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CHAPTER IT.

BUTLER tells us that

"All love, at first, like generous wine,
Ferments and frets until 'tis fine;
But when 'tis settled on the lee,
And from th' impurer matter free,
Becomes the richer, still the older,

And proves the pleasanter the colder."

A humorous description of the effects of this pleasant frigidity is given by the facetious, yet almost now forgotten, George Alexander Steevens, who says, "Courtship is a fine bowling-green turf, all galloping round and sweethearting -a sunshine holiday in summer time; but when once through the turnpike of matrimony, the weather becomes wintry, and some husbands are seized with a cold fit, to which the faculty give the name of Indifference. Courtship is matrimony's running footman, but is too often carried away by the two great preservatives of matrimonial friendship-delicacy and gratitude. There is also another very serious disorder with which ladies are sometimes seized during the honey moon, and which the College of Physicians call Sullenness. This malady arises from some incautious word which has been addressed to the patient, who is then leaning on her elbow on the breakfast-table, her cheek resting upon the palm of her hand, her eyes fixed earnestly upon the fire, and her feet beating tat-too time. The husband, mean while, is biting his lips, pulling down his ruffles, stamping about the room, and looking at his lady like Old Nick. At last he abruptly says, 'Well, ma'am, what's the matter with you? The lady mildly replies, 'Nothing.' What is it you do mean?' 'Nothing.' 'What would you have me do?' 'Nothing.' 'What have I done, madam?' 'Oh, nothing.' And this quarrel arose at breakfast: the lady very innocently observed she thought

the tea was made with Thames water; the husband, in mere contradiction, insisted upon it that the tea-kettle was filled out of the New River."

This, and the domestic felicity of Sir Charles and Lady Racket, "three weeks after marriage," brought to my recollection the scene I had witnessed between Mr. and Mrs. Daly at their lodgings in London, and made me congratulate myself upon the escape I had made from the superficial attractions of Miss Emma Haines. Thence my thoughts glanced to the expatriated husband and the separated wife in that case; and I began to wonder what had happened to my once worshipped idol, and how she was "making it out" with her mother and the major.

Nothing at all comparable with this was happening to me. Harriet was still all gentleness and playfulness. Her wishes seemed to be bounded by the desire of pleasing me; and her kindness transferred, on my account, not only to my brother, but to the children of his late wife, and even beyond those to others who had no tie or claim whatever upon us, except as apparently contributing to his comfort, was unqualified as it was unaffected. This is charming; but still

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Here are the three Falwassers-two misses and one master. What then?-they are endeared and attachedthey scarcely know why-to my brother Cuthbert, who is their father-in-law. Kitty Falwasser, a fine girl of fourteen or fifteen, rubs his temples with eau de Cologne. Jenny," as he calls her, fetches his snuff-box, cuts the leaves of his books, puts the additional lump of sugar in his tea when Harriet does not make it sweet enough, and even goes the length occasionally of drinking it for him. Tom Falwasser is a pyrotechnist; his whole holidays are passed in making squibs and crackers; and he comes in, after dinner, as his father-in-law desires, smelling of gunpowder like a devil.

I remember, in some former notes of mine, I explained the innocence of this same word, as used colloquially to designate a certain wooden implement, in the use and exercise of which I greatly rejoiced before my union with Harry, I call her Harry now: how odd!-and it is again necessary to say, lest I might be considered profane, that when I state Tom to have smelt like a "devil," I mean that he smelt like one of those little, black, haycock-shaped mixtures of gunpowder and water which that mischievous dog, Daly, mixed with Lady Wolverhampton's pastilles, upon the celebrated night when her ladyship's lovely niece

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fell into the indescribable error committed in other days by the dairy-maid of Dr. Green, the Gloucester schoolmaster, under the auspices of that reverend and much revered gentleman, as recorded by the right worthy John Taylor the water poet.

"Gilbert," said Cuthbert to me, "these children of Emily's just give me my pocket-handkerchief, Jenny.Poor Emily. Well, I wish you had known her; it would have saved me a world of trouble in explaining all herah!—virtues and—ah!—merits.-They are nice children, and I love them as if they were my own. Besides, here they are ah!-no trouble to me

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I could not help thinking, mischievously perhaps, of the "ready-made family" ware houses which one sees advertised about town.

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And they have petitioned me to be allowed to invite Mrs. Brandy ball, their school-mistress, or, as they call her, their governess, to come here for the last week or fortnight of their holidays, so that they may go back with her to school."

"I'm sure," said I, "nothing can be more agreeable than to do what you like. Harriet's confinement is shortly expected; but that, of course, will make no difference."

"She is a very nice woman, indeed," said Cuthbert. "I did not take the trouble to talk to her much; but she seems very full of proper feeling, and that sort of thing; and is about as good a European as I recollect to have seen for a great many years."

A good European! thought I to myself. Well, I see what must happen; Mrs. Brandyball, whoever she is, must come. 'Any thing, my dear Cuthbert, you wish," said I, "of course you will command."

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"No, no," said Cuthbert, "I can't exert myself to command; only I think it would please the children, and their dear mother, who-to be sure, she is gone; but then she is at rest—that's a great thing; only I should like to pay every respect to her memory, and to her children. They think it would make them better considered by the whole school, if she came here, and saw how well they lived; and besides, it would save me the trouble of writing a letter, or dictating to Hutton what I wish to say to her respecting my views of their future education; and you have another spare room."

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What could I reply? All the rooms in the house were spare rooms to him. So I said-" My dear Cuthbert, not another word. Mrs. Brandyball will be most welcome to Ash

mead; as, indeed," I added, "is any body upon earth whom you wish to come here."

"I have not many friends in this country, said Cuthbert; "that is to say, I dare say I have a good many people with whom I have been very intimate in India, and to whom I am really very much attached; but I have no idea how to find out where they are: some, of course, are dead, and—

-Well, but I am very glad you have no objection to Mrs. Brandyball's visit. Now, the next thing we must do, is to get somebody to write to her to invite her."

"I think if Kitty Falwasser were to write," said I, "it would perhaps be thought a civil way of doing the thing."

"Yes," said Cuthbert; "but then you know she does not write without lines; and then we should have to rule them, and when she had finished, to rub them out,—and besides, she does not like writing, she is too young for that yet. My poor wife gave instructions to Mrs. Brandyball, when the children were sent home, not to force their intellect,let it develope itself,-don't fatigue their minds, poor things, -think what a thing it would be to learn half a page of a French vocabulary in a day, and take a lesson of dancing afterwards! it's enough to wear them to skeletons!"

"I quite agree with you," said I, "that nothing is more absurd, not to call it barbarous, than the forcing system to which you allude, nor any thing more lamentable than to see children repeating by rote whole pages of history or poetry, conceived in terms, which, to them, are inexplicable, and even delivered in a language which they don't understand. Yet still I think Kitty Falwasser might in her fourteenth or fifteenth year contrive to write a letter to her governess, inasmuch as she wrote you a remarkably nice an nouncement of the approaching holidays."

"Oh, that," said Cuthbert, raising himself a little upon one of his elbows, "took her thirteen days' constant labour, -so she tells me-did it over two-and-twenty times; and at last got one of the teachers to put in all the capital letters. No,-Kitty has no turn for writing, she colours prints very nicely: she has painted all the kings' heads in her 'History of England,' she has a genius that way,-her poor mother used to be very clever in-what they call-I can't recollect,. -but it was cutting holes in cards, and painting through them something about tinting I think-no-if you don't like to write I'll dictate a note to Hutton, and then he can take it himself to the post-office. I want to send my watch down to Stephenson's shop, for somehow, I have lost -or dropped-or mislayed my watch-key; I dare say it is

somewhere under the sofa cushions: however, he'd better go and get me another; and then Stephenson can set my watch by the church clock. I only found out half an hour ago that it has not been going since Tuesday, when I set it last."

I could scarcely keep silence during this beautiful illus tration of my helpless brother's character, which developed itself in every action of his life, if action the evitation of all movement in which he delighted could be called. However, I wanted to hear the conclusion of his labour-saving scheme, before I suggested to him that my wife would probably be the properest person to give the invitation.

"Oh certainly," said Cuthbert; "but that will give her a great deal of trouble: and then so near her confinement,somebody had better write it in her name."

"No, my dear brother," said I, "Harriet is quite strong enough to write a letter; she likes employment both mental and bodily,-she'll be delighted."

"So shall I," said my brother; "but it is quite wonderful to see her; and to think,—Oh dear, dear, what a heap of trials women have to undergo! Yes; then that, I think, will be the best way, it will look civil, and attentive, and kind, I wonder I had not thought of that at first."

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I suppose," said I, "it had better be done immediately?" Yes, certainly," replied Cuthbert; "Kitty was very anxious about it this morning, because I think she told me the lady was gone somewhere-where, I don't remember-to stay for a fortnight,—from whence she could take this on her way home. I'm sure you'll like her-she is so ladylike in her mauners, and so gentle, and talks so well, and so very much attached to the children."

"That her presence will be agreeable to you," said I, “is, as I have already said, sufficient of itself to render her a welcome visiter here."

"There's another thing the girls told me to ask you," said Cuthbert; "your youngest sister-in-law has been talking to them about oh dear, my head-about some very clever dancing-master who lives here; and they were saying, if you had no objection, they should like to take lessons three or four times a-week for an hour or two,-it would put them forward,-how they can take this trouble I don't understand; but they are young and light, to be sure,—and so,— I said I would ask you. The drawing-room isn't used in the mornings, and perhaps

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"Oh, certainly," said I; "they will not in the least in

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