride Henry's interest in me has never
= tagged, nor have my tender Inventions
: failed am becoming, in fact, all those
! things to him that In the beginning
was not, but assumed to be. l have
- tried to be mistress OF every situation,
and tried equally hard to make Henry
think he was master of 1t, and in both
, efforts / have succeeded fairly wclI.
= am content that the result rebounds as
t much to my happiness 1t docs to his
gIOTy.-FrOm the Independent.
= p ETC on TkjJNTTVTV