The Novelist taught him that his Cue was to bear with the Weaker Vessel and to keep the Honeysuckle of True Affection pruned and watered by Devotion and Sacrifice.
Therefore, he made one large Vow to cut out the Rough Stuff.
Next Morning when the Queen of the Amazons put on her Paint and
Feathers and began to beat the big War Drum there was Nothing Doing.
He refused to enter the blood-stained Arena, and when she came after him he fell over and took the Count before a Punch had been delivered.
Before starting for the Office he Kissed her a couple of times and gave her some Massage Treatment around the Shoulder Blades and called her "Toots"—a Term of Endearment which had been rusting on the Shelf ever since they used it at Niagara Falls.
She was so dazed by this Reversal of Form that she peeked from the Front Window and watched him clear to the Corner, convinced that he was on his way to meet Another Woman.
He came home that Evening with a Jar of Candied Nuts, and when Mrs.
Simon Legree demanded the Name of the Hussy he simply pulled a
Yearning Smile and invited her to go ahead and use him as a Punching-Bag.
Next day she put a Newspaper around the Bird Cage and tied up the
Geraniums and took the unfinished Tatting and Blew.
When she walked in on her Own People, with the Declaration that all
Bets were off, they wanted to know all about it, and she said a
Spirited Woman couldn't keep on rooming with a Guinea-Pig.
MORAL: Contempt breeds Familiarity.