Could like the most subservient feel afraid:

And though a wife might not dispute the will

Of her liege lord, she could prevent it still.

The morning came, and Clubb prepared to ride

With a smart boy, his servant, and his guide;

When, ere he mounted on his ready steed,

Arrived a letter, and he stopped to read.

“My friend,” he read, “our journey I decline,

A heart too tender for such strife is mine;

Yours is the triumph, be you so inclined;